Design Matters, and so does Philosophy of Design 2003 John Eggleston Memorial Lecture

Why bother about philosophy of design?The theme of the 2003 DATA International Research Conference is ‘Design Matters’. If there is one country in the world that has shown this to be true for design and technology education, it is the UK. Design has had a well established place in general technology education for many years. This is demonstrated in the names of this subject: ‘Craft, Design and Technology’, and more recently ‘Design and Technology’. The particular emphasis on design becomes even more evident if one realises that internationally the name Technology Education is more common. This, of course, does not necessarily mean that in what is called ‘Technology Education’ design is always underestimated, but the fact that the word ‘design’ is an explicit element in the subject’s name in UK practice is meaningful

Dynamic control of selectivity in the ubiquitination pathway revealed by an ASP to GLU substitution in an intra-molecular salt-bridge network

Ubiquitination relies on a subtle balance between selectivity and promiscuity achieved through specific interactions between ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) and ubiquitin ligases (E3s). Here, we report how a single aspartic to glutamic acid substitution acts as a dynamic switch to tip the selectivity balance of human E2s for interaction toward E3 RING-finger domains. By combining molecular dynamic simulations, experimental yeast-two-hybrid screen of E2-E3 (RING) interactions and mutagenesis, we reveal how the dynamics of an internal salt-bridge network at the rim of the E2-E3 interaction surface controls the balance between an “open”, binding competent, and a “closed”, binding incompetent state. The molecular dynamic simulations shed light on the fine mechanism of this molecular switch and allowed us to identify its components, namely an aspartate/glutamate pair, a lysine acting as the central switch and a remote aspartate. Perturbations of single residues in this network, both inside and outside the interaction surface, are sufficient to switch the global E2 interaction selectivity as demonstrated experimentally. Taken together, our results indicate a new mechanism to control E2-E3 interaction selectivity at an atomic level, highlighting how minimal changes in amino acid side-chain affecting the dynamics of intramolecular salt-bridges can be crucial for protein-protein interactions. These findings indicate that the widely accepted sequence-structure-function paradigm should be extended to sequence-structure-dynamics-function relationship and open new possibilities for control and fine-tuning of protein interaction selectivity

How focus creates engagement in Primary Design and Technology Education: The effect of well-defined tasks and joint presentations on a class of nine to twelve years old pupils

During a Design and Technology class, engagement is both required to start creative hands-on work and a sign of pupil’s creative thinking. To find ways to achieve engagement, we can look to the Montessori tradition. Due to the fact that learning is regarded as feeding insight through experimenting, tasks have to offer pupils the opportunity to gain knowledge about isolated details of the learning situation. This is realised by brief, simple and objective tasks combined with liberty to approach the hands-on work in one’s own way. Applied to Design and Technology, we can define brief, simple and objective tasks with a focus on a technique as an isolated detail of the learning situation. Offering liberty during hands-on work enables creative thinking.  The deployment of well-defined tasks with a focus on a technique is possible by dividing a complex assignment into a collection of brief tasks with single problems and working towards single objectives in the topic, making use of a single technique. Such a collection is a format that has the potential to enable ongoing engagement.  This case-study researches the actual effect of a stepwise organised collection of tasks on the design performance of pupils of nine to twelve years old. The results show that the tasks turned out to be useful in initiating engagement. In combination with joint presentations, ongoing engagement was achieved resulting in well-considered designs and products. In addition, dialogue with disengaged pupils delivered solutions towards engagement. As a side-effect of dialogue the teacher-pupil relationships and the pupil-pupil relationships improved

Making smallholder value chain partnerships inclusive: exploring digital farm monitoring through farmer friendly smartphone platforms

Open Access Journal; Published online: 04 Jun 2020Value chain partnerships face difficulties achieving inclusive relations, often leading to unsustainable collaboration. Improving information flow between actors has been argued to contribute positively to a sense of inclusion in such partnership arrangements. Smallholders however usually lack the capability to use advanced communication technologies such as smartphones which offer a means for elaborate forms of information exchange. This study explores to what extent co-designing smartphone platforms with smallholders for farm monitoring contributes to smallholder ability to communicate, and how this influences smallholder sense of inclusion. The study uses an Action Design Research approach in engaging smallholders in Ghana, through multi-stakeholder and focus group discussions, in a reflexive co-design process. The research finds that co-designing a platform interface was significant in improving farmer ability to comprehend and use smartphone based platforms for communicating farm conditions and their needs with value chain partners. Farmers were however skeptical of making demands based on the platform due to their lack of power and mistrust of other actors. This highlights a need for adjusting the social and political dimensions of partnership interactions, in tandem with the advancement of digital tools, in order to effectively facilitate a sense of inclusiveness in partnerships

The New Zealand Curriculum's approach to technological literacy through the lens of the philosophy of technology

New Zealand's curriculum, in terms of its approach to technological literacy, attempts to deliver a sound, philosophy-based understanding of the nature of technology. The curriculum's main authors claim that it conforms well to Mitcham's (2014) categorization of different aspects of technology's nature.  Nevertheless, taking advantage of the existing literature of the philosophy of technology, this paper will reveal that the intended urriculum, though an admirable approach, still has a number of points needing improvement, and there are also certain gaps to be bridged in the claimed conformity. This analysis primarily makes  use of the method initiated by Nia and De Vries (2016a), based upon Mitcham’s suggested framework and other philosophers' opinions as to the nature and various features of technolog

Die technische Mündigkeit von Schüler/-innen zum Ende der Sek. I im internationalen Vergleich

In internationaler Zusammenarbeit hat eine Forschergruppe ein Aufgaben-Entwicklungsmodell konzeptualisiert, auf dessen Basis ein Testinstrument zur Erfassung der technischen Mündigkeit von Schüler/-innen zum Ende der Sekundarstufe I abgeleitet wurde. Mit diesem Testinstrument wurden 270 Schülerinnen und Schülern aus Deutschland, der Schweiz, Luxemburg, den Niederlanden und England getestet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die technische Mündigkeit von Schüler/-innen im Alter von 13-16 Jahren nur mäßig ausgeprägt ist. Der durchschnittliche Anteil von 25 % der Aufgaben, die mit hoher Sicherheit falsch beantwortet wurden, lässt den Schluss zu, dass sich neben fehlendem Wissen auch eine relativ hohe Anzahl von Misskonzepten bei den Schüler/-innen verfestigt hat. Interessanterweise zeigen sich dabei keine großen Unterschiede in Bezug auf die einzelnen Länder und das Geschlecht. Schlüsselwörter: Technische Mündigkeit, Testinstrument, internationa

‘Bonkers but good!’ – Using illustration-based interview methods to understand land management and conservation visions

Forest biodiversity studies conduct Visions help to understand common ground and tensions among citizens and stakeholders, supporting inclusive land management and conservation solutions to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. With careful design and sufficient resource, it is possible to bring together communities and other stakeholders to share perspectives and deliberate desired futures, identifying more acceptable alternatives and avoiding costly delays. We evaluated researcher and participant experiences of illustration-based interviews to understand land management visions using four studies in Scotland, The Netherlands and Spain. These studies used STREAMLINE, a visual mixed-method interview format using thematic illustrated canvases designed to provide an inclusive and creative framing for participants to contemplate their desired future. Participants enjoyed the informal visual format, which reduced pressure, increased comfort through the research process, and helped their thinking and reflection about complex topics. They also valued being listened to and having the opportunity to share their views. Researchers appreciated the ability to triangulate rich qualitative data with a variety of quantitative measure through the mixed-method format and the flexibility to adapt the canvases to suit their research aims. Positive participant experience made facilitation easier and was stimulating for the researchers. The credibility and legitimacy of illustration-based interviews will ultimately depend on specific research design-decisions and testing, which can make the approach more resource intensive than conventional interviews. While organisal barriers should be considered realistically, illustration-based interviews can have high saliency by providing useful and usable insights that strengthen land management policy and planning. Inclusive Conservation Participatory planning Governance Visions Visual methods Participatory methods d across Europe use a multitude of forestry terms, often inconsistently. This hinders the comparability across studies and makes the assessment of the impacts of forest management on biodiversity highly context-dependent. Recent attempts to standardize forestry and stand description terminology mostly used a top-down approach that did not account for the perspectives and approaches of forest biodiversity experts. This work aims to establish common standards for silvicultural and vegetation definitions, creating a shared conceptual framework for a consistent study on the effects of forest management on biodiversity. We have identified both strengths and weaknesses of the silvicultural and vegetation information provided in forest biodiversity studies. While quantitative data on forest biomass and dominant tree species are frequently included, information on silvicultural activities and vegetation composition is often lacking, shallow, or based on broad and heterogeneous classifications. We discuss the existing classifications and their use in European forest biodiversity studies through a novel bottom-up and top-driven review process, and ultimately propose a common framework. This will enhance the comparability of forest biodiversity studies in Europe, and puts the basis for effective implementation and monitoring of sustainable forest management policies. The standards here proposed are potentially adaptable and applicable to other geographical areas and could be extended to other forest interventions.publishedVersio