Design by taking perspectives: How engineers explore problems

Background: Problem exploration includes identifying, framing, and defining design problems and bounding problem spaces. Intentional and unintentional changes in problem understanding naturally occur as designers explore design problems to create solutions. Through problem exploration, new perspectives on the problem can emerge along with new and diverse ideas for solutions. By considering multiple problem perspectives varying in scope and focus, designers position themselves to increase their understandings of the “real” problem and engage in more diverse idea generation processes leading to an increasing variety of potential solutions. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to investigate systematic patterns in problem exploration in the early design phases of mechanical engineers. Design/Method: Thirty-five senior undergraduate students and experienced designers with mechanical engineering backgrounds worked individually following a think-aloud protocol. They explored problems and generated solutions for two of four randomly assigned design problems. After generating solutions, participants framed and rewrote problem statements to reflect their perspectives on the design problem their solutions addressed. Thematic analysis and a priori codes guided the identification of problem exploration patterns within and across problems. Results: The set of patterns in engineers\u27 problem exploration that emerged from the analysis documents alternative strategies in exploring problems to arrive at solutions. The results provide evidence that engineering designers, working individually, apply both problem-specific and more general strategies to explore design problems. Conclusions: Our study identified common patterns in the explorations of presented problems by individual engineering designers. The observed patterns, described as Problem Exploration Perspectives, capture alternative approaches to discovering problems and taking multiple problem perspectives during design. Learning about Problem Exploration Perspectives may be helpful in creating alternative perspectives on a design problem, potentially leading to more varied and innovative solutions. This paper concludes with an extended example illustrating the process of applying Problem Exploration Perspectives to move between problem perspectives to generate varied design outcomes

Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation

After 50 years of steady increase, per capita visits to U.S. National Parks have declined since 1987. To evaluate whether we are seeing a fundamental shift away from people's interest in nature, we tested for similar longitudinal declines in 16 time series representing four classes of nature participation variables: (i) visitation to various types of public lands in the U.S. and National Parks in Japan and Spain, (ii) number of various types of U.S. game licenses issued, (iii) indicators of time spent camping, and (iv) indicators of time spent backpacking or hiking. The four variables with the greatest per capita participation were visits to Japanese National Parks, U.S. State Parks, U.S. National Parks, and U.S. National Forests, with an average individual participating 0.74–2.75 times per year. All four time series are in downtrends, with linear regressions showing ongoing losses of −1.0% to −3.1% per year. The longest and most complete time series tested suggest that typical declines in per capita nature recreation began between 1981 and 1991, are proceeding at rates of −1.0% to −1.3% per year, and total to date −18% to −25%. Spearman correlation analyses were performed on untransformed time series and on transformed percentage year-to-year changes. Results showed very highly significant correlations between many of the highest per capita participation variables in both untransformed and in difference models, further corroborating the general downtrend in nature recreation. In conclusion, all major lines of evidence point to an ongoing and fundamental shift away from nature-based recreation

Genetic consequences of intensive management in game birds

Introduction of wildlife for game restocking is one major pathway of genetic homogenization. The redlegged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Phasianidae), a small game bird native to south-western Europe, is in high demand by hunters and natural populations are constantly supplemented by commercial stocks of captive- bred individuals. Also, in recent years human-mediated hybridization with congeneric chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar: Greece, Cyprus, from Middle East to East Asia) has been frequently documented in the wild and in captivity. This study attempts to evaluate the genetic consequences of intensive captive breeding and restocking in the A. rufa species. We investigated A. rufa genetic diversity by making comparisons in both a spatial (across the entire species’ range) and a temporal framework. We accomplished this latter by comparing modern vs. ancient partridges resident in museums and collected 1856–1934, well before supplemental stocking became common. Using mtDNA we found significant changes in the haplotype profile of modern vs. ancient A. rufa, and widespread introgression with chukar genes across the entire species range only in modern representatives, with the relevant exception of Corsican populations. However, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), as opposed to microsatellite DNA markers, showed also modern Corsican populations to harbour many A. rufa A. chukar hybrids. We conclude that captive breeding programs should make strict use of time-saving and comparatively low cost DNA barcodes to minimize genetic pollution, such as those provided by diagnostic RAPD markers. We also recommend that the active ban on import of exotics and/or hybrids be extended to non-local populations. Altogether this would represent a substantial step forward to preserve A. rufa as well as other game species subjected to similar intensive management

ADULTS READING ALOUD: A SURVEY OF CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES IN BRITAIN

While much is written about reading aloud to children, and as a teaching tool, far less is known about the oral reading that adults do at home, at work or in the community. This article presents the results of a national survey into whether, what, how and why adults across Britain may read aloud rather than in silence. Analysing data from 529 questionnaire responses, the article examines the frequency with which different text types are read aloud, the formations in which this is done – alone, with one other person or in a group – and the purposes of reading aloud and being read to, with attention to differences according to gender and age. Findings suggest that reading aloud happens in a number of different ways and for different purposes, across contexts and life domains, and that it has a significant relationship with aspects of the lifecourse and with identity formation and performance