This paper explores the role of material design as a form of institutional power within contemporary school settings. Drawing on concepts of "coercive design" and "hostile architecture" from design studies, the paper examines three "innovative" designs for classroom chairs -- relatively mundane but integral elements…

This article uses a variety of principles of cultural-historical activity theory to extend Herbert Simon's (1996) insight into the inherent linkage between the creation of artifacts and design. We argue that design research must grapple with the doubly artificial, as the classrooms in which many educational designs are implemented are themselves…

Medical imaging systems (MIS) constitute an important emergent subdiscipline of engineering studies. In the context of electrical and electronics engineering (EEE) education, MIS courses cover physics, instrumentation, data acquisition, image formation, modeling, and quality assessment of various modalities. Many well-structured MIS courses are…

The gamic mode is an innovative way of authoring scholarly history that goes beyond the printed text or digital simulations by using digital game technologies to allow the reader to interact with a scholarly argument through meaningful choice and trial and error. The gamic mode makes the way in which the past is constructed as history explicit by…

Industrial ecology education is being developed and delivered predominantly within the domains of engineering and management. Such an approach could prove somewhat limiting to the broader goal of developing industrial ecology as an integrated knowledge base inclusive of diverse disciplines, contributing to sustainable development. This paper…

This paper reviews research on learning from dynamic visual representations and offers principles for the design of animations and simulations that assure their educational effectiveness. In addition to established principles, new and revised design principle are presented that have been derived from recent research. Our review focuses on the…

Creating a physical education department web site is an excellent way to promote a positive image of the program, because students and parents are able to find important information and improve the lines of communication. A well-designed physical education web site can even encourage students to increase their physical activity levels. Improved…

This article considers the nature of complexity and design, as well as relationships between the two, and suggests that design may have much potential as an approach to improving human performance in situations seen as complex. It is developed against two backgrounds. The first is a world view that derives from second order cybernetics and radical…

An area of visual communication that might be classified as a "design failure" is the visual presentation of information about "prescription-only medicines" for patients. This information is provided on packaging, leaflets, brochures, labels and websites. The practical issue is that there are problems in convincing patients to…

The present study focuses on the relationship between the acquisition of design knowledge by novice design students and the quality of their designs. Design learning is typically based on action and reflection. Knowledge of solution processes, being part of this reflection, is found to be crucial in monitoring and controlling the design process…

The significance of design thinking and systems thinking for design has gained much recognition in recent years. In comparison to design thinking, scholarly discussion about systems thinking has a much longer history and includes more multiple and divergent perspectives. This paper reviews and critiques the essence of design thinking and systems…

Argues that the shared use of artifacts is supported by latent border resources that lie beyond the canonical artifact. Designers must understand the role border resources play and work more directly to help users develop them. This will require designers to change their understanding of artifacts and users. (Contains 69 references.) (KRN)

The increasing number of homeless people is one of the most burning problems of nowadays world. Society has to find the way to fight against it and provide help to those people that have no place to stay. For short-term interventions, the application of the mobile dwelling units seems to be the only possible solution. However, existing mobile…