Digital Commons Network^™

Design History Education And The Use Of The Design Brief As An Interpretative Framework For Sustainable Practice, John Calvelli

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Over the last several years, designers, researchers and educators have been increasingly concerned with what effect design has had, and could have, on the current condition of unsustainability. If design has had a significant part in materializing unsustainability, then we must try to change its disciplinary parameters and relationships. How can we teach design history in order to engage students in this critical work? This paper will document an ongoing experiment in the teaching of design history to undergraduate students in visual communication in two colleges of art and design. The course asks students to interpret images from the broad …

The Challenges Of Information Transfer Between The Client Organization And The Temporary Multi-Organization (Tmo), Michel De Blois

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The mechanisms required for the transfer of both implicit and explicit information between the client organization and the temporary multi-organization are crucial in the programming process of construction projects. However, the identification and transfer of needs within the conception phase from the client (and eventually the users) towards the project team are rarely direct and easy. (Nadler et al., 1992) The evaluation of the project outcome (“as built”) against the initial project proposal, allows for a better understanding of both the project process and the influence of informal communications in translating client/user needs. This research project, comprised of three phases, …

Human Photographs On Trust In Bank Websites, Seungyeon Ha, Sunghyun R. Kang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

On the Internet, trustworthiness is an issue and becomes more important as financial transactions continue to grow. According to our analysis of the top 20 largest US banks, fifty-five percent of the banks’ homepages used human photograph(s). The purpose of this study is to examine how image choices of a male, a female, a family, a small group of people in an office, or a diverse group of people in photographs on a bank homepage will have the most positive effect on customers’ perceptions of trustworthiness with regard to the website. For the research method, five mock-ups of a bank …

Speculative Visualization: A New Rhetoric For Communicating Public Concerns, Tanyoung Kim, Carl Disalvo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Speculative design is an emerging rhetorical strategy in design practices and research to raise public awareness in social agendas that have been little explored. As a stream of this type of research, we propose speculative visualization that aims to achieve speculative design by utilizing techniques from data visualization and graphic design. Specifically, speculative visualization represents socially and politically meaningful data in aesthetic ways to provoke viewers’ interpretation and further elicit discussions. In this paper, we report the diverse approaches of speculative visualization by demonstrating three exemplary studies and identifying their visual rhetoric. Based on the argument, we discuss research opportunities …

A New Atlas For Abstract Spaces. Visual Tools For The Exploration Of Complex Contexts, Marco Quaggiotto

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the tradition of research, text is the preferred solution for research and communication. The linear sequence of writing explains reality: it transforms synchronic scenes into a sequence of codes that describe it diachronically. Nonetheless, while textual representation still remains extremely useful in scientific communication, the linearity of writing is lately appearing as inadequate to the latest models of science and to the representation of current knowledge systems. In this context the language of cartography in particular seems to be fit to work as a structural model for the representation of complex systems, and Design can find in the atlas …

Seeing What They Are Saying: Diagrams For Socio-Technical Controversies, Donato Ricci

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The opening of enormous databases and the possibility offered by new tools to access the heterogeneous flows of data and information emerging from the Internet could be seen as an innovative mode also to observe and represent social complex systems. The cartography of controversies, the applied version of the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), is one of the examples of this new way of exploring and understanding these new information and knowledge domains. The cartography of controversies also aims at overcoming some of the limits of the traditional description of social issues by exploiting the potentialities of the information visualization and of …

Analyzing The Appearance And Wording Of Assessments: Understanding Their Impact On Students’ Perception And Understanding, And Instructors’ Processes, Stacie Rohrbach

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the context of a design studio, the study presented in this paper investigates the effects that appearance and wording of assessment forms have on design students’ perception and learning. The project is motivated by hypotheses formed by a prior study, which revealed visual and textual components of assessment forms as possible influences on students’ perception and learning. Thus, the goal of this project is to investigate their impact on students and offer the study findings to educators to help them better understand and construct effective assessment tools. This paper argues that the appearance and wording of assessments convey meaning …

A Study On Design Careers And The Impact Of Gender Debra Satterfield, Sunghyun R. Kang, Nora Ladjahasan,, Debra Satterfield, Sunghyun R Kang, Nora Ladjahasan, Andrea Quam, Brytton Bjorngaard

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Many of those entering the design workforce will at one point in time be affected by life choices. Some of these choices are welcomed, however, others are of necessity and are not reflective of personal preference. Life choices such as childcare, career advancement decisions, marriage, leaving the workforce, making a lateral career move, or becoming an attendant caregiver for an incapacitated family member are only a few examples of situations that can dramatically impact the course of a career in design fields. In addition, women and men may be affected differently by these choices. The purpose of this research is …

A Case Study Of An Andragogical Model In Design Education: Experiments In Interactiveteaching And Learning In Graphic Design Pedagogy, Sang-Duck Seo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The purpose of this study is to seek an interactive pedagogical model in teaching graphic design in higher education. Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, an American adult educator, adopted the theory of ‘Andragogy’ which focused on self-directed learning theories. This author applied the ‘Andragogical Model’ to upper division design studios and addresses effective instructions and tips through case studies. In terms of the digital academic environment favored by Generation Y, educators in graphic design fields have been faced with difficulties balancing practical and theoretical disciplines for successful academic achievement. The challenge for educators caused by the digital culture is convincing students that …

A Survey Of Definition And Its Role In Strengthening Design Theory, Robert Andruchow

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper argues that an essential task for managing complexity in design is clarification of key terms within the field, and most importantly the term that defines the field itself: Design. This position rests on the argument that theory—a key tool for managing complexity in design—is weakened by ambiguous terminology, and crucially, ambiguity of the word design. Although it has been well documented that design is a highly ambiguous term and that this is problematic for the field as a whole, many designers are resigned to this fact since it is unclear how one can resolve differences of opinion about …

Visual Means For Collaboration Across Disciplines, Mercè Graell-Colas

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The complexity of today’s design problems—the global economy, rate of change in new technologies, the challenges of sustainability development—requires diverse design teams, comprised of multiple disciplines as well as multiple cultures, to look at broader and different perspectives and larger scopes of investigation. Due to the multilayered and multifaceted interactions between team members, effective communication and collaboration among people in multidisciplinary design teams becomes critical to ensure a project’s success, in particular, and for innovation, in general. Research shows that one of the most important aspects of collaboration is effective information sharing—shared knowledge and shared understanding among all team members …

A Proposal For The Web 2.0 Revolution In Online Design Education: Opportunities For Virtual Design Learning Using Social Networking Technologies, Karen Kwan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

New Web 2.0 tools are enabling new avenues for online communication. Social networks that have sprung up from these tools are not only the basis of information dissemination but also a means of sustained learning. Educators are now able to investigate beyond traditional teaching pedagogies and student participation roles. By exploring learning theories and the philosophies of design education, this research proposes a framework for leveraging recent innovations in social networking technologies to facilitate these values in an online environment. Unlike many other subject areas, at the center of design learning is an underlying method of inquiry and dialogue that …

Interactive Tools And Online Communities That Support Media Literacy, Lane Marty Maxwell, Rinnert Gretchen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Discussions about online media often neglect the engagement and interpretation of these technologies. The Internet has become a primary resource for learning, but schools are often not prepared to train students to understand online content. Outside of the classroom teenagers are active online. Conversely, many schools rely solely on analog tools to teach this already digital generation. This disconnect may result in teenagers who are not prepared to be critical digital citizens. According to research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, teenagers tend to rely on the look of online information to determine credibility. As design software …

A Didactical Framework To Experiment The Potential Of Visual Languages In Engaging Social Complexity, Francesca Valsecchi, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Donato Ricci, Giorgio Caviglia

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Development models often apply expert knowledge to social needs using a top-down approach, thus rendering these models insufficient in coping with the issues of a complex world. Effective changes in social systems arise from iterative and dialogic processes in which information and knowledge are exchanged between heterogeneous actors, building a common background that enables a shared hypothesis. The design approach involves the ability to select results from various disciplinary fields, activating a trans-disciplinary circulation of concepts. Designers should use their skills to facilitate the emergence of a system, rather than concentrating on finding solutions to specific and well-identified problems. The …

Engaging Complexity Through Collaborative Brand Design, Manuela Taboada, Leo Xc Dutra, Robert Haworth, Rebecca Spence

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In this research we used inductive reasoning through design to understand how stakeholders in the Waterfall Way (New South Wales, Australia) perceive the relationships between themselves and the place they live in. This paper describes a collaborative design methodology used to release information about local identities, which guided the regional brand exercise. The methodology is explicit about the uncertainties and complexities of the design process and of its reception system. As such, it aims to engage with local stakeholders and experts in order to help elicit tacit knowledge and identify system patterns and trends that would possibly not be visible …

Synergizing Positivistic And Aesthetic Approaches To Improve The Development Of Interactive, Visual Systems Design, Michael R. Gibson, Daniel Peak, Victor Prybutok

DRS Biennial Conference Series

An extensive literature review undertaken at the outset of this endeavor revealed that the current status of interactive visual systems development, implementation and sustenance has evolved from theory and research that is neither especially pluralistic nor synergistic. There exist two distinct systems design approaches: 1. the largely positivistic and functionally guided approaches derived from the realm of information technology (IT), and 2. the incorporation of the more qualitatively based, aesthetically and experientially guided approaches derived from the realm of dynamic interaction design. The authors hypothesized that this paradigmatic schism required a new approach that could bridge fundamental gaps in knowledge …

Designing For Cultural Diversity: Participatory Design, Immigrant Women And Shared Creativity, Naureen Mumtaz

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Immigration and multiculturalism are realities of the globalized world that has given rise to subcultures, which possess specialized knowledge. This increasing interaction among people from diverse cultures has produced a complex ethno-cultural mosaic that presents formidable challenges for visual communication designers’ as well as for other designers. Cultural diversity of designers and audience of messages in a design scenario brings complexity in the design research process. This research study explores an effective visual communication language, through the medium of the poster, for culturally diverse audience of immigrant women in Edmonton, Canada. The decision was informed by triangulated results from a …

Findability Of Commodities By Consumers: Distinguishing Different Packaging Designs, Regina W.Y. Wang, Mu-Chien Chou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

What package design features can help consumers find commodities faster? This study assumes that the factors in distinguishing different packaging designs of commodities differ due to consumers’ different personal experiences. Thus, this paper studies the findability of commodities by consumers through distinct packaging designs. It consists mainly of two stages: (a) the first stage reviews the existing literature to determine the application of different package designs; (b) the second stage is a focus group interview designed to investigate the factors influencing consumers in distinguishing different package designs. In the investigation process, (i) samples of package bottles for testing were collected …

A Taxonomic Review Of The Neotropical Genus Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae, W. D. Edmonds, J. Zidek

Insecta Mundi

The Neotropical genus Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff (1924), as classified here, comprises 38 species distributed among three subgenera (Megaphanaeus Olsoufieff, Metallophanaeus Olsoufieff, and Coprophanaeus s. str. ) and eight species groups. Keys presented help to identify supraspecific and species taxa, all of which are illustrated and diagnosed. Lectotypes are designated for Phanaeus ignecinctus Felsche and Phanaeus ohausi Felsche. Coprophanaeus corythus (Harold), formerly regarded as a subspecies of C. telamon (Erichson), assumes species status. Coprophanaeus magnoi Arnaud, described as a subspecies of C. milon (Blanchard), is raised to species status. New taxonomic interpretations result in 10 new subjective synonymies (junior synonym listed …

Rail Patronage Management - Effectiveness In Practice, And New Theoretical Frames, Chris A. Hale, Philip Charles

World Transit Research

The paper discusses the emerging discipline of rail demand management or “demand smoothing”. Many passenger rail systems have lacked active management of passenger demand levels for an extended period now. This has perhaps often resulted in excessively peak-loaded rail systems that struggle to deal with overcrowding during morning and afternoon commutes, while carrying unviable levels of patronage outside of commute markets and periods. Rail demand management is re-emerging as an important discipline in which passenger demand levels are actively managed, in order to deliver “smoother” patronage levels across the day and week. Potential areas of strategy and action include: better …

Infants And Children With Hearing Loss Need Early Language Access, P. Kushalnagar, G. Mathur, C. J. Moreland, Donna Jo Napoli, W. Osterling, C. Padden, C. Rathmann

Linguistics Faculty Works

Around 96 percent of children with hearing loss are born to parents with intact hearing, who may initially know little about deafness or sign language. Therefore, such parents will need information and support in making decisions about the medical, linguistic, and educational management of their child. Some of these decisions are time-sensitive and irreversible and come at a moment of emotional turmoil and vulnerability (when some parents grieve the loss of a normally hearing child). Clinical research indicates that a deaf child's poor communication skills can be made worse by increased level of parental depression. Given this, the importance of …

Communication, Saint Mary's College Of California

Undergraduate Academic Catalog

No abstract provided.

Show Me The Numbers: Visual Analytics For Insights, Tin Seong Kam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this highly volatile and fast-paced financial market, traders and managers working in banking and financial organizations must struggle to cope with large and complex data from multi-sources, that move throughout the market at increasingly high speed. The cost of making poor business and investment decisions is very high. This places great demands on data analysts, who are responsible for providing process information, to support the activities of traders and managers. Static reports and traditional business intelligence tools simply cannot keep up with a market that is changing on a second-to-second basis. By the time the traders and bankers have …

Multi-Scale Edge Detection Algorithms And Their Information-Theoretic Analysis In The Context Of Visual Communication, Bo Jiang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The unrealistic assumption that noise can be modeled as independent, additive and uniform can lead to problems when edge detection methods are applied to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) images. The main reason for this is because the filter scale and the threshold for the gradient are difficult to determine at a regional or local scale when the noise estimate is on a global scale. Therefore, in this dissertation, we attempt to solve these problems by using more than one filter to detect the edges and discarding the global thresholding method in the edge discrimination. The proposed multi-scale edge detection algorithms …

Enrollment Report, Summer 2010, Planning, Research, And Policy Analysis

Enrollment Reports (2004-2019)

Enrollment Report for Summer 2010 for Illinois State University

Report, General Education Assessment, June 30, 2010, James M. Krest

Institutional Research Assessment Materials

A report prepared by James Krest assessing general education at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Survey Of Eresearch Practices And Skills At Qut, Australia, Stephanie Bradbury, Martin Borchert

International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries, 31st Annual Conference

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a multidisciplinary university in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and has 40,000 students and 1,700 researchers. Notable eResearch infrastructure includes the QUT ePrints repository, Microsoft QUT Research Centre, the OAK (Open Access to Knowledge) Law Project, Cambia and leading research institutes.

The Australian Government, via the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), is funding institutions to identify and describe their research datasets, to develop and populate data repositories and collaborative infrastructure, and to seed the Australian Research Data Commons. QUT is currently broadening its range of research support services, including those to support the management of research …

Impressions Of Ebru And Turkishness In The 21st Century, Lisa Dicarlo

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

On June 18th, 2007, Ebru: Reflections of Cultural Diversity in Turkey began its ten-city tour of Turkey with a debut exhibit in Istanbul, and ended on March 31st, 2009 with the closing of the exhibit in Ankara. The mixed media project, a combination of text, music, visual images, essays and panel discussions, is dominated by Attila Durak's large-format documentary ethnographic photographs of 44 ethnic groups he encountered during seven consecutive summers of fieldwork throughout Turkey. Durak, who is from Turkey and studied photography in the US, began this project with the initial intention of learning about the cultural diversity of …

The Process Of Successfully Integrating Communication Technologies Into Short-Term, Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs: Reflections From The Field, Todd L. Goen, Jennifer R. Billinson, Linda D. Manning

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

As advances in communication technologies (CT) continue to shape modern life, it is critical study abroad professionals and faculty leaders contemplate the ways in which such technologies impact study abroad. This essay provides an argument for the value and utility of such contemplation through an in-depth examination of a short-term, faculty-led study abroad program and the three faculty who lead it. The authors provide reflective summaries of their own experiences with CT and study abroad and discuss the ways in which changes in CT resulted in changes to their own study abroad program including the integration of CT into academic …

The Daily Gamecock, Wednesday, June 2, 2010, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

June

No abstract provided.