Dear Colleague,
If you have not signed up for a post-conference workshop and you
plan to take one, please let me know this week which workshop
you plan to attend.
The activity theory workshop and the doctoral supervision and
thesis workshops run one day only.
The behavior design workshop will run two days, both Thursday
and Friday.
The behavior design workshop is limited to twelve participants,
maximum, so if you wish to take part, please be sure to sign up
now.
Here, once again, are the workshop descriptions:
Post Conference Workshops
o Workshop on Activity Theory
Judith Gregory, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Informatics
University of Oslo
One-day workshop, 13 July
Activity theory has been an increasingly significant topic of inquiry in
research fields from design research and computer assisted architectural
design to management studies and information science. Despite the growing
interested in activity theory, little of the important literature is
available in English.
Judith Gregory is an expert in activity theory who used the theoretical
framework, core concepts, methodological principles, and research methods
in her own doctoral work at University of California. Her conference paper
and workshop will explore issues and their implications for critical design
practices and doctoral education in design.
The workshop will deepen Gregory's description of essential concepts in
activity theory. These include the mediated and collaborative nature of
human activity in situated contexts, organized around the notion of the
activity system, organizational, and cultural-historical communities of
practice. Another concept particularly significant to design is the use and
creation of artifacts that are simultaneously material-semiotic and ideal.
Among methodological principles, activity theory emphasizes: following
complex shared objects (motives) through time (developmentally); detailed
analysis of practices (e.g., interaction analysis of video documentation,
conversation analysis); intermediate concept construction (between
theoretically informed concepts and field data); creating resources for
reflecting on practices, design, and interventions; and "looking for
trouble" (regarding discoordination, disruptions, and breakdowns as
opportunities for creative problem-solving).
The workshop will involve the dynamic presentation of the three areas of
core concepts, methodological principles, and compatibility. Gregory will
present recent cases of fruitful combinations between activity theory and
other conceptual approaches.
o The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing a PhD: Problem to Avoid
John Langrish, Ph.D.
Director of the Postgraduate
Faculty of Art and Design
Manchester Metropolitan University
Morning workshop, July 13
John Langrish has supervised over thirty PhD degrees in art and design and
examined over forty.
>From this experience, he has constructed a list of 'seven deadly sins.' The
list begins with 1) plagiarism, 2) polemic, and 3) 'shouldism.' The
Langrish workshop will include opportunities to identify these seven
failings in examples of student work that demonstrate what 'sinful' writing
is.
In discussing the original seven deadly sins, Thomas Aquinas stated that
the best way to combat sin is to concentrate on the opposite virtue.
Perhaps that is how he became a saint.
The Langrish workshop will also focus on the virtues of the PhD. These
virtues include originality, reasoned argument, and relevance.
These virtues are contrasted against the seven sins to concentrate on the
positive aspects of doctoral development. They become more important when
seen against the background of the 'seven deadly sins.'
o Supervising the Supervisors
John Langrish, Ph.D.
Director of the Postgraduate
Faculty of Art and Design
Manchester Metropolitan University
Afternoon workshop, July 13
Nearly every University provides formal courses for research students. Few
support for potential supervisors.
This workshops is an opportunity to discuss essential issues in supervision:
1) There is no such thing as 'best practice.' 2) There are many supervisory
'styles.' 3) The only rule is that both supervisor and student should have
a clear expectation of each other's requirements. 4) Several common
problems cause research students to drop out. Many of these can be solved.
5) Some doctoral supervision is inadequate. Is quality control of
supervision the answer? 6) Workshop participants will propose additional
discussion themes.
o Designing Human Behavior
Anders Skoe
President
Interactive Coaching Services - ICS
Geneva
Two-day workshop, 13 and 4 July
Design has grown to encompass services as well as products. In doing so,
design has moved beyond static design in two or three spatial dimensions.
Design now inhabits a non-spatial dimension, time. Increasingly, design
also involves behavior as a dimension beyond the physical dimensions of
space-time.
Behavior design has many aspects. Between an organization and its clients,
it involves the behavioral interface between front office employees and
company customers. Within service firms - including design firms - it also
involves problem solving, strategy development, company culture, and
organizational learning.
This workshop will explore this new area of design. Workshop participants
will learn about behavior design and develop behavioral coaching skills.
This includes understanding how to design behavior based on the unique,
existing personalities of organization members, along with understanding
cross-cultural issues, universally accepted behaviors and their impact on
people. The workshop will stimulate ideas for research and explore ways to
teach behavior design at the university level.
This workshop also emphasizes problem-solving skills and critical thinking
issues that can be applied to general research questions.
Anders Skoe has worked as an executive in Telecom Canada, SAS Airlines, and
the International Airline Transport Association. He consults to companies
in telecommunications, information technology, and design.
Day 1 - Theme: Service Behaviors. This day will present the workshop plan.
The day's activities will include: who's who among participants, mental
preparation, service management, customer contact employees as product
producers, a service is ephemeral - and consumed as it is produced,
employees produce the service in interaction with customers, considering
appropriate behavior, creating strong, effective corporate cultures.
Day 2 - Theme: Leadership and Coaching. This day's activities will include:
day plan, reflection on day 1, customer - employee role plays, feedback and
suggestions from colleagues, feedback and suggestions from workshop leader,
some behavioral psychology models and theory, dialogue on research areas,
dialogue on teaching opportunities, action plans, workshop evaluation.
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Knowledge Management
Norwegian School of Management
+47 22.98.51.07 Direct line
+47 22.98.51.11 Telefax
Home office:
+46 (46) 53.245 Telephone
+46 (46) 53.345 Telefax
email: [log in to unmask]
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