having been on holiday by the sea thinking of nothing at all I have come back
to this huge backlog of PhD list post. So this is a late entry in the "what
Gunnar asked" discussion"
I would like to raise a question about tacit knowledge as a subject for design
research.
[log in to unmask] writes:
>The questions remain: Is riding a bicycle an example of "knowing-how"
>or a metaphor? If riding a bicycle is, in fact, a reasonable example
>of "knowing-how," how would standards be established about such an
>activity? (Is there another example that would serve better?) How
>would something that parallels bicycle riding (or knowing how to ride
>one) contribute to legitimate goals of a university?
As has been said, riding bicycles is perfectly amenable to academic study and
theory and serious bicycle knowledge is probably growing as we chatter. When I
asked about this some time ago Terry Love provided me with some very
interesting examples of design research which helps to explain how bicycles
stay upright and on course although it does not appear to me that there is, or
will be a single unified theory of bicycling and the world is a better place
for that.
What really interests me is that the act of riding a bike is not driven by any
theoretical understanding. Bicycling, like many other physical acts, only works
when the ability to do it has been totally subsumed into the bicyclist's tacit
knowledge. You start with some faith that you might be able to do it (perhaps
supported by observation, reading or reports from others), you ignore the
buzzing and flapping from the well-meaning advisors who think they can tell you
how to do it, you fall off once or twice then.........."I'm
cycling".........and you can do it for the rest of your life. The only thing
you need to learn after that is how to do it with no hands so you can eat
bananas and (crucially) put on the cap with the sponsor's logo just before you
cross the finish line.
The great thing about this, from a research point of view, is that there is no
point in asking a cyclist how it is done. In fact we may not need to know much
more in the case of cycling but I feel strongly that many of the problems faced
by designers would be helped by methods to learn from tacit knowledge.
As I have said before, I believe that one role for practice in research is the
production of artefacts which reveal or challenge people's tacit knowledge, I'm
quite good at artefacts but I'm an ignoramus on tacit knowledge so I would
welcome any comments or recommended sources on this subject and would greatly
really welcome some developing debate on this question. We seem to spend a lot
of time agonising over what is, or is not admissible as research or knowledge,
do we also have specific opportunities that might transcend our present
framework? (other candidates very welcome)
Best wishes from Sheffield
Chris
*******************************************
Chris Rust
Reader in Design
Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University UK
[log in to unmask]
tel +44 114 225 2706
fax +44 114 225 2603
Psalter Lane, Sheffield S11 8UZ, UK
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