Dear Amanda, Ken and all,

Some of the concerns about professional practice and the impact on it
through academic teaching and methods of academic research evaluation are
not specific to design/design research/design research publication. Nursing
for example moved from practice-based training in hospitals to
university-based training, motivated by the lure of parity with the medical
profession and better
remuneration (ha..ha).  More recently there have been increasing concerns
about the quality of nursing education and how much time needs to be spent
in practicums . If such things are cyclic then perhaps nursing is on the
other side
of the wheel from design.

Similarly adult educators who also practice in the field and publish in
alternative press face similar promotional problems to those that Ken
indicated for
designers.  The situation becomes almost comical, when one realizes just how
easy it is to publish in high value journals researching higher education
itself. One can even publish and promote on something like "graduate
attributes" and advocate a  dumbed-down techno-rational future
for universities and still receive more valuable recognition than one might
for publishing a planet saving solution in the Reader's Digest.

The problem comes down to what constitutes valuable knowledge in higher
education?  While designers may be trying to climb aboard an academic bus,
they may just find they are looking at the wrong destination board (the one
marked to most valuable -tried and tested - research methodologies). 
Educational sociologists Bill Woodman and Dan Krier (2008) have drawn
attention to the need for visual scholarship across higher education, as a
response to the ubiquity of new media.  The Imagining Business conference of
the European Institute of Advanced Studies in Management, Oxford, last June,
also produced some interesting exchanges between designers, artists,
accountants and business school academics.  The parameters of knowledge in
business and academia are changing and designers are well placed to lead
that change. Infact, they could be the main players in that change because
past design practices hold the key to what academics, and businesses in
general now need to be doing with new media in many disciplines.

While the discussion held here is very interesting, it is not winning any of
us the brownie points it could be earning in a quality academic journal. I
suggest we (the us who need to) stop it right now and convert it.  I don't
know who on this list may be planning proposals for an Australian Learning
and Teaching Council (ALTC - old Carrick) competitive grant round in
November, if any.  There is not much lead time left given that at my
university the internal closing date is early October, but I do think this
conversation suggests a proposal: That we research the state of visual
knowledge and scholarship in several universities, including some Australian
ones.  Eklins did a bit of a study in Ireland, and found that science
disciplines used more visual material than the arts (bizarre isn't it?) If
anyone is interested, I would be happy to project manage a proposal and
project - (as if I'm not doing anything else).  I'd  also welcome inclusion
in an alternative proposal if anyone has something more advanced.  To be
successful a proposal would need to show broad applicability to Australian
Higher Education, though inclusion of international universities would be a
definite advantage.  

Clearly there is a problem of admissibility v usefulness of knowledge that
needs research. The definition of knowledge has become so narrow, that
fields like design, sustainability, health, education and finance seem to
suffer in the academy. I suggest a focus on the idea of visual scholarship
would be defined enough for an initial proposal.  If anyone is interested
please let me know.

Hope you find this perspective of interest.

Reference:
Bill Woodman and Dan Krier 'An Unblinking Eye: Steps for Replacing
Traditional With Visual Scholarship '

http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=28938


Dr. Paul Reader,
Frontiers and Boundaries Research Strategy Project
School of Humanities,
University of New England
+61 (04) 1000 8077
[log in to unmask]