G'day -
Can anyone out there help with tales of unusual (negative?) initiation
problem-sets?
Looking at some of Schon's work on the novice learner and the
impossibility of their grasping the THING I have started to look for
traditional ways of establishing both the negative feeling (I can't do
this) and the pathway to confidence (gee, I've done it).
The PhD novice is in just such a situation, even though they have
already mastered (one presumes) general aspects of what it is to be a
designer (or whatever).
Thinking back I can come up with an example of a teaching/laerning
problem (see below). I am wondering if other people might be able to
point to other such structures.
And - to get to the PhD point - does anyone have or know of a similar
type of problem that can be set for novice PhD students?
Comsteel, in Newcastle, Australia, has used, in its apprentice shop
training, a foundation task known as "E and F". This task probably has
its origins in the British company of Vickers, original owners of
Comsteel.
In this task the apprentices are required to make a set of sheet metal
characters, E and F, out of eight inch plate, using only a flat file, a
vice, and a hacksaw. Rulers, set squares and markers are of course
allowed. The E and the F must be able to be fitted from both sides so
that daylight cannot be seen between the two parts. Until the
apprentices have completed a fair E and F, they are not allowed out of
the workshop ("boystown") and onto the general plant.
keith russell
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