Rethinking materialities in higher education

Mäkelä, Maarit; Löytönen, Teija

doi:10.1386/adch.16.2.241_1

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Special attention should be given to its potential use in educational settings (Putnam, 2015). We predict that using VR devices to support learning through the memory palace can greatly enhance learning experiences (in line with: Mäkelä & Löytönen, 2017;Heersmink & Knight, 2018). Not only that, but activities which are traditionally seen as boring, like the rote learning of words from a foreign language, would potentially become a lot more fun because of the engaged, bodily interaction.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Misplacing memories? An enactive approach to the virtual memory palace

Peeters

Segundo-Ortin

2019

Consciousness and Cognition

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In this paper, we evaluate the pragmatic turn towards embodied, enactive thinking in cognitive science, in the context of recent empirical research on the memory palace technique. The memory palace is a powerful method for remembering yet it faces two problems. First, cognitive scientists are currently unable to clarify its efficacy. Second, the technique faces significant practical challenges to its users. Virtual reality devices are sometimes presented as a way to solve these practical challenges, but currently fall short of delivering on that promise. We address both issues in this paper. First, we argue that an embodied, enactive approach to memory can better help us understand the effectiveness of the memory palace. Second, we present design recommendations for a virtual memory palace. Our theoretical proposal and design recommendations contribute to solving both problems and provide reasons for preferring an embodied, enactive account over an information-processing treatment of the memory palace.T against the background of the so-called 'pragmatic turn' in cognitive science. The pragmatic turn signals a move towards conceiving of cognition as dynamic, embodied and enactive and away from cognition as information-processing (Engel, 2010;Engel, Maye, Kurthen, & König, 2013). Reframing how we think about the cognitive underpinnings of memory will help in the design of the virtual memory palace.What is the advantage of examining the memory palace from the perspective of embodied, enacted cognition? We provide two related incentives. The first stems from the observation that current cognitivist investigations into the workings of the technique, which are based on the information-processing paradigm, have not shed sufficient light on why it is so powerful, as we will elaborate in the next section. 1 This opens the door to the consideration of an alternative paradigm. The second and related reason is that the memory palace, because it leans heavily on memory scaffolding through environmental resources, calls for a cognitive framework which places the role of the body in the environment front and centre.Keeping in mind the pragmatic turn, our paper develops as follows. In Section 2, we will examine current cognitivist approaches to the memory palace technique and show how they are unable to explain its dynamics, concluding that there is, as we call it, an Explanation Problem. Following this, we will argue in Section 3 that current attempts to operationalize the memory palace in virtual reality fall short, because they depend on cognitivist understandings of the technique. Call this the Operationalization Problem. Because addressing the Operationalization Problem first requires addressing the Explanation Problem, we turn to the latter in Section 4, where we argue that an enactive account of the memory palace captures the technique better than its cognitivist rivals. This sets the stage for Section 5, in which we address the Operationalization Problem by presenting design recommendations for designers of virtual memor...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Misplacing memories? An enactive approach to the virtual memory palace

Peeters

Segundo-Ortin

2019

Consciousness and Cognition

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“…As a consequence, on the second implementation of the course, in spring 2019, more detailed information about the design assignment as well as possibilities of toolkits in relation to materialisation and the use of senses, was offered. Mäkelä and Löytönen (2017, 255; see also Helminen et al . 2016; Sanders & Stappers, 2014, 6) highlight the significance of materiality in learning design, especially in higher education.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Unifying physical materiality in a design process, that is to feel, touch or build with concrete material, has proved to be a usable method, especially with non‐designers (Helminen et al . 2016; Mäkelä & Löytönen 2017). In the introductory lecture to the design assignment, it was clarified that a physical toolkit can consist of some concrete tangible material or tools that for the user enable actions of making, such as drawing sketches or building constructions (see also Sanders & Stappers 2014, 6), whilst a virtual toolkit is usually used with a computer or with a mobile phone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Generative Design Methods: Higher Education Students Developing Toolkits

Kärnä-Behm¹

2022

Int J Art Design Ed

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In order to achieve successful products and services, design research nowadays is searching for new methods that unify collaboration between professional designers and future users. Developing and using these new design methods is also of interest in design education. In this study, design toolkits are developed to practise participatory design with a user‐centric orientation. The purpose of this study is to analyse a case in higher education where students of art and design aimed at becoming craft teachers developed toolkits in design situations appointed beforehand. The literature review of the toolkit shows that a diverse and multidisciplinary field of applications has been developed. The data of the study consist of 24 virtual or physical toolkits made by the students as well as their reflections on their work. The results showed that executing a design process where students in a design situation had to enter into the future user's world creates empathy for designers. Also, various elements connected with the unifying of senses and physical activities were built into the toolkits as well as certain game‐like features. The results of this study can be used as basic data concerning making educational insights in design education in higher education.

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“…They also referred to their materials as a resource to learn a craft skill. In connection to the concept of experiential knowledge, students argued that listening to the voice of the materials can become a significant way to learn new knowledge, since "the material teaches the craftsman about its capabilities and limitations" (reflection by a computer science student), (See also Mäkelä & Löytönen, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Focusing on the experience aspect of material engagement can significantly contribute to the meaningfulness of our material interactions. Understanding materials experience is important for designers and design students as through these, they can ideate and develop new products or user experiences (Karana, Barati, Rognoli, & Zeeuw van der Laan, 2015;Tung 2012;Mäkelä & Löytönen, 2017;Nimkulrat, 2010;Pedgley, 2019).…”

Section: The Role Of the Materials In The Process Of Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying Material Interactions to Facilitate a Sense of Being with the World

Aktaş¹,

Groth²

2020

Proceedings of DRS

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Material interactions are fundamental to design and craft education; however, they might also provide opportunities to reflect on sustainable behaviour in general. In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary undergraduate course in which students interacted with clay and wool. By engaging novices in material-based craft processes, we examined renewed ways of experiencing the materials to reconsider our everyday material interactions and our dependency and responsibilities in regard to materials in general. Through this example, we discuss the potential of craft practice as an educational platform to discuss materiality and to facilitate a deeper and more holistic understanding of the consequences of our material behaviour beyond the creative practices. The students' reflections over the five weeks touched upon their renewed appreciation of materials, and their changed interactions with materialsmoving towards a dialogical stance rather than only using them as a means to an end.

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Rethinking materialities in higher education

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Misplacing memories? An enactive approach to the virtual memory palace

Misplacing memories? An enactive approach to the virtual memory palace

Learning Generative Design Methods: Higher Education Students Developing Toolkits

Studying Material Interactions to Facilitate a Sense of Being with the World

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