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2.4.6.

To develop a pedagogic framework for design education.

Booth et al. (2015) referred to previous efforts by others to reduce inhibition. These included the requirement for sketching activity during homework activities and through the hybridised use of manual and digital tools. They also referred to another

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method that appeared successful: “to draw a dream house prior to a concept generation

activity,” (p4) and, according to Pable (2008), the use of art-based techniques.

Booth et al.'s (2015) paper presented their experiment into reducing sketch inhibition among undergraduate engineers. It required them to engage in sketching workshops monitored using galvanic skin response (GSR) and followed up with a NASA TLX questionnaire to establish emotional response to the process. Workshops included addressing,

“tools, lines and weights, perspective, Boolean construction, context, and motion. For tools, we provide each student with a blue watercolour pencil and an ultrafine/fine, dual-tip marker pen. We instruct students on how to draw straight lines in one stroke, and how to make different line weights with their tools,” (p5).

The GSR and NASA TLX tests proved, “generally positive and suggested that the students

felt less inhibited... (participants) reported that the workshop ‘made me feel relaxed’ and it allowed ‘your mind to run free’… liking the easiness of the workshop, liking the freeness of it, and having general positive feelings such as it being ‘fun’,” (Booth et al. 2016, p16), “89% of the students reported liking the workshop. Many reported feeling more at ease, or feeling freer,”

(p14). In addition to this experiment, Booth et al. (2016) reported observations from Schmidt et al.'s (2012) experiments with mandatory sketching during tasks: “this

increased the rate at which students reported sketching to be important,” (p4).

Hu et al.'s (2015) use of fine art-based exercises among inhibited subjects also returned positive results:

“those who did a warm-up prior to ideation had a decrease in stress, especially for those

who were personally familiar with the design problem. The art activities especially improved engagement for younger participants. We also saw that females who used the art-based activities reported lower mental workload during ideation and greater pride in their sketches,” (p1).

Interestingly, some aspects of drawing activity were deemed unhelpful in reducing inhibition. Booth et al. (2016), suggesting,

72 “they should deemphasize sketch rendering and delay perspective drawing until a later date, since this increases the cognitive load…. the use of perspective may be a difficult skill for students to master, which has been historically true for artists as well,” (p20).

Cognitive load was an issue for participants, and appeared to increase with the use of sketching: “learning new skills increases the difficulty of a task,” (Booth et al. 2016, p19, from Lawson & Dorst, 2009). They also reported that “mental demand and effort decreased

over the semester,” (Booth et al. 2016), suggesting the possibility that increased sketch

fluency might reduce mental load.

Pastoral support was considered important - Booth et al. (2015) observed “the need for

continual encouragement and practice in order for certain habits to stay,” (p9), confirming the

benefits of ongoing skill maintenance - workshops that included the provision of

“practice time, and heavily emphasize context, motion, ambiguity and speed in sketching,”

(p20). They referred to Van Passel & Eggink's (2013) study which “used a supportive

educational atmosphere and found that fostering the confidence of students tended to help them acquire sketching skills more quickly,” (from Booth et al. 2015, p4). Booth et al. (2015)

reporting, “While the first module addresses inhibition related to a lack of skills, other types of

inhibition were still being reported by students. Consequently, we developed a second module to address personal, intellectual, social, situational, and comparative inhibition,” (p4).

In conclusion

2.5.

The literature provided an enlightening underpinning to the study, despite there being very little specific extant data on sketch inhibition. The value of the mind mapping activity was doubtless, identifying areas of literature that benefitted and contextualised the study.

Unexpected was the extent of the benefits of the sketch, the data supporting its use during ideation, copious and unquestioned. The positive, symbiotic relationship

between sketching and creativity became evident early on, this aiding the processing of large amounts of information during design problem-solving activity. It enabled the effective framing of design problems, (typically being fuzzy and complex), and

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provided a supportive visual bridge between knowledge and concepts during the growth of ideas.

The functions of the sketch during ideation were numerous. Its use as a tool for reflection, manufacture, conscription and for the communication and storage of information (cited in various forms), suggested a tool far more critical to successful design than first thought. Its ambiguity enabled representation of thought whilst allowing for reinterpretation – a quality not present in other forms of communication. It also appeared an effective decision-making tool, through visual representation, amplification of issues and consideration of developed knowledge. Group scenarios during the design process, including those across multiple disciplines, could be

facilitated by the sketch. Being depictive it could offer universality, (unlike spoken and written language), and could be used either alone or be supported by other such methods of communication.

Identification of micro processes was insightful and allowed for understanding of the cognitive activities within sketching: moves, arguments, vertical and lateral

movements and the process of seeing and reflection identified actual mind activity at any point in time. The cognitive support sketching offered the short term (working) memory and its ability to convey visual imagery was also invaluable. The literature proved without a doubt that without the sketch, design ideation activity could be severely hampered.

The acquisition and maintenance of a sketching skill-set required it to be taught – it was not an intuitive activity, and as the literature on language suggested, it had to be learned and practiced. The ability to utilse sketching effectively required experience, quality of output affecting perception and standard of outcome: the better the sketch, the better the design. Sketching speed and its place in cognitive support was

interesting - experience in its use allowed the brain to process it without self- consciousness, allowing thoughts to unfold. Without expertise, aesthetic of sketch output would be the prime consideration of the designer, not the thinking behind it,

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again affecting design quality. Increased quantity of sketch output was also considered beneficial, helping prevent fixation and enabling effective apprehension of design knowledge.

The literature pertaining to design education identified many weaknesses around the teaching and learning of sketching. The largely positivist approach to HE appeared to be at odds with the complexity of design problems, thereby relegating creative

subjects, and by default, sketching. The lack of consistent teaching between (and even within) FE and HE institutions, students often left to find their own way, with little success. Tutors, themselves without the drawing skills they needed, were unable to impart the required level of skill set within their students. The confusion and abrasion between fine art and design drawing often resulted in designers being taught only observational skills in a fine art tradition, a void where discipline-specific skills should exist.

Many educators appear unaware of the cognitive and micro-functional benefits of sketching during ideation, (these certainly not taught in studio sessions). Teaching time often leans towards imparting digital tools in preparation for employment, but the needs of employers are being failed by graduates having poor sketching ability. Digital tools appeared to have their place, and the development of sketching hardware could offer a useful hybrid between the clinical aesthetic of current software and the

traditional sketchbook.

Expectation of students towards their HE experience has changed in recent years and continues to do so. Their affinity to the digital and intolerance of anything other than immediacy mean the persistence and dedication to a non-digital activity have become unfashionable. This could present an opportunity for a different approach to teaching and learning: one based on cognitive and micro-processes and the support they offer the designer during ideation. The isolated nature of the modular system also appeared problematic, enabling students to tick-off learning activities and move onto the next

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without maintenance of learned skills – this would also suggest that embedding activities throughout courses needs to be more effective.

The literature also suggested that the 3d model could be considered as a sketch, and this needed to be further considered. Although not included within the definition of the sketch at the outset of the study, its benefits to design knowledge representation and concept development were in no doubt.

Although the literature fulfilled much of Phase I, (objectives 1-3), sketch inhibition was still largely an anomaly. The literature offered glimpses of its existence in the few papers that addressed it, together with some evidence of its types, cause, nature and effects. However, the data was limited and further research to a level of saturation was necessary. The primary research would therefore need to address specifically:

Objective 4: the extent of sketch inhibition as a phenomenon and whether this is problematic to the design process,

Objective 5: the nature, common causal factors and effects of sketch inhibition among designers, and,

Objective 6: a pedagogic framework for design education.

The proposed methodology for this, (including the reasons it had to be revised and redeveloped), are presented in the following; Chapter 3: The Methodology.

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Chapter 3: The Methodology

Introduction

3.1.

This chapter deals with the approach to data gathering and analysis in response to the objectives. As research rarely forms a tidy process, (this, a clear characteristic of the entire study), a linear route of methodology, data gathering and analysis did not happen, and the initial methodology was almost entirely scrapped. As such, the initial approach as presented for formal review is introduced, together with a critique of the proposed methods. The development of a more appropriate methodology is presented in depth, including an epistemological underpinning to the new approach which enabled a more robust and effective study.