Biographies in talk: A narrative-discursive research approach

This paper demonstrates the contribution a synthetic narrativediscursive approach can make to understanding biographical work within a research interview. Our focus is on biographical work as part of the ongoing, interactive process through which identities are taken up. This is of particular interest for people who, for example, are entering a new career and can be seen as “novices” in the sense that they are constructing and claiming a new identity. Following a discussion of the theoretical and methodological background in narrative, discourse analytic and discursive work in social psychology (e.g. Bruner, 1990; Edley, 2001; Potter and Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell, 1998), the paper presents an analysis of biographical talk from an interview study with postgraduate Art and Design students. Our interest is in their identity work, including biographical work, as novices in their fields. The analysis illustrates the approach and the key analytic concepts of, first, shared discursive resources, such as interpretative repertoires (e.g. Edley, 2001) and canonical narratives (e.g. Bruner, 1991), and, secondly, troubled identities (e.g. Wetherell and Edley, 1998; Taylor, 2005a) . It shows how speakers’ biographical accounts are shaped and constrained by the meanings which prevail within the larger society. For our participants, these include established understandings of the nature and origins of an artistic or creative identity, and the biographical trajectory associated with it. The particular focus of our approach is on how, in a speaker’s reflexive work to construct a biographical narrative, the versions produced in previous tellings become a constraint and a source of continuity.

Metacognitive Transcendence in the Learning of the Project Activity of Design through the Sketchbook Visuality

This article aims to report the transition from intuitive to intentional projective activities in design recorded in the visual modes of sketchbook to analyze the metacognitive processes of design students. Phenomenography was used as an empirical sampling method to diagnose the sketchbooks of industrial design and graphic design students. The observation criteria focused on describing the metacognitive characteristics of the students with respect to the way they recorded their ideas visually, which showed design-specific projective actions. This research demonstrated and codified how students externalize intentional approaches in their sketchbook iterations, which can be grouped into three representation strategies: technical, methodological, and reflective; they are related to their experiences in projective activity. Consequently, we propose a new category called metacognitive transcendence, which refers to a strategy for controlling and regulating cognitive processes to transform an intuitive action into an intentional action mediated by a cognitive artifact: the design sketchbook. Three ways of metacognitive transcendence are suggested: instrumental (technical aspects), procedural (related to projection), and comprehensive (own reflection about the project itself).

Using a Brand Identity-Focused Project Structure to Improve the Competencies of Product Design Students

It is essential to reflect the strategic connotations of the brand on the products while creating and developing a product design that fits the brand identity. Therefore, for a company, it is a critical issue to place the right messages that support the strategic brand identity in the design elements. From the designers' point of view, they are expected to have design skills such as analyzing a brand's uniqueness and brand knowledge and reflecting the results of these analyses on the aesthetics, function and overall meaning of the product. For this reason, as a part of the Industrial Design curriculum, brand identity focused product design has been restructured in Atılım University, Industrial Design program. In this studio course, the aim was for design students to acquire skills of brand identity and product identity analysis, in addition to basic design knowledge and skills. During 16 weeks, the data were collected by doing a participant observation and conducting semi-structured interviews with the course students. The data gathered from the semi-structured interviews and participant observation were analysed by using an inductive coding approach. Thus, product design suggestions that were suitable for the identity of the brand were analysed with the questions asked by the instructors during the design process. The results show that the questions asked by the instructors and the examples they gave, led the students to research, think, question, understand and make sense of the importance of information. As a result, the students obtained design outputs suitable for brand identity.

Measurements of Intercultural Teamwork Competence and Its Impact on Design Students’ Competitive Advantages

Main issue: This article aims to measure intercultural teamwork competence and assess its impact on career competitive advantages for design students in order to determine how effective and competitive team members are in culturally diverse settings. Sampling: there were 51 participants (48 effective) in pretesting and 405 (338 effective) in formal testing. Participants were students from three colleges of design in Zhejiang Province of China. Statistical tool: this study used the on-line platform of wenjuanxing (wjx.cn) for data collection and SPSS software for data analysis. Methods: data were collected through on-line questionnaires, and then processed through factor analysis, t-test, and stepwise regression. Results: (1) TWC-CQ scale was formed to measure intercultural teamwork competence; (2) there were no statistically significant differences among participating design students (junior and senior) in intercultural teamwork competencies; (3) key competitive advantage = 0.347 × T-behavioral CQ + 0.232 × T-metacognitive CQ + 0.172 × T-motivational CQ + 0.124 × T-cognitive CQ. Conclusions: intercultural teamwork competence and its positive impact on design students’ competitive advantages could be measured. Implications: theoretical and practical implications were summed up for future studies.

Disruption of IoT in Adapting Online Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic

When it comes to education, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a major effect, particularly on distance learning techniques that must be completed online. It also applies to Architecture and Interior Design students in the planning and design studio lecture activities, which were formerly carried out offline in the studio but are now required to be carried out online from their individual residences, as part of the online learning methodology. Various difficulties encountered in architectural and interior planning, as well as design studio lectures, need students' adaptation via the use of virtual reality and digital technology. There are numerous restrictions in terms of visual and digital communication, ranging from the use of technical equipment to the facilities held by lecturers and students. The research used a qualitative descriptive approach, in which data was gathered via questionnaires, with the respondents being architecture and interior design students who answered the questions. According to the findings of the research, the adaptation of online lectures is not only a virtual and digital issue, but also a physical and non-physical one that requires consideration. When it comes to architectural and interior planning and design studio courses, virtual and digital changes have an impact on the learning process and the quality of learning results. Physical adaptation necessitates the provision of supporting resources in the form of tools and equipment to aid in the delivery of classroom lectures. Non-physical adaptation includes changes in time, patterns and methods of learning, behavior, psychology, and the internet network, as well as changes in the internet network itself. In future studies, it is necessary to do more in-depth study on behavioral and psychological adjustments and perspectives.