innovating capability for (deweyan) continuity ...ys328py8875/...innovating capability for (deweyan)...

INNOVATING CAPABILITY FOR (DEWEYAN) CONTINUITY

OF INQUIRY IN THE FACE OF (ZIMBARDOEAN)

DISCONTINUITY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ENGINEERING

EDUCATION RESEARCH:

FOSTERING COLLABORATIONS WITH UNDERSERVED

COMMUNITIES IN THE DEVELOPING REGIONS OF THE

WORLD

A DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING

AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES

OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Bhavna Hariharan

August 2011

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/ys328py8875

© 2011 by Bhavna Hariharan. All Rights Reserved.

Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

ii



http://purl.stanford.edu/ys328py8875

I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequatein scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Sheri Sheppard, Primary Adviser


David Beach


Syed Shariq

Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies.

Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education

This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file inUniversity Archives.

iii

“[T]here is no breach of continuity between operations of inquiry and bi-

ological operations and physical operations. “Continuity”... means that

rational operations grow out of organic activities, without being identical

with that from which they emerge. There is an adjustment of means to

consequences in the activities of living creatures, even though not directed

by deliberate purpose. Human beings in the ordinary or “natural” pro-

cesses of living come to make these adjustments purposely, the purpose

being limited at first to local situations as they arise. In the course of

time... the intent is so generalized that inquiry is freed from limitation to

special circumstances.”

-Dewey, J., Logic: The Theory of Inquiry, 1938, p. 19

iv

Abstract

Growing awareness of the crises faced by underserved communities in the developing

regions of the world has led engineering educators to reflect on how they can con-

tribute solutions to the basic needs of such communities. Student engineers today

are searching for opportunities to work with communities in the developing world to

improve the living conditions of the multitudes who suffer chronic poverty and live in

desperate conditions.

The research in this thesis was inspired by the experiences of students working on

a project aimed at creating sustainable prosperity through the introduction of visual

literacy in a chronically poor community where it was found that such research collab-

orations can prove to be overwhelming. Viewing these disruptive experiences from the

perspectives of Zimbardo’s discontinuity theory showed that such unbounded learn-

ing environments that expose students to disorienting experiences of discontinuity

restrict the students’ ability to learn.

Viewing the experiences of Zimbardoean discontinuity through Dewey’s philoso-

phy of education led to the creation of a research inquiry space that identified the

feasibility of restoring continuity of learning through innovation in engineering ed-

ucation research and practices. In this space student and teacher experiences can

be visualized as a function of the learning environment and modes of learning and

teaching.

Engineering education research and practices currently face open questions about

preparing students for working with developing communities safely and enabling them

to continue learning. This dissertation attempts to respond by asking the following

two questions:

v

1. How can the experiences of discontinuity be shifted to learning experiences?

2. How do student engineers learn under such conditions?

To answer these questions, a research project was conceived that brought to-

gether undergraduate engineering students at Stanford University and a community

of handloom weavers from a chronically poor village in India to collaborate on an

engineering design problem faced by the community. The students and weavers to-

gether addressed the challenge of creating retrofits for the handloom to make it more

ergonomic. The project was implemented in accordance with a framework that was

developed to incorporate five project parameters for creating a safe learning environ-

ment.

The research project data was collected in the form of entries made in reflection

journals by the student participants. A coding scheme was developed to observe

and analyze the shift from experiences of discontinuity to experiences of learning.

In response to the two research questions, the analysis showed that the research

project was successful in providing a learning environment that enabled the student

engineers to transition out of discontinuities and learn in that process. The learning

mechanism was found to be an augmentation of the Deweyan inquiry process resulting

in continuity of learning.

The future research directions emerging from this project are the creation of a

curriculum as well as a learning environment. These will prepare student engineers

to work sustainably on problems of the developing world, through collaborating with

and learning from local communities. Continued commitment from engineering re-

searchers and educators will, in time, help build sustainable, trusted, collaborative

relationships with underserved communities and encourage them to explore their own

creative potential to help solve their problems.

vi

Acknowledgements

This dissertation is the result of love, guidance and nurturance given to me uncon-

ditionally by many. I don’t believe that I have words to adequately express my

gratitude, BUT I am going to try anyway!

This work would not have been possible without the students and the weavers who

participated in this research project. Without them and their sincere commitment,

this work would have been an idea and not a reality. Many thanks to the NGO and

all the weavers and their families for giving me this opportunity. I would have been

lost without the assistance of my young translator who not only was my translator

but also my friend.

The research inquiry of this thesis was made possible by the guidance of the

research team of the Co-DiViNE project who initiated me into the world of multi-

disciplinary research. A very special thanks to the student-interns. I cherish our

friendship.

My research journey was housed in a very special ecology at the Kozmetsky Global

Collaboratory. Thanks to all my colleagues (Neeraj, Chris, Tea, Malte, Jean-Yves

and Idriss) and all the senior scholars (Ade, Janine, Cliff, Kerstin and Jennifer) who

continue to encourage and enrich my scholarship. KGC would not be the nurturing

space it is without Stacy. The love and support you have extended to me are much

appreciated. A very special thanks to Katherine who taught me the art of organizing

my thoughts and putting them on paper.

I would like to thank my defense committee for supporting my work and helping

me reflect on it and improve it. I would like to thank Dave for his patience and for

making me feel excited about my work. To Jim, I am grateful for your provocative

vii

comments and insights that have given me much to contemplate. To Sheri, thanks for

your kindness, patience and gentle guidance, ensuring that I bring rigor and clarity

to my ideas and research. Thank you for believing in me and standing by me through

this research journey. To Shariq, all I can say is thank you. You have been my friend,

philosopher and guide since I came to Stanford. You have helped me find myself, my

practice and encouraged me to express my ethics and aesthetics.

To all my friends who listened to me, talked to me and gave me the gift of their

friendship, this dissertation would not be what it is without your input. Your presence

in my life has made it fun and worth living!

To Anu and Prachee for being my friends and partners in me becoming a ‘people

centric’ designer. To Ashwini and Madhuri, a very special thanks for listening to these

ideas in their infancy and supporting me as they matured. To Aditi for commiserating

with my dissertation joys and woes. Colleen, thank you dearest friend for teaching

me compassion and for giving me my special advisors, Abbie and Ollie. To Vivek,

there is very little I don’t say to you, thanks for being there always!

To my parents, my grandparents, my cousins and all my family who gave me my

values and made me who I am, saying thanks is silly. I hope that this work will make

you proud.

To the members of my household, Vikram and Patch, I love you both. You give

meaning to my life. This dissertation is dedicated to you.

viii

Contents

Abstract v

Acknowledgements vii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Engineering Education Research (EER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Overview of the Dissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 The Co-DiViNE Project 9

2.1 Co-DiViNE Project Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2 Co-DiViNE Project Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.1 Theory and Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2.2 Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.3 Training of the Co-DiViNE Student-interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3.1 Aims of the Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3.2 Training Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.3.3 Reflections on Co-DiViNE Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.4 Co-DiViNE Beyond the Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.3.5 Reflections on the Co-DiViNE Experiences . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.4 Insights from the Co-DiViNE Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3 Discontinuity, Dewey and Co-DiViNE 23

3.1 Zimbardo’s Discontinuity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.1.1 Discontinuity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

ix

3.1.2 Discontinuities in the Co-DiViNE Project . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2 Co-DiViNE as a Learning Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.3 Deweyan Pragmatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.3.1 Trans-action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.3.2 Deweyan Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.3.3 Co-DiViNE viewed from a Deweyan lens . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.4 Visualizing the Research Inquiry Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.4.1 Description of the Research Inquiry Space . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3.4.2 Student-Teacher Experiences in the Research Inquiry Space . 34

3.5 Insights for future projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.6 Research questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4 Project Parameters 38

4.1 The Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4.2 Design (RtD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4.3 Participation of a developing community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4.4 Affordance to engender trust and support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.5 Balancing Active Doing and Undergoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.6 Active Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.6.1 Parameters of the Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5 Project Implementation Methodology 44

5.1 The Requirements of the Implementation Method . . . . . . . . . . . 44

5.2 Selecting Community Practitioners (Part A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

5.3 Selection of Student Interns (Part B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5.4 Establishing Collaboration Logistics (Part C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

5.5 Implementing the Design Cycles (Part D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

5.6 From Framework to Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

6 Implementation of the Research Project 53

6.1 Selecting the Community Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

6.1.1 Field Visit 1 - Community Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

x

6.1.2 Field Visit 2 - Need Finding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

6.1.3 Field Visit 3 -Community Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6.1.4 Result of Field Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

6.2 Selection and Training of Student Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6.2.1 Selection Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6.2.2 Training of Student Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6.3 The Design Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

6.3.1 Design Cycle 1 - Lumbar Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

6.3.2 Design Cycle 2 - The Mock Pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6.3.3 Design Cycle 3 - The Surfboard Pedal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

6.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

7 Data Analysis 73

7.1 Pre-Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

7.1.1 Factors Influencing Selection of Pre-Analysis Method . . . . . 75

7.1.2 Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.2 Data from the Research Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.2.1 Student Practitioner Reflection Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.2.2 Other Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.3 IPA Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.3.1 Steps of Pre-Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.3.2 Applying Pre-Analysis Methods to Student Practitioner Journals 79

7.3.3 Summary of Pre-Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

7.3.4 Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

7.3.5 Coding System Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

7.4 Applying the MFCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

7.4.1 Identifying key concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

7.4.2 Defining the key concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

7.4.3 Identifying representations of key concepts . . . . . . . . . . . 85

7.4.4 Re-reading the data for modifying current variables and iden-

tifying additional variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

xi

7.4.5 Specification of the Coding Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

7.5 Applying the Coding Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

7.6 Answering the Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

7.6.1 Analysis for Research Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

7.6.2 Analysis for Research Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

7.6.3 Reinforced Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

7.6.4 Emerging pattern of transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

7.7 Summary of Analysis Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

8 Results 100

8.1 Overview of the Research Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.2 Research Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.2.1 Resolved Discontinuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.2.2 Unresolved Discontinuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8.2.3 Influence of project parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8.2.4 Response to research question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

8.3 Research Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

8.3.1 Deweyan Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

8.3.2 Augmenting the Deweyan Process of Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . 112

8.3.3 Evidence Supporting the Augmented Process of Deweyan Inquiry114

8.3.4 Response to Research Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

8.4 Summing up of Responses to Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 119

9 Future Work 122

9.1 Future Directions of the Research Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

9.1.1 Technology and face-to-face interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

9.1.2 Community Practitioners as Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

9.2 Future Research in Engineering Education Research . . . . . . . . . . 123

9.2.1 Visualizing the Research Inquiry Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

9.2.2 Coding Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

9.2.3 Augmented Process of Deweyan Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

9.3 Advancing Engineering Education Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

xii

9.3.1 Project Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

9.3.2 Developing Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

9.4 In Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

A List of Research Publications to Ensure Sustainability of the Co-

DiViNE Research Project Intervention 128

B Criteria for Selecting Co-DiViNE Student-Interns 139

C List of Research Publications read by Co-DiViNE Student-Interns 141

D Timeline of Research Project Design Cycles 143

E Research Project Budget 146

F Questionnaire for Selection of Student Practitioners 148

G List of Research Publications read by the Student Practitioners and

Reflection Guide 150

Bibliography 153

xiii

List of Tables

6.1 Summary of Field Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

6.2 Summary of Design Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

xiv

List of Figures

2.1 The Four-Step Co-DiViNE Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.2 Bridge Community of Student-interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3 Planned Phases in Training of Co-DiViNE Project Student-Interns . . 16

3.1 Research Inquiry Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.1 Project Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5.2 Project Framework Divided in Four Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

5.3 Steps in Selecting Community Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5.4 Steps in Selecting Student Practitioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

6.1 Weaver sitting in the ‘pit’ of the Pit Loom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

6.2 A Stand Loom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

6.3 Dyed and Measured Yarn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

6.4 Warp threaded through the eyes of the Beater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

6.5 Schematic of the ‘Two-Towers’ Chair (Scan from Student 1’s Journal) 67

6.6 Prototype of ’Two-Towers’ Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

6.7 The Mock-Pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

6.8 The Surfboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

6.9 The final Surfboard in Koyalagudem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

7.1 Examples of V.O.E or discontinuity in journal of Student 1 . . . . . . 81

7.2 Meta Framework for Generating a Coding Scheme (MFCS) . . . . . . 84

7.3 Format used to Tabulate Coded Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

7.4 Distribution of Discontinuities over Duration of the Research Project 93

xv

7.5 Student 2 - Discontinuity 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94






7.11 Transition from Discontinuity to Renewed Action . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.1 Diagrammatic Representation of Deweyan Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . 114

8.2 Updated Model of Deweyan Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

xvi

Chapter 1

Introduction

Engineering is not merely knowing and being knowledgeable, like a walking

encyclopedia; engineering is not merely analysis; engineering is not merely the

possession of the capacity to get elegant solutions to non-existent engineering

problems; engineering is practicing the art of the organized forcing of technological

change... Engineers operate at the interface between science and society...

-Gordon Brown (Former Dean, School of Engineering, MIT)

Even as we witness exponential technological advancement, society continues to

be plagued by serious and complex humanitarian issues. Unprecedented prosperity

is accompanied by chronic poverty, malnutrition, deadly diseases and wide spread

political conflicts. The United Nations in tracking the Millennium Development Goals

[1], has estimated that 920 million people will be below the international poverty line

(estimated at $1.25/day) in the year 2015. About a billion people are expected to

suffer from malnutrition and half the population in the developing regions of the world

is likely to have no access to clean drinking water [2].

As technologically mediated social networks have shrunk the world, it has become

difficult if not impossible to be impervious to the realities experienced by people

across the globe [3]. This social connectivity has also made it easier for like minded

people to act on problems that they find compelling. Thus the arena of development

1

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 2

has become more accessible to individuals and groups from all walks of life and it

makes the need and the motivation to act more apparent and immediate.

Emergence of groups such as Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)1, Engineers

Without Borders (EWB)2 and Engineers Against Poverty3 reflect efforts made by the

engineering community to find ways of making meaningful contributions to complex,

global problems. At the heart of the these organizations is a desire to create an

equitable, sustainable future by mobilizing engineers around the world.

Student engineers are also becoming aware of global issues and are increasingly

expressing their commitment to take on these challenges. The presence of student

chapters of ESW and EWB in numerous universities and colleges in the United States

is a testament to their enthusiasm and concern. There is further evidence from a num-

ber of academic institutions that students are increasingly demanding more courses,

debates, discussions and modes of engagement on global issues and sustainable de-

velopment [4].

The need for engineering solutions to complex world issues has brought into focus

the ability of engineering students to successfully engage with such problems and de-

liver responsible solutions. Sheppard, et. al. in their Carnegie Foundation sponsored

study on Educating Engineers: Designing for the Future of the Field convey it suc-

cinctly: “Because engineers’ work directly affects the world, engineers must be able

and willing to think about their ethical responsibility for the consequences of their

inventions in an increasingly interlinked world environment” [5].

Recent literature in the field of Engineering Education has highlighted the need for

change in engineering curriculum. In the centennial issue of the Journal of Engineer-

ing Education (Jan 2011), an essay on how to engage future engineers suggests that

“engineering education has a funny, maybe even neglectful relationship to people”

1ESW was formed in 2001. The vision of the organization is to ”improve both the quality of lifeand the condition of the planet” (http://www.eswusa.org)

2EWB is used by several Non Profit Organizations across the globe to describe their engineeringactivities in service to international development. The first such organization was created in Francein the 1980. The first US based group was established in 2001 (http://www.ewb-usa.org)

3EAP is an NGO founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Department for Inter-national Development in UK. Established in 1998, the group has focussed on eliminating povertyand promoting sustainable development (http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org)


and there is a call to re-imagine engineering education as something more “socio-

technical” [6]. This necessitates rigorous engineering education research to advance

fundamental understanding of the nature of today’s increasingly socio-technical en-

gineering work, as well as translating this understanding into curriculum that will

better prepare student engineers to successfully and sustainably contribute solutions

to global problems by taking into account both the social and technical challenges

associated with them.

1.1 Engineering Education Research (EER)

Engineering Education is a blend of “the familiar routines of its lec-

ture halls, the hands-on exercises of its laboratories, and the collaborative

design challenges of its studio settings.” -Lee Shulman [7]

For 100 years, the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) has been

a forum for researchers to anticipate and share the changing needs of engineering

students in the face of dynamic social settings. As such the focus of Engineering

Education Research (EER) has been on advancing research inquiries on understand-

ing how students learn to be engineers, and on the need for a systematic effort to

improve the learning experience of student engineers. EER includes investigation

and creation of teaching tools and environments that make learning more effective

and relevant within the contexts that student engineers experience. Another signif-

icant research inquiry of the EER community is understanding how students learn

to become engineers. This fundamental research inquiry has brought EER scholars

to work closely with experts from the field of learning and education [8]. Further in

light of a National Academy of Sciences’ study on The Engineer of 2020 [9], there

has been a call to focus research on engineering epistemologies, learning mechanisms

and systems, diversity in engineering, and assessment of the quality of engineering

education [10]. EER therefore is posing a broad range of research questions, while

seeking to converge on knowledge and insights for producing effective curricula for

engineering students. This is echoed in a paper by Baillie on advancements in engi-

neering education practices, “Research in engineering education is not an end in itself


but seeks to improve educational practice” [11].

EER has evolved over time to focus on to the needs of engineers in response to

the techno-social changes in the profession. A case in point is the literature identify-

ing the managerial skills expected of engineers in contemporary working places. The

global nature of engineering work has made it necessary for engineers to be skilled

team players, have decision making abilities, leadership skills and openness to work-

ing in multi-cultural settings [12][13]. These needs are now being taken up by the

engineering education research community through an effort to develop required skills

among student engineers through their engineering curriculum [14]. Identifying what

it means to be a successful engineer is the starting point of research into how to inte-

grate formation of these skills into the curriculum. The challenge is including these

professional and interpersonal skills in ways that complement the technical excellence

required of engineers.

A similar effort is needed to establish a curriculum aimed at building competency

in student engineers to work with developing communities. In their paper on looking

at engineering and development over the years, Lucena and Schneider show that the

phenomenon of developed nations assisting developing countries to build technolog-

ical infrastructure is not new. These efforts can be traced back to the Cold War

period. The intention of such interventions was politically driven, barring groups like

Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) that had a more socially driven vision.

It was not till the 1970s that global problems like poverty reduction, access to clean

water and nourishment became the focus of engineering projects. It was still later

in the 1990s that sustainability and social justice became the foci of engineering for

development activities [15].

In the current context, despite the focus on community needs and equality, en-

gineering projects often fail to effect lasting change and yield sustainable solutions.

Using a case study approach, Nieusma and Riley were able to show how current

paradigms of engineering projects in developing communities fail to meet the targets

they set out to achieve: “The end result is a situation in which outsiders arrive with

an agenda for change, they implement that agenda, and then they depart, fully in-

tending that the host community will continue to follow their agenda. To be sure,


such agendas are typically conceived in the interests of the local community members;

there need be no conspiracy here. Nevertheless, after implementing their projects,

almost all development organizations eventually and according to the plan, leave”

[16].

Achieving sustainable solutions, ensuring student learning and including the par-

ticipating community as equal stakeholders poses a complex problem. Engineering

curriculum currently focuses almost exclusively on technical expertise [17] while ignor-

ing or failing to take into account the broader cultural, economic and socio-political

context that the community is embedded in. What is required today is imagining a

different approach of working with developing communities. An approach that does

not undermine the community, but rather, one that builds on the local context and

expertise.

Development of a new curriculum that can bring student engineers and a develop-

ing community together remains an open question in engineering education research.

As such, the process of creation of such engineering education curriculum needs to

begin with, first and foremost identifying the pertinent engineering education re-

search questions that must be answered before the needed curricula can be designed

and implemented. Research is required to identify, among other things, how these

communities can have greater participation and how students will learn from a refor-

mulated, more collaborative set of design projects. This dissertation is an attempt

to answer these questions. It presents the creation of a research environment, that

safely brings together student engineers to collaborate with a developing community

on a design project, redefining the distinction between designers and consumers. A

key consideration of this research environment are the characteristics of design in-

teractions among the participants. The dissertation gives a theoretically reasoned

argument for the characteristics of a safe research environment, a framework for set-

ting up a collaborative design project and finally, analyzes the learning experience of

the student engineers. A more detailed outline of the dissertation follows in the next

section.


1.2 Overview of the Dissertation

Chapter 2 begins by describing a multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural research project

called Co-DiViNE carried forward in India and one that originally instantiated the

need and importance of the research that is being addressed in this dissertation. The

project was aimed at creating ‘visual literacy’ in chronically poor, preliterate commu-

nities as a way of developing indigenous aspirations of the community, for identifying

and supporting the implementation of development projects locally to create sus-

tainable prosperity. The author participated in the project as a research assistant

bringing design-engineering knowledge and practices to assist with prototyping the

project in a field site in southern India. The experiences and challenges faced by

the author in her role as a student engineer engaging with a development project are

the highlight of the chapter. An in-depth description of the challenges and the skills

needed by student engineers to overcome them, evolved as the basis of the research

inquiry pursued in this dissertation. The possible reasons for why student engineers

lack such skills, and how the needs of student engineers can be addressed by evolving

engineering education is addressed in the subsequent chapters through the research

carried forward within this dissertation.

Chapter 3 takes up a theoretical understanding of the challenges and problems

encountered by the student engineer that were described in Chapter 2. Philip Zim-

bardo’s Discontinuity Theory is employed in combination with John Dewey’s Philoso-

phy of Education to analyze the challenges encountered in the Co-DiViNE project as

disruptive circumstances that interrupted learning of the student participants of the

project. The theoretical analysis results in a visualization of a research inquiry space

for supporting learning of student engineers under disruptive circumstances. This

research inquiry space can be viewed as a possible way for exploring, identifying and

contextualizing emerging engineering education research opportunities. The chapter

concludes with an articulation of the research questions driving the research inquiry

of this dissertation forward.

Chapter 4 presents a discussion on the parameters of a research environment

that would support learning in Co-DiViNE like projects where student engineers


collaborate with a chronically poor community in developing regions of the world on

engineering design problems. These parameters are arrived at by reflecting on the

learning experiences in the Co-DiViNE project and by drawing on the theoretical

implications of the Co-DiViNE project.

Chapter 5 provides a framework for creating the characteristics of the research

environment as described in Chapter 3. Particular attention is paid to the selection

of the design team (comprised of student engineers and members of a chronically

poor, indigenous community) and the selection of the design problem to be addressed

by the team.

Chapter 6 follows with a description of one instantiation of the framework pro-

posed in Chapter 5. The design team in this case comprised of student engineers at

Stanford University and handloom weavers from a village in south India. The chapter

details the field-trips undertaken by the author to identify a field site and members

of the community who would be part of the design team. It also details the selection

and training of student engineers. Finally it describes the design, engineering and

fabrication activities of the design team over three design cycles spanning a duration

of seven months.

Chapter 7 is dedicated to the identification and specification of the methodology

and its use in analyzing the data collected from the project. The first part describes

the development of a data analysis method that draws on methods development

paradigms from other fields, particularly emotion coding schemes used in couples

therapy. The remainder of the chapter is dedicated to analyzing the data collected

over the course of the project to answer the research question stated in Chapter 3.

Chapter 8 concludes and summarizes the research inquiry undertaken in this dis-

sertation. It highlights the results and their implications for the field of engineering

education research and the practice of engineering education. It provides a qualita-

tive assessment of project parameters (described in Chapter 4) in creating a nurturing

learning environment, overcoming the challenges that were experienced by the stu-

dent engineer in the Co-DiViNE project. It also presents a learning mechanism that

is derived from, and adds to, the work of John Dewey on education and learning by

extending his concept of Inquiry to incorporate a mechanism on how beliefs change,


and how it results in new knowledge creation.

Chapter 9 completes the dissertation with a discussion of research questions emerg-

ing from this dissertation and suggestions for implementing the findings of the disser-

tation in engineering education, through the development of pedagogy and research

to support the next phase of inquiry that follows from this dissertation.

Chapter 2

The Co-DiViNE Project

In this chapter, a brief outline of Co-DiViNE (Community Digital Vision and Voice

Narrative Enactment), a multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural research project and the

challenges it encountered in it are presented. These challenges, which instantiated

the need and importance of further research, are the root of the research inquiry

pursued in this thesis.

2.1 Co-DiViNE Project Introduction

In 2005 the Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory, an interdisciplinary research program

dedicated to accelerating the creation of shared global prosperity at Stanford Univer-

sity, initiated a pilot project called Community Digital Vision and Voice Narrative

Enactment (or Co-DiViNE, for short). Co-DiViNE was aimed at creating sustainable

prosperity in chronically poor oral communities. It was conceived to explore ap-

proaches for introducing video technology as a medium for articulating aspirations of

oral cultures, and for accelerating the advancement of indigenously initiated, sustain-

able forms of prosperity. It created and prototyped a new field research methodology

using a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural research team. The project was imple-

mented in collaboration with two universities in South India in close proximity to a

chronically poor village community that served as a field site. The author was on the

research team as a research assistant. Senior researchers from Stanford University

9

CHAPTER 2. THE CO-DIVINE PROJECT 10

and UCLA from the USA and from the local universities (University of Hyderabad

and Gandhigram Rural University) were also on the research team. They represented

disciplines as varied as design, computer science, operations research, political sci-

ence, institutional economics and folklore studies. The pilot was completed in May

2007.

As a member of the Co-DiViNE research team, the author had the following

responsibilities:

• Assisting in communicating with the research team in India

• Assisting the senior researchers in implementing the project

• Training student-interns who would act as a bridge between the village commu-

nity and the research team at the field site.

The Co-DiViNE project was an attempt to enable active participation of chroni-

cally poor communities in research projects. To avoid bringing a pre-conceived agenda

to the field, the research team intended to create a system employing visual technol-

ogy that would enable the community to articulate their aspirations and visions of

change for their community to achieve a sustainable level of prosperity.

Participation in this project gave the author a first-hand experience of the chal-

lenges involved in collaborating with a chronically poor, indigenous community situ-

ated within a developing region of the world. It was an opportunity to observe the

possible learning mechanisms and challenges faced in creating engineering projects in

collaboration with such a community. Pritchard and Baillie articulated the implica-

tions of such challenges faced by engineering education as “What does an engineering

education experience look like, for students and faculty alike, that globally reflects

the goals of social equity, justice and sustainability without merely adding on courses

or options but as implicit and underpinning criteria in their overall engineering pro-

grammes and individual courses?” [18].

In the course of designing and implementing the training for the student interns

and the subsequent unfolding of the Co-DiViNE project, the author recognized the

opportunity for, and necessity of future research, that could lead to the design of


engineering education opportunities to prepare future student engineers to engage in

collaboration with the indigenous communities.

2.2 Co-DiViNE Project Background

2.2.1 Theory and Method

One of the research premise underlying the Co-DiViNE project was that the absence

of a written language keeps oral cultures chronically poor. Studies of communities

living in chronic poverty have shown that most are predominantly oral [19] in that they

do not have a system of symbolic communication in the form of a written language.

In communities where a written language exists, the poorest of the poor are mostly

illiterate. Availability of a suitable medium to externalize existing knowledge so that

it can be shared, archived and revised has been shown as a major contributor to

making modern economies prosperous [20].

In accordance with this understanding the Co-DiViNE project was conceived to

explore approaches for introducing video technology to oral cultures to accelerate the

advancement of an indigenously created, sustainable form of prosperity in chronically

poor communities. Thus Co-DiViNE pursued a new solution for addressing chronic

poverty, focusing on the use of visual media to help people in these communities to

externalize their knowledge, reflect on it and articulate their aspirations.

The Co-DiViNE method consisted of four steps. These are shown in Fig 2.1. The

first step was to teach the oral community how to use visual technology tools (pri-

marily a video camera). This was followed by individual members of the community

using the video cameras to capture their self-narratives. Those who chose to share

the narrative with the community at large would do so in the third step. Finally the

community as a whole would reflect on what they had seen and experienced. Over

time, it was envisioned that such discussions would lead to the emergence of com-

munity aspirations for creating indigenously rooted solutions to problems that the

community had been facing. The community could then reach out to universities and

not-for-profit organizations (also called non-governmental-organizations or NGOs) for


Figure 2.1: The Four-Step Co-DiViNE Method

collaboration and assistance in implementing the solutions at which they had arrived.

The four-step Co-DiViNE method was tested in a field site through a rapid proto-

type that was conducted over a period of twelve days in December 2006 in Jallipatti

Village in Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state. More than twenty people from the

village were trained to the use of visual technology and a total of five self-narratives

were screened at the community viewing session. During the community reflection

session, the community debated some of the problems raised in the narratives. One

problem in articular, regarding a leaking water tap was discussed at length. The stag-

nant water accumulated around the tap was causing health problems for the families

living in close proximity to it. After several hours of self-moderated discussions, the

session was concluded with the community members agreeing on a course of action to

address the problem and agreeing on a plan to implement the solution by contributing

money towards replacing the broken tap with a new one.


2.2.2 Sustainability

To ensure that the Co-DiViNE project fulfilled its mission of creating a sustainable

change, the original literature review to support the design of Co-DiViNE included

a study of the longevity of the impact of Co-DiViNE-like efforts. (For a complete

list of research publications included in the Co-DiViNE project literature review, see

Appendix A.) It was evident that research projects flourished in a community as long

as the research team was present in the field. Once the research team withdrew, most

projects stopped because they had failed to be integrated into the everyday life of

the community. A knowledge gradient was perceived by the community. They felt

that “expert knowledge carries status, prestige and power” [21] and hence accorded it

greater importance and credibility than their own leadership. This had the unfortu-

nate consequence of the community belittling their own knowledge and expertise and

acquiescing to the needs perceived by the research team. This knowledge hierarchy

created by the presence of a research team composed of professors and senior research

scholars was seen as a major contributing force to the absence of sustainability in such

projects.

To avoid this particular phenomenon in the Co-DiViNE project, it was decided

that a bridge community of two student-interns would interface between the research

community and the village as shown in Fig 2.2. Two student-interns were selected

from one of the partnering Indian Universities (for selection criteria see Appendix B).

The student-interns were pursuing Masters degrees in Rural Development from the

partnering universities and came from rural communities themselves. As part of their

coursework, the student-interns were trained to work in villages and were familiar

with ways to build rapport. They were also knowledgeable about how to conduct

research projects and familiar with the ethics of doing research with a vulnerable

communities. Their familiarity with the local language, customs and culture at large

was seen as essential for maintaining a co-equal relationship between the village and

the research team.


Figure 2.2: Bridge Community of Student-interns

2.3 Training of the Co-DiViNE Student-interns

2.3.1 Aims of the Training

The training of the student interns was intended to achieve three primary objectives:

1. Technology Training: The student-interns had no previous experience with

the use of video cameras or video editing software. Since their primary role

was to act as technical assistants to the village community, it was necessary to

train them in the use of these tools. The training thus included learning how

to use video cameras to create high quality visual self-narratives. The training

also included learning to use a video editing software on a laptop computer.

They were trained to edit files, create transitions and add English subtitles to

enable the research team at Stanford to understand the content of the visual

self-narratives.

2. Practical and Theoretical Understanding of Methodology: Since the

student-interns would be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the

project, it was necessary for them to be thoroughly conversant with the four-step

Co-DiViNE methodology. Acknowledging that the student-interns might need

to make decisions in unanticipated situations arising in the field, the training

also included training in the theory behind the methodology. Familiarizing the


student-interns with the theoretical background and research questions associ-

ated with each step of the Co-DiViNE method was deemed critical to ensuring

that their improvisations in the field did not compromise the research.

3. Co-Equal Interactions - Ethics of field work to foster sustainable, in-

digenous solutions: This component was critical for the student-interns to

know how to in addition to what to. The ethics of field work, the vulnerabil-

ities of the community in sharing self-narratives, the importance of nurturing

trust and compassion were taught in the training. The aim was to provide the

student-interns with sufficient exposure to the project ethics and philosophy

while simultaneously making them aware of some of the situations that may

arise as a consequence of implementing Co-DiViNE Project and how they could

and should react to them.

The training itself would follow the process as shown in Fig 2.3.

2.3.2 Training Approaches

The training of the student-interns took place in November and December of 2005

and went through three iterations. Each phase improved upon its predecessor by

addressing specific challenges that arose. The training approaches and the challenges

faced are described below.

1. Approach 1 - Online Training: Since the author and the student-interns

were located in different geographical locations, the first approach was to con-

duct the training online, employing such telecommunication systems as Skype.

A schedule was proposed to accommodate the time difference between the two

locations. The format for the first phase of training was to read a research paper

and discuss it on the conference call.

This approach had a weak beginning. Due to limited Internet access, the

student-interns checked e-mail infrequently and which often created miscom-

munication regarding the date and time of the call. To address this particular


Figure 2.3: Planned Phases in Training of Co-DiViNE Project Student-Interns

challenge, the student interns were provided with a dedicated Internet connec-

tion that improved the situation. Problems in communication, however, per-

sisted. Since Co-DiViNE was a multi-disciplinary project, the reading list for

the student-interns drew from many fields (for a list of papers, see Appendix C).

The students’ unfamiliarity with many of the fields (and hence the associated

literature), resulted in most of the conference time being spent on the novelty of

the papers and understanding the meanings of words rather than on the discus-

sion of concepts. Finding analogies and metaphors that could generate shared

understanding became the primary focus of the calls. Progress in training was

slow.


2. Approach 2 - On Site Training: Since the online training paradigm was

causing more confusion than clarity, a field visit was made by the author to

conduct the training face-to-face.

The training began in a conventional classroom environment. The student-

interns naturally preferred the role of the student and the trainer was thrust

into a teaching role. The attitude of the student-interns was thus deferential

and inconsistent with the co-equal ethic of the project. This interaction also

failed to create a trusted space for free exchange of ideas. Instead, it fostered an

environment where the student-interns felt obliged to take notes rather than ex-

pressing their doubts, asking questions or voicing their opinions. It also proved

to be challenging for the author whose primary goal was to collaborate with the

student-interns as colleagues. It was the aim of the training to demonstrate a

practice of collaboration without hierarchy and this was not being achieved.

3. Approach 3 - Experiencing the Co-DiViNE Method: From critical ex-

amination of the approaches used thus far, it was evident that starting the

training process with a discussion of the multidisciplinary research papers re-

plete with specialized terminology was not working. A change was proposed,

and the training focus was shifted to the technology training phase. An innova-

tion was brought into this phase by the author in consultation with the research

team at Stanford. It was decided that instead of merely reviewing the nuts and

bolts of the video camera and the editing software, the student-interns should

experience the Co-DiViNE method by creating their own visual self-narratives.

The author would train them just as the student-interns would train the com-

munity. This approach proved to be a success. The student-interns learned to

handle the cameras and as they ran into problems with the creation and edit-

ing of their narratives, they asked questions or found solutions by themselves

which they then shared with each other and the author. The screening of the

student-interns’ narratives was done before an audience comprising of the local

research team, the author and the student-interns.


2.3.3 Reflections on Co-DiViNE Training

The success of the third training approach was affirmed by the interaction between the

student-interns and the author during the reflection session that immediately followed

the viewing of the student-interns’ narratives. This reflection process continued not

only for the remainder of the on-site training phase but also throughout the author

and student-interns’ on-going collaboration on the project.

In the reflection session it emerged that having experienced the Co-DiViNE method

in its entirety, the student-interns had a good grasp of it. They were excited about its

potential impact while being equally aware of the vulnerability that they themselves

had experienced in reflecting on their own narratives, and in externalizing it and in

sharing it publicly. The session also gave them an opportunity to reflect on how the

training experience had been an emotionally challenging one.

The reflections made it clear that by employing the word training, it was assumed

by the student-interns that in their role as trainees, they must remain passive. The

fact that the trainer was from a prestigious university in the United States exacerbated

the situation, making them feel even more deferential. This, they said, was how their

own academic institutions expected them to behave.

The author, in turn, was able to share that not knowing how to interpret their

silence and the lack of a collegial experience had been emotionally challenging too.

The lack of collegial participation from the student-interns made her question the

very ethic of the project. If it was difficult to create a collaboration between herself

and fellow student-interns, then what was the hope that such relationships could be

forged between the research team and the village? Allaine Cerwanka’s description of

her doctoral field work in Australia captured the author’s experience very closely. “I

am so tired. I feel like I don’t have the emotional space to register/process all this

stuff; ... nor am I completely willing to, because I’m not sure I can deal with the

emotions. I fear they might take over, and I have a lot of ‘work’ to do” [22].


2.3.4 Co-DiViNE Beyond the Training

Experiencing the Co-DiViNE method made the student-interns and their trainer

aware of their personal narratives. The process of sharing these narratives, engen-

dered trust and enabled all to share their uncertainties, doubts, frustrations and fears

and to discuss their differences openly. It laid a strong foundation for the mutual

trust and goodwill necessary to the collegial collaboration that led to the successful

implementation of the rapid prototype.

The successful completion of training improved the online communication between

the student-interns and the author. The student-interns took trips to neighboring

villages to practice how to interact with the community members, to take oral consent

(as per Human Subjects Research requirements approved by Institutional Review

Board)1, to teach the community the use of video technology and to gather visual

narratives. They also practiced translating the video narratives for use by the research

team at Stanford. In collaboration with the author, they also delved deeper into the

theoretical underpinnings of Co-DiViNE project.

The interaction with the community showed that the community members were

enthusiastic about sharing their narratives. It was also found that the community

learned to use video technology quite easily and were eager to learn more about video

cameras.

The enthusiastic participation of the community and the student-interns was not

mirrored by the senior scholars in India. Their skepticism over the Co-DiViNE ap-

proach, which was very different from their own methods of rural-development work,

lead to the student-interns being subjected to suspicion and treated with distrust by

the senior scholars from the local academic community who were collaborating on the

Co-DiViNE project. This resulted in the student-interns being treated as outsiders

within their local academic community.

1Informed consent is necessary for projects involving human subjects. The standard procedureis to obtain written consent. However, since the communities that were participating in Co-DiViNEwere either oral communities or illiterate, an oral consent was obtained. The student-interns wouldread the consent document in the local language and discuss it with the participants who wouldthen be requested to give his consent orally. This procedure was captured on video and was used asa substitute for written consent


The author and the PI of the project worked with the student-interns and the In-

dian faculty to bridge the growing differences. The joy of the villagers in participating

in the Co-DiViNE project and the trust they established with the student-interns was

the main motivation for persevering with the project for two years despite the ex-

tenuating circumstances created by the senior scholars in India. The attitude of the

Indian scholars did not change until they saw the efficacy of the Co-DiViNE method

during the rapid prototype in 2006 [23].

2.3.5 Reflections on the Co-DiViNE Experiences

Despite the successful completion of the training and a prototyping of the Co-DiViNE

methodology, there remained much room for inquiry, particularly with regard to un-

derstanding of the personal and emotional challenges encountered by the various

participants of the project. The training design had included teaching the theory,

practice and technology of the project, along with the ethics behind the research. It

did not however, anticipate the challenges encountered by students in close interac-

tion with foreign academic institutions and unfamiliar field sites. It failed to prepare

the student participants (the student-interns and the author) for the overwhelming

nature of working in the complex environment of poverty. Student participants risked

experiencing feelings of helplessness resulting from inability to change or alter uncom-

fortable situations. Such disruption can freeze the capacity of students and scholars

to learn and conduct research.

Over the course of the project, several unintended and unanticipated events con-

tributed to the disruptive experiences of the student participants. The selection of

a field site was challenging, as the student-interns had to learn how to interact in a

community with caste and other social hierarchies. In addition, the research team

in India went through changes as some of its senior scholars left the project. The

growing rift between the student-interns and the Indian senior scholars also lead to

emotionally overwhelming experiences.

In spite of some rather grim and challenging problems faced by the student par-

ticipants, their training was successful. The third phase of the training led to the


project’s successful prototyping in the field. In reflecting on what made it possi-

ble for the student participants to persevere with the project, it was clear that the

commitment of all three student participants to work with the chronically poor com-

munities to create sustainable prosperity was their main motivation. The enthusiasm

of the developing community and their eager and quick adoption of video technology

was moving, as was the trust they placed in the student-interns, and through them

in the Co-DiViNE project.

The presence of the chronically poor community provided the motivation for con-

tinuing with the Co-DiViNE project, and trust and support of the senior scholars at

Stanford that allowed for creatively moving forward with the project. The research

team at Stanford gave the student participants guidance and freedom to be creative

in implementing the project. When the originally conceived training approach proved

ineffective, the author had to create alternate approaches and discuss them with the

senior scholars and it was their unstilted support that enabled their eventual success.

In particular, the third phase of the training approach was made by the author while

in the field because of the trust extended by the senior scholars at Stanford. This

support was also offered to the student-interns also from the very beginning, and was

particularly significant when they were experienced difficulty with the senior scholars

in India.

2.4 Insights from the Co-DiViNE Project

The experience of the Co-DiViNE project shows that there are challenges in working

with developing communities and cultures with different expectations of behaviors,

particularly with regard to modes of learning and teaching. The discussion above

indicates that the presence of a developing community and relationships of trust and

support make it possible for such projects to serve as learning experiences. (These

will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.) In order to address the challenges

encountered, the emerging research inquiry at the core of this dissertation wrestles

with the creation of an educational paradigm that balances the dynamism of extreme

social problems in the field setting with the need for a safe learning environment


where students and scholars can thrive, innovate and create breakthroughs.

Chapter 3

Discontinuity, Dewey and

Co-DiViNE

In this chapter, Philip Zimbardo’s Discontinuity Theory is used to understand the

challenges faced by the author in the Co-DiViNE project and John Dewey’s philos-

ophy of education is employed to understand and analyze the learning experience

and the environment of Co-DiViNE project. The analysis is used to further refine

the research inquiry and define the research inquiry space. This clarity is then used

to generate a list of project parameters to create a framework for investigating the

research questions.

3.1 Zimbardo’s Discontinuity Theory

A literature search was conducted to understand better the experience of the student-

interns and the trainer engaged in Co-DiViNE. Several theories were considered.

Carol Dweck’s work on how learners experience failure for the first time [24] was

insightful but its focus on failure alone made it unsuitable. Julia Kristeva’s work on

thetic rupture and abjection [25] was also a strong contender. It had as its central

phenomenon, however, experiences that are identity-altering and that emerge from

experiences of acute abjection in which the fabric of previously experienced life is

completely shattered. Since the experiences in the Co-DiViNE project were not as

23

CHAPTER 3. DISCONTINUITY, DEWEY AND CO-DIVINE 24

extreme as those described by Kristeva, this literature was also considered irrelevant.

Philip Zimbardo’s work on Discontinuity Theory, however, proved to be the most

useful and suitable literature to explain the Co-DiViNE experience. The theory and

its implications for this thesis are presented next.

3.1.1 Discontinuity Theory

Philip Zimbardo’s Discontinuity Theory investigates and proposes a model of how

individuals adapt to aberrant experiences in their lives. He defines discontinuity as

“a violation of the expectation in any domain of functioning highly valued self” [26,

p. 345]. It is an event that proves to be disruptive to the normal flow and pattern of

everyday life.

Experiencing a discontinuity “involves an awareness of a noticeable deviation from

an expected normative standard of how one usually feels, thinks, perceives, or acts

- in those areas that figure into the calculation of one’s global self” [26, p. 351]. It

implies that the discontinuities are felt in cases in which a highly valued self-image

of the individual is threatened. It is only the disruption of patterns to which an

individual is deeply attached, or holds in high regard as an essential character trait,

that creates experiences of discontinuity. The nature of discontinuities is such that

they are not as debilitating as thetic rupture but are disruptive enough to cause an

individual to seek an explanation for the experience in an attempt to restore either

the previously experienced sense of normalcy or a renewed sense of self.

3.1.2 Discontinuities in the Co-DiViNE Project

Zimbardo’s theory offers nine types of “violations of expectations” (V.O.E) as sources

of discontinuity, “each of which typically elicits characteristic affective reactions” [26,

p. 351]. The V.O.E are misfortune, good fortune, magic, miracle, humor, horror,

natural disasters/cosmic perturbations, social deviance, aesthetic value violation [26,

p. 351-352].

The most significant challenges experienced by the author in Co-DiViNE were

during the training of the student-interns. By employing the lens of discontinuity


theory, the discontinuities experienced in the Co-DiViNE project could be classified

as those caused by social deviance. In Discontinuity Theory, social deviance is defined

as “[r]ejection of, anger at a person or group for violating social norms of situationally

appropriate, relevant behavior” [26, p. 352].

• As described in Discontinuity Theory, the violation of appropriate social norms

can cause discontinuity. In the first two training approaches (Section 2.3.2),

the student-interns and the trainer had very different if not conflicting ideas

of what was socially accepted behavior. For the student-interns, the norms of

interaction were a continuance of their previous interactions with local trainers,

which were hierarchical and encouraged passivity. For them, encountering a

training experience that required them to participate as co-equal stakeholders

was a discontinuous experience.

Similarly, for the trainer, the expected norm was to put into practice the non-

hierarchical ethic of the Co-DiViNE project. The lack of collegial participa-

tion and sporadic communication from the student-interns was an experience

of discontinuity. It resulted from experiencing a situation contrary to what was

expected and hoped for.

• Beyond the training, the student-interns experienced discontinuities when they

visited nearby villages. They had to be mindful of the local customs with re-

gard to caste and other social hierarchies. They were, however, also pleasantly

surprised by the ability of the villagers to use video cameras. These discontinu-

ities are attributable to ’good fortune’ and were of a more pleasant nature. The

building of trust with the community and the ultimate implementation of the

prototype were marked by several discontinuities arising from interaction with

the senior scholars in India. The growing rift between the student-interns and

the senior scholars in India made the student-interns feels isolated and unable to

act. It was the responsibility felt by the student-interns towards the community

and the trust and support extended to them by the PI and the research team

at Stanford that enabled the author and the student-interns to continue with

the prototyping efforts.


The discontinuities emerged as a result of the project environment acting on the

student-interns and the author. This environment was comprised of the presence

of the chronically poor community and senior scholars both at India and at

Stanford. The student-interns and the author were also part of each other’s

environment. Unfamiliarity with the environmental parameters and differing

expectations of behavior lead to the discontinuities that were experienced in

the Co-DiViNE project.

It is reasonable to expect that, like the interaction of the trainer and the student-

interns (and subsequently the student-interns and the chronically poor commu-

nity), any student working in a cross-cultural context in the developing world

will encounter similar discontinuities. It is natural to imagine that the differ-

ences in culture, economic status, belief structures and personal histories will

lead to such discontinuities. The research inquiry that naturally follows is:what

will allow the students and scholars to move towards creativity and innovation

while conducting research in culture and communities that impose conditions of

social deviance and discontinuity?

3.2 Co-DiViNE as a Learning Environment

In the previous chapter, it was recognized that Co-DiViNE proved to be a challeng-

ing undertaking for the student-interns and their trainer. Despite the discontinuities

experienced by them, the collaboration continued and led to a successful prototyping

of the Co-DiViNE method. It is evident that despite the distress caused by experi-

ences of discontinuity, the student-interns and the trainer were able to move beyond

the discontinuities and establish a collegial relationship based on mutual trust and

respect. Learning about each other’s differences was possible despite the initial set-

backs. The most important takeaway was acknowledging that the student-interns

and the trainer came from different academic paradigms and the way forward was

to discuss and understand the differences and to create a shared context for moving

forward. Studying how such learning happens and its associated learning mechanism

is integral to the research focus of this thesis.


To begin the process, existing learning mechanisms were studied to see if the Co-

DiViNE learning environment could be explained by any one of them. The seminal

work of John Dewey was selected above all the others because it explicitly focuses

on learning as a result of an interplay between the individual and the environment.

The learning mechanism being investigated here is one in which learners move beyond

discontinuity. As shown in the previous chapter, discontinuities emerged as a result

of the interaction of the student-interns with their trainer and vice versa. The trainer

was part of the environment that the student-interns experienced in their training and

the unanticipated behavioral cues they received resulted in discontinuities. For the

trainer, the student-interns were as much a part of the environment as the research

team in India and the field site. It was their unexpected behavior that caused the

discontinuities. Thus the learning mechanism being sought is one that explains the

learning under the situations in which the environment acts on the individuals in

unexpected ways. Dewey’s trans-actional world view and his particular emphasis on

learning through doing made his work the best point of departure.

3.3 Deweyan Pragmatics

John Dewey is considered one of the leading philosophers of the 20th century. Credited

with shaping the American Pragmatist tradition, he has written extensively about

education, democracy, ethics and aesthetics [27]. It is not within the scope of this

work to present a summary of Dewey’s philosophy. Concepts relevant to this research

inquiry are discussed below.

3.3.1 Trans-action

For Dewey, learning is a social process. It happens as a result of individuals interacting

with the larger social environment in which they are situated. In fact, he went as

far as to claim that education was a means of social continuity. Individuals learned

from society and gave back to it new knowledge that they discovered. For Dewey,

it is an undeniable fact that all individuals grow up in a social medium and thus


understanding learning by isolating the individual from the environment is fallacious:

“As a matter of fact every individual has grown up, and always must grow up, in a

social medium. His responses grow intelligent, or gain meaning, simply because he

lives and acts in a medium of accepted meanings and values through social intercourse,

through sharing in the activities embodying beliefs, he gradually acquires a mind of

his own. The conception of mind as a purely isolated possession of the self is at the

very antipodes of the truth... the self is is not a separate mind building up knowledge

anew of its own account” [28].

His views on learning and education stem from his trans-action world view. It is

a perspective “where systems of description and naming are employed to deal with

aspects and phases of action, without final attribution to ‘elements’ or other pre-

sumptively detachable or independent ‘entities’, ‘essences’, or ‘realities’, and without

isolation of presumptively detachable ‘relations’ from such detachable ‘elements’” [29].

A trans-actional perspective considers a system holistically without attributing inten-

tion or will to individual entities. Entities derive their meaning from the context in

which they are embedded. They are neither given predefined wills or intentions, nor

are they looked at in isolation from the context in which they are embedded.

Trans-action implies treating entities and their action amongst each other and with

the world as a complete unit. In the case of Co-DiViNE, this would mean taking into

account the broader research agenda of creating sustainable, shared global prosperity,

the presence of the chronically poor community, the existing norms of academia in

India and at Stanford, and the personal histories of the student-interns and the trainer

in order to understand how and why discontinuities occurred and how they were

overcome.

3.3.2 Deweyan Learning

A discussion of Dewey’s idea of learning begins with understanding his concept of

Experience. Experience for Dewey is an active-passive affair. It has an active compo-

nent where individuals act on their environment. The complimentary passive phase


is being acted upon by the consequences of their action and other elements in the en-

vironment: “When we experience something we act upon it, we do something with it;

then we suffer or undergo the consequences. We do something to the thing and then

it does something to us in return: such is the peculiar combination [of experience]”

[30, p. 163].

To learn from experiences or for an experience to be a learning experience, it is

necessary for the activity to “continue into the undergoing of consequences, when

the change made by action is reflected back into a change made in us, the mere

flux is loaded with significance, we learn something.” Learning is the creation of

continuities and relationships between actions and their results and consequences.

By moving back and forth between actions and the undergoing, it is possible to learn

about the connections between actions and their effects: “Under such conditions,

doing becomes trying; an experiment with the world to find out what it is like; the

undergoing becomes instruction - discovery of the connection of things” [30, p. 164].

Thus, according to Dewey, a learning experience has two complementary compo-

nents, namely active doing and undergoing. Consistent with the trans-actional point

of view, learning is a combined experience of an individual actively acting on the

environment (whereby the individual can alter and change the context or respond to

a stimulus or problems in a given environment) while simultaneously, the individual

is acted upon by the environment.

3.3.3 Co-DiViNE viewed from a Deweyan lens

The experiences of Co-DiViNE were consistent with the Deweyan trans-actional

frame. The experiences of the student-interns and the author were a result of the

interaction with their environment which included all the project participants and

the village communities. The training described in Section 2.3.1 (in Fig 2.3), the sub-

sequent visits made by the student-interns to the villages and the prototyping efforts

were the active doing components of the project. Each instance of active doing was

followed by an aberrant experience of undergoing, which was more extreme than that

described by Dewey. The environment experienced by the student-interns and the


author was inclusive of all the project participants (including the senior scholars and

each other) and the village communities. Their aberrant experiences of undergoing

were thus a result of their interactions with the environment. As an example, the

active doing of going to the village to practice teaching the use of video cameras

was followed by the environment acting on them in the form of the senior scholars

in India treating the student-interns as outsiders. This experience was emotionally

overwhelming for the student-interns.

In the course of aberrant experiences of interacting with the environment, there

were glimpses of learning: for example were the events following the third iteration of

the training. The active doing component was the creation and sharing of their indi-

vidual video narratives by the two student-interns. This was followed by undergoing

in the form of reflecting on the narratives and thus arriving at the source of their pre-

vious discomfort in interacting with each other. This safe experience of undergoing

coupled with active doing made the discussion about the differences in expectations

between the student-interns and the author a learning experience.

Recognizing the limitations of the training approaches and undergoing the conse-

quences of the training and interaction with the student-interns made those experi-

ences instances of a Deweyan “learning experience”. A balance of active doing and

undergoing was found by changing the training approach to one that involved learn-

ing to use video cameras and creating visual self narratives (active doing) and sharing

the visual self narratives with the author and the senior scholars in India (undergo-

ing). There were other instances of undergoing that arose from from the interactions

between the student-interns and the senior scholars in India. In these cases however

the environment acted upon the student-interns and the author in ways that made

them unable to act and therefore feel overwhelmed.

Dewey’s concern regarding contemporary schools and classroom teaching paradigms

was that they over-constrained the environment for the students and as a consequence

diminished the role of embodied engagement: “In schools, those under instruction are

too customarily looked upon as acquiring knowledge as theoretical spectators.” In fact

he goes on to define a pupil as one “who is engaged not in having fruitful experiences

but in absorbing knowledge directly” [30, p. 164]. Removing undergoing from the


experience of students, he argued, made it difficult to make meaning of experiences

and thus leads to no cumulative growth of learning.

However, the happenings in the Co-DiViNE project showed that learning experi-

ences were hampered by aberrant experiences of undergoing. Specifically experiences

where undergoing predominated to the point that active doing was compromised if

not fully eliminated were experienced as emotionally overwhelming. Dewey did not

specifically address the case where undergoing becomes predominant. These aberrant

experiences of undergoing can be seen as extreme undergoing. Extreme undergoing

is thus an experience where learning is prevented because of the absence of active

doing.

3.4 Visualizing the Research Inquiry Space

As shown in Section 3.1.2, the discontinuities in the Co-DiViNE project arose as a

result of the student-interns and the author experiencing violation of expectation in

training (with regard to their respective roles and expectation or absence of collegial

interaction), and in subsequent interaction with the senior scholars in India. The

discontinuities arose as the student-interns and the author engaged and interacted

with their environment and the environment imposed on them in a way that rendered

them unable to engage in in active doing.

According to Zimbardo’s discontinuity theory, discontinuities can lead to inquiries

that lead to new understandings, but they may also result in confused or biased

searches that can have less desirable outcomes. The experience of discontinuity was

one of uncertainty, in other words confusion about the expected behavior of learning

and teaching (or training) which resulted in inability to proceed with the project. The

discontinuity was overcome (in the case of training) when a new course of action (a

new approach of training) or renewed action was restored to the student-interns and

the author. From a Deweyan perspective, discontinuities were experiences of extreme

undergoing where active doing was either lost or became learning experiences when

the active doing was restored.


What the above discussion points to is that learning experiences (and the train-

ing/teaching experience) are influenced by the interaction between the learner’s ex-

pectations of modes of learning [31, 32] and the environment in which learning is

happening. Learning environments can run the gamut from Deweyan descriptions of

over-constrained classrooms devoid of undergoing to unbounded real-life project set-

tings (like that of the Co-DiViNE project) with the environment imposing extreme

undergoing. Expectations with regard to behavior of students and teachers can be

well established (such as in conventional classrooms) or may need to be created, for

an ideal classroom that Dewey had yearned for as well as for project settings like

that of the Co-DiViNE project if the setting is to become a teaching environment for

student engineers in the future.

This spectrum of learning and teaching experiences can be visualized as a research

inquiry space for studying current engineering education offerings and for developing

and designing the next generation of pedagogy for engineering education curricula as

shown in Fig 3.1.

3.4.1 Description of the Research Inquiry Space

The x-axis (abscissa) of the diagram 3.1 represents the environment of learning. One

extreme, controlled learning environment is representative of Dewey’s quintessential

classroom where teaching paradigm is constrained to minimize, if not eliminate un-

dergoing. The other end represents a Co-DiViNE like environment which is labeled an

unbounded learning environment capable of imposing extreme undergoing. It was dif-

ficult to prospectively anticipate sources or situations of learning in the Co-DiViNE

project. The environment even for the training expanded to incorporate not only

the student-interns and the author but also the senior scholars at Stanford and the

chronically poor community.

The y-axis (ordinate) represents the presence of established modes of learning

for the student and teacher. It represents the range from known, familiar and well-

established modes and behaviors of learning to undefined learning behaviors, for which


Figure 3.1: Research Inquiry Space

methods of learning have to be created (through adapting existing methods or inno-

vating new methods). Familiarity with modes of learning would imply a smaller

possibility of violation of expectation for the student and teachers and would thus

have fewer instances of discontinuity. Contrast that with the situation where modes

of learning are not well established, and it can result in many discontinuities because

the students and teachers may not have similar expectations of teaching and learn-

ing practices, particularly in unbounded learning environments (as was the case in

training in the Co-DiViNE project).

What is captured in the four quadrants are the experiences of the students and


teachers as a combination of their active doing and undergoing. In light of the Co-

DiViNE experiences, it is safe to say that teachers and trainers also experience un-

dergoing in the act of teaching and training their students. What we find in the

research inquiry space is that controlled learning environments as defined by the

teachers create predominantly active doing experiences. This changes however as the

environment becomes increasingly open and ultimately unbounded and the teachers

experience inconcsistent degrees of undergoing.

The experience of the students and teachers in the four quadrants is discussed in

detail in the following section.

3.4.2 Student-Teacher Experiences in the Research Inquiry

Space

The four quadrants can be envisioned as four distinct experiences of student-teacher

learning. These represent:

1. Traditional Learning (SW quadrant)

2. Controlled Learning (NW quadrant)

3. Impaired Learning (NE quadrant)

4. Balanced Learning (SE quadrant)

The Traditional Learning (SW) quadrant represents a traditional classroom

learning environment where the learning methods are well established. This is the

experience in which Dewey argues that the chain between active doing and undergoing

is broken. In his own words, “a separation of the active doing phase from the passive

undergoing phase destroys the vital meaning of an experience” [30, p. 177]. Chances

of violation of expectations are slim and the environment is constrained in favor of

predominantly active doing.

The Controlled Learning (NW) quadrant represents a situation in which the

teaching environment is controlled but learning methods are not well established.

In this situation, the students experience undergoing much more than the teacher


who experiences mostly active doing. Project based learning situations fall into this

quadrant. Students must find appropriate learning methods to suit the projects and

clients with whom they are working with.

The Impaired Learning (NE) quadrant shows a situation in which learning is

impaired since neither learning nor teaching methods exist (as shown in the previ-

ous section)and learning experiences are situated in increasingly open contexts with

projects situated in real life settings. The Co-DiViNE project belonged to this quad-

rant where both the trainer and the student-interns encountered discontinuities in

situations of extreme undergoing.

The Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant shows the case in which balanced learn-

ing practices exist and the learning experiences are situated in the context of real life.

The active doing comes from the well established and expected learning activities.

However, by relaxing the learning environment and opening it up to include more un-

controllable, real-life situations and challenges, undergoing is re-introduced. While,

at the same time, the extreme undergoing that may be present in the context of

real-life situations is constrained, by using the parameters identified in this research

project for designing appropriate teaching curricula in this quadrant (see Chapter 4).

In this quadrant the students are likely to have mostly “learning experiences” as per

Dewey’s definition that is a balance of active doing and undergoing.

3.5 Insights for future projects

The experience of the student participants of the Co-DiViNE project shows that they

were unprepared to address the challenges they were facing during the research pro-

cess since their education (in engineering and other disciplines) had not prepared

them to address the situations they were facing. What can be discerned from the

discussion in this chapter is that despite the challenges posed by experiencing discon-

tinuity due to extreme undergoing, there were a few instances of learning experiences

where renewed action was restored. The resolution of the discontinuity happened

through restoration of the active doing component of the learning experience. It fol-

lows that having a predetermined active doing component that can be continued in


the event of extreme undergoing would be critical to ensure continued learning for

the student while working in developing communities. Making sure that there is a

readily accessible active doing component would enable a balance of active doing and

undergoing to be reached faster.

The other significant insight that can be drawn from Discontinuity Theory and

Dewey’s Philosophy of Education is the role of reflection. The Co-DiViNE project had

a built-in mechanism of reflection for the communities making visual self-narratives.

When the student-interns experienced the Co-DiViNE method, they too reflected with

the author on the training experiences and their narratives. As reflection became part

of the practice of their collaboration, it played a major role in making meaning of the

extreme undergoing of the interaction with the senior scholars in India. Zimbardo

in his description of the search process that follows the experience of discontinuities

says that “the ordinary person in the throes of dealing with a subjectively significant

discontinuity does not have the training, the luxury of reflection time, nor the detached

perspective of the scientist” (emphasis added) [26, p. 355]. He posits that reflection

is one of the key aspects of preventing discontinuity-driven searches from becoming

biased and leading to false conclusions, or, in extreme cases, resulting in phobias, self-

doubt, and delusional behaviors. Dewey uses thinking and reflection interchangeably.

He has this to say of the two terms (knowledge and belief): “In discovery of the

detailed connections of our activities and what happens in consequence, the thought

implied in cut and try experience is made explicit. Its quantity increases so that its

proportionate value is very different. Hence the quality of the experience changes;

the change is so significant that we may call this type of experience reflective – that

is, reflective par excellence” (emphasis in original text) [30, p. 170]. For him, “ No

experience having a meaning is possible without some element of thought” [30, p. 169].

A learning experience will not have meaning if it is not reflected upon. Without

thinking about the relationships between actions and their consequence, knowledge

creation and embodying the ability for future action is lost. Sustainability of what

has been learned comes from reflecting on learning experiences and establishing a

continuum in learning. Active reflection is therefore key to any future endeavors that

bring student engineers to work with developing communities.


3.6 Research questions

The research inquiry at the core of this dissertation can be stated as two questions.

1. How can the experiences of discontinuities (as extreme undergoing) be shifted

to learning experiences? Transitioning from discontinuity to renewed action will

be indicative of that transition. Four parameters (participation of a developing

community, affordance to engender trust and support, balancing active doing

and undergoing, and active reflection) have so far been identified by reflecting

on the learning experiences in the Co-DiViNE project (Section 2.3.5) and from

drawing on the insights from the theoretical interpretation of the Co-DiViNE

project in this chapter. Incorporating these parameters should enable transition

from discontinuity to renewed action.

2. How do student engineers transition from discontinuity to renewed action? How

can Dewey’s theory of learning be used to explain the learning in the learning

experience? If the environment enables the student engineers to have learning

experiences by transitioning from discontinuity to renewed action, it should be

possible to understand the learning mechanism of that transition.

With reference to the Research Inquiry Space described in Section 3.4.1, the re-

search project undertaken in this thesis attempts to create the conditions for shifting

the experience of engineering students working with developing communities from the

Impaired Learning (NE) to the Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant and to understand

how learning happens in that scenario. It is envisioned that the findings of the thesis

can serve as a basis for designing the needed engineering education experiences to

more adequately prepares student engineers for the challenges they will be facing in

working with developing communities in the future.

In order to address these two questions, a research project was conceived that

would create a nurturing environment by incorporating the previously identified pa-

rameters (see Section 3.5) and would enable the experiences of discontinuity as ex-

treme undergoing to become learning experiences. The parameters are discussed in

detail in the following chapter.

Chapter 4

Project Parameters for Safely

Experiencing Discontinuities

In the previous chapters challenges encountered by students working with a developing

community were discussed. Some parameters that could make future projects more

effective learning environments emerged from Chapters 2 and 3. A discussion of these

and additional parameters is presented in this chapter.

4.1 The Parameters

As stated in the previous chapter, the two research questions of this dissertation are,

how can the experience of discontinuities (as extreme undergoing) be shifted into

learning experiences and how does learning happen in the transition from disconti-

nuity to renewed action.

Despite the challenges of the Co-DiViNE project, learning was possible. As seen in

Section 2.3.5, learning was made possible due to two attributes in particular. The first

was the feasibility of collaboration with a chronically poor community and the second

was the trust and support provided by the senior scholars at Stanford. Application of

theoretical lenses of Zimbardo’s Discontinuity Theory and Dewey’s Learning Theory,

two further attributes were discerned. These were active reflection and finding a

balance between active doing and undergoing as seen in Section 3.4.2. The selection

38

CHAPTER 4. PROJECT PARAMETERS 39

of an appropriate method to conduct this research by incorporating the previously

identified parameters was necessary.

What follows is a discussion of these four attributes as parameters of a research

project to bring together student engineers at Stanford University and a developing

community. These parameters (participation of a developing community, affordance

to engender trust and support, balancing active doing and undergoing, and active

reflection) should provide a nurturing environment that will prevent the environment

from becoming as disruptive as was the case in the Co-DiViNE project. By incor-

porating these parameters discontinuities may occur but should be resolved more

readily. The aberrant experiences of extreme undergoing should be prevented and

learning experiences should be possible.

The first research question thus can be expressed as how do the parameters in-

fluence the resolution of discontinuities for the students participating in the research

project. If the parameters are able to prevent extreme undergoing and enable learning

experiences, the second question regarding how the learning happens will be answered.

4.2 Design (RtD)

In addition to the four parameters recognized from Co-DiViNE and its theoretical in-

terpretation, a fifth parameter is necessary. Since this research aims at contributing

to the education of engineers, an engineering design problem was selected as the focus

of the project. Among existing paradigms of research in engineering design, the Re-

search through Design (RtD) approach was selected. RtD is a paradigm that employs

methods from design practice to achieve the desired results and is recognized by Zim-

merman et.al that it “lends itself to addressing these [complex] problems through its

holistic approach of integrating knowledge and theories from across many disciplines”

[33]. As such, RtD is well suited for application to a complex problems encountered

in the developing world.

Further, it was decided that instead of designing for an indigenous community,

the design team would include members from the community itself. This innovative

approach was inspired/motivated by the book Educating Engineers: Designing for


the Future of the Field by Sheri Sheppard et. al. where the authors state, “The

shift from an outside to an inside perspective can be understood as a shift from

engineering for “them” to engineering for “us”. Although this new point of view

may be disarming, at the same time it holds the potential to inspire new thinking,

for a shift from an outside to an inside perspective highlights the complex social,

physical and informational interconnections” [5]. Instead of serving the community

or abstracting their problems out of their natural context and delivering solutions

that may be difficult to integrate into the local culture, this approach would explicitly

make the community contribute their local knowledge and expertise and participate

in solving their problems in collaboration with the student engineers.

Making members of the community part of the design team had the added advan-

tage of introducing design practices to the community. Instead of receiving a product,

by experiencing the design process, the community might over time, learn to apply

design practices by themselves to different aspects of their lives.

4.3 Participation of a developing community

For the Co-DiViNE project, the presence of the chronically poor community served

as the impetus to actively seek answers and solutions and persevere with the project.

As indicated in the previous section, this presence could be incorporated much more

directly by including community members in the design team. It would make the

presence salient and the cross-cultural experiences more direct.

To that end, undergraduate students pursuing Mechanical Engineering or Product

Design at Stanford University would form the design team along with members of a

developing community. It was not within the scope of this thesis to train students

with the necessary engineering design skills. Therefore, to ensure that the students

had the necessary technical depth, only upperclassmen were invited to participate.

To ensure equal participation from students and the community, it was decided

that the number of participants representing the two groups would be of the same

size. In the interest of minimizing co-ordination the number of participants in each

group would not exceed three. The number three was decided based on prior work


showing that smaller teams work better than larger teams and a team of three was

found to be most effective [34]. It was also agreed that at least two students and

two members of the community would be present. This would allow the two groups

to work by themselves in their respective home locations and then come together to

work collectively using emails, telephone, and postal services.

4.4 Affordance to engender trust and support

The collaboration between the student-interns and the author would not have been

possible during the Co-DiViNE project without the trust and support extended to

them by the Stanford research team. It allowed the author to innovate and experiment

with the training method in response to how it was being received by the student-

interns. Without the unmitigated encouragement and enthusiasm given by the senior

researchers, the trainer would not have been able to model and practice the co-equal

ethic of Co-DiViNE.

To ensure that the student engineers participating in the research project had the

same affordances, the PI of Co-DiViNE was requested to be an adviser to this project

and be available to talk and consult with the student engineers. Furthermore, the

author, would work within the project in the capacity of setting up the design team,

preparing the student engineers to work with the developing community and oversee

the progress of the project and if needed facilitate the interactions of the design team.

4.5 Balancing Active Doing and Undergoing

To ensure that all members of the design team could in equal parts experience both

active doing and undergoing, an engineering design problem would be identified such

that it would allow both the students and the representatives of the developing com-

munity to participate from their respective areas of expertise. This need was satisfied

by identifying a problem faced by the indigenous community that could be addressed

through engineering design solution.

A problem that fit the above criteria would allow the members of the developing


community to contribute by bringing local knowledge and local context to the design

solutions. They would be referred to as community practitioners since they would be

contributing their expertise and skills.

Similarly the students would contribute their technical knowledge and design skills

and be referred to as student practitioners.

4.6 Active Reflection

Acknowledging that in the Co-DiViNE project it was the post narrative viewing

reflection session that gave the student-interns and the trainer an opportunity to

articulate and resolve the discontinuities they had been experiencing, active reflection

was made an integral part of the research project. The student-practitioners were

asked to keep a journal. In this they were asked to record daily, their project related

activities and then reflect on them.

Prior research has shown that journaling is an effective way of enabling student

reflection. It has been used effectively by researchers trying to understand processes

of reflection and the role of reflection as an educational practice. A case in point

is the work done by Richardson and Maltby with nursing students doing summer

internships. They found that, “The experience of diary writing is seen to promote

both the qualities required for reflection, i.e. open-mindedness and motivation, and

also the skills, i.e. self-awareness, description and observation, critical analysis and

problem-solving, synthesis and evaluation” [35].

This approach is also consistent with the Deweyan notion that learning from

experience happens as a result of acknowledging the continuity of active doing and

undergoing. By maintaining a daily reflection journal, the student-practitioners would

have an account of the unfolding of their actions and the reactions they elicit. The act

of journaling, would serve as an opportunity to articulate discontinuities and identify

possible sources for them, which in turn might lead to articulation of how renewed

action and active doing becomes possible.


4.6.1 Parameters of the Framework

This chapter identified five project parameters for shifting experiences of student

practitioners from discontinuity to renewed action. These were:

1. Research through Design (RtD)

2. Presence of a developing community

3. Balancing active doing and undergoing

4. Active reflection

5. Trust and support

The next chapter (Chapter 5) presents a framework to incorporate the five pa-

rameters discussed here into a design project that can shift the collaboration among

student practitioners and community practitioners from the Impaired Learning (NE)

quadrant towards the Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant (see Section 3.4.2) will be

discussed. One instance of incorporating and implementing this framework through

the research project carried forward in this thesis is detailed in Chapter 6.

Chapter 5

Project Implementation

Methodology

The previous chapter proposed five parameters necessary to create a supportive learn-

ing environment that should allow the student practitioners to experience and resolve

discontinuities through renewed action, while working with a developing community.

This chapter will discuss an approach for incorporating the parameters into a frame-

work for a project that will be used to test and verify that the parameters achieve

the necessary conditions for safely experiencing discontinuities and sustainable col-

laboration, and could serve as a template for such projects in the future.

5.1 The Requirements of the Implementation Method

Five parameters were identified in the previous chapter that would create a safe

learning environment for students working with developing communities. These were:

1. Design team to comprise of both students and members of an indigenous com-

munity

2. Student participants to engage in a balanced experience of active doing and

undergoing

3. Student participants to engage in active reflection

44

CHAPTER 5. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY 45

4. Project environment to embody affordances for trust and support

5. Project to employ Research through Design (RtD) methods and approaches

A proposed framework to establish a collaborative design project between students

and an indigenous, chronically poor community is shown in Fig 5.1. It was developed

with the RtD approach at its roots, with an aim to engage the student and community

practitioners as designers collaborating on a project. The basis of the project would

be to involve the student and community practitioners in a design project. A problem

faced by the community on an everyday basis would serve as the design problem.

Figure 5.1: Project Framework

Broadly speaking, the framework consists of the following stages:

• Selecting the design team: In a typical design project selecting the design team

would be one step. In this case however, it involves selecting the community

practitioners and the student practitioners. The two selection processes would

be different and will thus be dealt with individually in the subsequent sections.

• Establishing collaboration logistics: The main concern here is creating a sched-

ule for communication. Reflecting on the Co-DiViNE experience, establishing


a rhythm of communication is imperative. Another major issue is the use of

technology. Determining what technologies (cellphones, Internet etc.) are most

easily accessible to the community practitioners must be taken into account to

ensure smooth communication.

• Implementing the design cycles: Starting with an appropriate design problem,

the design team will work together to come up with a design solution to their

chosen problem.

The three stages described above are grouped in four parts (A, B, C and D) as

shown in Fig 5.2. Each of these four parts will be taken up and described below in

the Sections 4.2 through 4.5 respectively.

Figure 5.2: Project Framework Divided in Four Parts


5.2 Selecting Community Practitioners (Part A)

The process of selecting community practitioners begins with identifying a commu-

nity that is indigenous, chronically poor and located in a developing nation. Many

communities, unfortunately, fit this description. To narrow the field of selection, for

the purposes of ensuring a balance between active doing and undergoing for the com-

munity practitioners, a craftsmen community that has a strong practice associated

with their livelihood is preferable. This would enable the community practitioners to

contribute to the design team as experts of their craft.

For ease of collaboration and being mindful of the duration of the project, a com-

munity with a relationship with a trusted NGO presence would be ideal. The NGO

collaboration is necessary to get an introduction to the community. This reasoning

was consistent with the thought behind partnering with academic institutions that

had a strong practice component in Co-DiViNE. Since the author and the Kozmet-

sky Global Collaboratory at Stanford University had interacted with several NGOs

in India, it was decided that the community be located there.

The next step after identifying a potential community to collaborate with, is to

visit the community to observe and interact with them in their natural context. This

would afford a chance to experience the local culture and get a first hand account of

their day to day needs. It would also be an opportunity to scope a potential design

problem that the design team could address. Being in the field would also set real-

istic expectations with respect to the complexity of the poverty that the community

is experiencing. It is essential to understand the reality of the lives of the commu-

nity practitioners so that it will be possible to anticipate the nature and extent of

undergoing in the project for the student practitioners.

The selection of the community practitioners is completed by presenting the

project, it’s goals and objectives along with a detailed explanation of the commu-

nity practitioners’ roles and responsibilities if they chose to volunteer as participants.

This presentation would be possible after extended association with the community

leading to a trusted and honest relationship between researchers and the community.

As stated in the previous chapter, in the interest of minimizing co-ordination costs,


a maximum of three community practitioners would be invited to participate in the

project. However, a minimum of two community practitioners are essential to enable

them to discuss the project and their roles and experiences with each other.

The process for the selection of the community practitioners (Part A) is visually

summarized in Fig 5.3.

Figure 5.3: Steps in Selecting Community Practitioners

5.3 Selection of Student Interns (Part B)

As discussed briefly in the previous chapter, since the project is in fact a design

project, upperclassmen in Engineering were chosen to be the student practitioners.

The decision to choose only juniors and seniors was made because the project called

for practitioners well versed in their practice of engineering and the design process.

The duration of the project would be insufficient to train the student practitioners in

engineering. In addition to looking at their academic qualifications and proficiency


with prototyping and design, it was necessary that the student practitioners be com-

mitted to working with developing communities. In the Co-DiViNE project, the need

to continue working with and for the chronically poor communities was sometimes

the only thing that made the undergoing bearable for the student interns and the

author. The selection process thus needed a way to ensure that only candidates who

had a genuine interest in developing countries and an attitude of learning from the

community be selected as student practitioners.

In addition to selecting student practitioners who would be willing to collaborate

with community practitioners, they would also have to be subjects for this research

project and maintain reflection journals. Selection must therefore take into account

the student’s ability and commitment to be subjects for this research.

Although the anticipated project duration was going to be insufficient to train

the students in engineering and would serve as a mere beginning to the process of

addressing the needs of the community, it would be sufficiently long in terms of the

number of quarters the student practitioners would be required to commit to it.

Among the aforementioned criteria, it was important that the student practitioners

be patient and willing to look at this project for what it was - a beginning of a longer

project and an opportunity to collaborate with a chronically poor community. The

selection process must therefore find student practitioners with excellent technical

skills, patience, willingness and openness to work with a chronically poor community

not as a service provider but as a collaborators.

The student practitioners would also require some training on the ethics of collab-

oration, cultural background of the community they would be working with and some

understanding of the nature of poverty and the existential reality of the community

practitioners. A refresher course in the design process they would be following would

also be beneficial to prepare them for this project.

In summary, the process for the selection of the student practitioners (Part B)

can be represented as a two step process, as seen in Fig 5.4.


Figure 5.4: Steps in Selecting Student Practitioners

5.4 Establishing Collaboration Logistics (Part C)

As seen from the experience in the Co-DiViNE project, one of the biggest challenges

was establishing a rhythm of communication. In this case, since we were working

directly with a preliterate community, it would be all the more important to ensure

that the channels of communication be well established and sustainable through the

course of the project.

Although cellphone usage is pervasive in India, access to Internet especially in

the rural and remote parts of the country is fairly difficult.Ideally the collaboration

would be best with face-to-face interaction that could be enabled with the use of

video conferencing services (like Skype). The technology required to support video

conferencing may however not be available and audio communication and exchange

of artifacts may then become the possible modes of communication.

Depending on the channel of communication, a frequency of interactions must

be decided and agreed upon. The design project would require some exchange of

prototypes and since the design team would be geographically distributed, time must

be allocated for shipment of prototypes. Funds also must be estimated for the same.

Since the community practitioners would be unable to converse in English and

the student practitioners may not necessarily be conversant in the local language,

efforts would be needed to find a translator at either the Stanford or the community

end. Translations would be required for all communication, be it video or audio.

Any documents that the student practitioners create and want to share with the


community practitioners would also need to be translated into a language that the

community practitioners could understand so that it could be read to them in the

local language.

Lastly, project costs would need to be estimated. These would cover the material

costs of prototyping, shipping and supporting the technology required for maintaining

communication and covering an transport and food costs associated with working on

the project. All persons associated with the project would be requested to volunteer

their time. However, it would be advisable to anticipate the needs of the community

and student practitioners with regard to remuneration for participating in the project.

5.5 Implementing the Design Cycles (Part D)

The main challenge in implementing the design cycles is scoping a problem that would

ensure both active doing and undergoing. To this end, it was important to select a

problem where both the student and community practitioners could effectively engage

with their skills if the undergoing began to predominate, thus ensuring a balance.

What this would amount to is that the design problem should have a significant design

and prototyping component such that, if in the course of their collaboration with the

community practitioners, the student practitioners felt overwhelmed by undergoing,

they would be able to engage in designing and building. By establishing continuity

based on their skills, they would be able to experience discontinuities without feeling

overwhelmed. The same was hoped for the community practitioners. Although, no

data would be collected from the community practitioners, utmost care should be

taken to ensure that the community practitioners were not distressed in any way.

To ensure their active participation without interrupting their lives, a problem that

affects their everyday life would be chosen. It should be a problem related to their

craft, something they can speak about with authority and by that bring their expertise

to the design team. By contributing their knowledge and expertise, they would enrich

the learning experience for their collaborators while also taking initiative/ownership

of the solutions that were developed for their problem.


The identification of the problem would be critical in maintaining a balance be-

tween active doing and undergoing, that would in turn determine how successfully the

student encountered and addressed discontinuities. The ability to reestablish continu-

ity beyond the need to sustain the collaboration with a chronically poor community

is imperative. By bringing in active doing in the form of a skill that the student

practitioners are well versed with will allow them to detach from and contextualize

the discontinuity in one sphere of their identity. As such, their identity as student

engineers would remain intact and allow them the space and time for reflection and

possibly renewed action for maintaining continuity.

The establishment of a trusted environment by bringing in the expertise of the PI

of Co-DiViNE and the active reflection component of the design cycles has already

been discussed in Sections 4.4 and 4.6 respectively.

5.6 From Framework to Implementation

The aim of this chapter was to take the five parameters identified in the previous

chapter and translate them into a framework of a design project that could serve as

an RtD context for student and community practitioners to collaborate on a real life

problem experienced by the chronically poor, pre-literate community. One approach

for incorporating these parameters in a design project has been presented in this

chapter. What follows in the next chapter is one instantiation of this framework

for creating a safe research environment for student practitioners, enabling them to

continue to learn in the face of discontinuities from extreme undergoing.

Chapter 6

Implementation of the Research

Project

This chapter describes the implementation of the method (outlined in the previous

chapter) that serves the research needs of this thesis. It describes the field visits

undertaken to select the community practitioners, the selection and training of the

student practitioners and the design problem as it emerged from the field. The

chapter concludes with a description of the three design cycles that the design team

went through. The journals kept by the student practitioners during the course of

their participation in the design cycles was the main source of data.

6.1 Selecting the Community Practitioners

The process of identifying community practitioners was started by working with an

NGO that was previously known to the Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory at Stanford

University. With the help of the NGO a community of handloom weavers in the

south of India was identified. The NGO enabled a smooth introduction into the

community. After some discussion between the author and the NGO, it was decided

that the project would be implemented in a small village in the southern Indian

state of Andhra Pradesh. The village, Koyalagudem, is in Choutuppal mandal in the

Nalgonda district. It is 45 km (approximately 28 miles) away from Hyderabad, the

53

CHAPTER 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT 54

capital of Andhra Pradesh. Three field visits between May 2008 and Feb 2009 were

undertaken. Over the course of these trips, the author visited four villages (including

Koyalagudem) and interacted with several weaving families. The aim of each of these

trips was to get a first hand understanding of the practice of handloom weaving, and

to begin a process of need finding and selecting community practitioners. A summary

of the three field trips is given in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1: Summary of Field Visits

Trip Number Dates Villages New FamiliesMet

Old FamiliesMet

#1 May 2008(3 weeks)

Koyalagudem 4 -

Narayanpur 1 -Bogaram 2 -

#2 Nov 2008(3 weeks)

Koyalagudem 3 1

Bogaram 0 2#3 Jan 2009

(2 weeks)Koyalagudem 0 3

6.1.1 Field Visit 1 - Community Practice

The main aim of this field visit was to meet with the weaving community in order

to understand the practice of weaving and understand the context of the local com-

munity. A member of the NGO, who came from a weaving community and was a

resident of Koyalagudem village, acted as village liaison and accompanied the author

to all the villages to make introductions and help set the context for the purpose of

the visit. In addition, a translator was present for the field visit to facilitate commin-

ucation between the author and the village liaison and between the author and the

weavers.

The type of weaving practiced in the villages visited was tie and dye weaving. The

process was so named after the way the yarn was first dyed, according to the required

design and then woven. Most weavers wove silk saris or cotton dress materials and


bedding. Weaving was done on a pit loom.

Although there are many different types of handlooms, the pit loom was most

popular in the villages visited. The pit loom is so called because the loom is placed

in a pit in the ground and the weaver weaves by sitting on the edge of the pit, as seen

in the Fig 6.1. Some weavers also used stand looms, as in Fig 6.2. These are identical

to pit looms, except that the structure is placed on the ground and the weaver sits

on a bench to weave.

Figure 6.1: Weaver sitting in the ‘pit’ of the Pit Loom

The practice of weaving was described to the author as having two distinct parts.

The first was loosely referred to as pre-processing. This was the term used to describe

the activities undertaken to prepare the yarn for weaving. It began by measuring the

yarn and folding it in the desired length. This activity was critical for generating the

desired pattern accurately. The measurement was followed by the dyeing of the yarn.

Although some weavers used organic/natural dyes (dyes obtained from animals or

plants), most used chemical dyes. The dyeing was done without the use of masks or

gloves and the weavers were regularly exposed to the harmful fumes from acids (like

hydrochloric acid) that were used in dyeing. The required pattern was generated

by blocking parts of the yarn with black rubber strips (made of old bicycle tires).

Successive dyeing resulted in yarn shown below in Fig 6.3. This yarn is used to create


Figure 6.2: A Stand Loom

the weft which are the threads that are woven across tautly held threads called the

warp.

Figure 6.3: Dyed and Measured Yarn

The warp was similarly dyed and dried and then set up on the loom. This process

required effort and precision, as very fine threads had to be taken through the eye of

the beater and into the heddles as shown in Fig 6.4.

The setting up of the warp and mounting the weft on to spindles marked the end


Figure 6.4: Warp threaded through the eyes of the Beater

of the preprocessing, and the second step, weaving, would commence.

6.1.2 Field Visit 2 - Need Finding

One of the chief aims of this field visit was to see if there were any engineering problems

that the design team (comprised of student and community practitioners) could work

on together. The search for an engineering design problem was done particularly

to incorporate the project parameter of balancing active doing and undergoing, as

previously described in Section 4.5.

When the weavers were asked about what they felt could change about weav-

ing and their own situation, it appeared that they felt change was difficult and not

something they thought about much.

Instead of forcing the weavers to arrive at any specific needs, the conversation was

refocused on how the weavers perceived change and whether or not it was possible.

The following transcripts are included to illustrate this point. One of the weavers,

referred to here as Weaver 3, was particularly vehement about the futility of thinking

about change.

Author (AU): Is he saying no change possible?

Translator (TR)(translating for Weaver 3 from the local language Tel-

ugu to English): He is telling from 60 years, there are changes but not

very modern changes, its replaced thats all. So everything must be done

by hand or legs, that is compulsory, that must be done. Thats all. He is

just confirming that.


AU: But why is it compulsory? Like, why no alternatives?

Weaver 3: No alternate madam. Alternate no chances then.

[Weaver 3 and the author realized that they both spoke a common lan-

guage (Hindi) and switched to conversing in it.]

AU (in Hindi): So you dont think that any change is possible?

Weaver 3 (in Hindi): We cannot change it madam.

AU (in Hindi): Why cant we change it?

Weaver 3 (in Hindi): Because that is the work it is handloom (meaning

it should be hand woven)

AU (in Hindi): Yes it is handloom, but what if the effort required or

the way of sitting, and the back pain, if all that can be gradually changed,

you dont think it will have much effect?

Weaver 3 (in Hindi): No there will be no impact and no change is

possible.

[Transcript Koyalagudem Weaver 3 Nov 7, 2009]

Another weaver referred to here as Weaver 4, expressed a similar opinion, and

also brought out a curious point. Any idea of altering the handloom automatically

translated to shifting to a powerloom as indicated in the conversations below:

TR: If there is any change that can be desired, where can it be?

Weaver 4: No, there cannot be any change. There is no room for

increasing the speed unless you shift to powerloom.

Village Liaison (VL) to Weaver 4: Can anything be changed in the

handloom itself not using power yet.

Weaver 4 : Speed depends only on the weavers skill

[Transcript Koyalagudem Weaver 4 and Weaver 5 Nov 7, 2009]

Weaver 3 expressed this even more strongly:

AU: So you dont think that any solution is possible that lies between

power and handlooms? It has to be either a power loom or a handloom?

Weaver 3: Yes.


AU: Ok, alright.


Continuing the conversation of possible change, in the conversation with Weaver

4, the author tried to create room for creative problem-solving by quoting an elderly

weaver she had met on the previous filed trip.

AU: The person we met in Bogaaram right, he said that the sattar was

introduced in his lifetime. So at one time, even that didnt exist. So it is

possible to change things to make it better. And that is the effort to see

if something like a sattar or some such simple thing can be introduced to

make this whole thing easier.


This example, and more discussion among the author, the village liaison and the

translator led to the weaver to make allowance for possible changes to the handloom,

but he was still guarded about how beneficial any change would be.

Weaver 4: It will be great if the speed can be increased. But in my

opinion it cannot be changed as far too many people have tried. But if you

see hope, please go ahead.


TR (translating for Weaver 3): By the time the change comes, there

may not be a weaving community.


Towards the end of the trip, the author met with some of the weavers from the

first field visit, and two of them agreed to participate in the research project. These

weavers, referred to here as Weaver 1 and Weaver 5, had expressed their interest and

enthusiasm for the project from the beginning. They expressed their enthusiasm,I

will completely co-operate and be a part of the change. [We] have all the time in

the world, the support is with you. [Transcript, Koyalagudem Weaver 1 and Weaver

5 Nov 15, 2008]. The village liaison was also a weaver, and also agreed to be a

community-practitioner.


6.1.3 Field Visit 3 -Community Practitioners

Following Field Visit 2, the aim of the third trip was to spend time with the two

participant weavers and the village liaison to explain the details of the project. So far,

they had agreed to contribute their time to the project, but had little understanding

of the role they would have to play. The proposed agenda was to meet at least three

days per week, for three weeks to discuss the details of the project. The meeting time

would be spent on explaining the design process and in discussing how they could best

contribute to the process. The translator was present to communicate the content in

the local language and the NGO liaison had agreed to accompany the author for a few

days to set the context. A second aim of this field trip was to address the question

of the communication technology required for virtual collaboration. Although some

of the weavers had cell phones, it was unknown if there was a computer available

or if it was physically possible to get a local Internet connection to support video

communication.

During the first meeting, it became evident that something had changed in the

attitude of the weavers since the previous visit. There were questions raised by the

weavers about the time they had available to participate in the project. It was hinted

that if the author were to provide them contracts or give them money, they would be

willing to say and do whatever was required. This was not a call for remuneration so

much as a demand for funds and favors in return for saying things that would show

the authors work in a favorable light. To avoid any further miscommunication, in

consultation with the NGO liaison and advisers at Stanford, a participation-based

remuneration scheme was created. Only two of the weavers, Weaver 1 and the village

liaison remained committed to the project and volunteered to be the community

practitioners of the research project.

The weavers agreed to contribute eight hours (one day) each to every design cycle

and to be available to answer any questions the students might have. Although this

was far from ideal, the weavers and the author had come to a shared understand-

ing about how their participation, however limited, would also be invaluable to the

research going forward.

It was found that new equipment (a landline, a modem and a computer) would


be required to establish an Internet connection that would at best allow for voice

chat. To simplify the process and keeping in mind the reduced availability of the

community practitioners, it was decided that the virtual part of the collaboration

would be done through exchange of video through postal service between the student

and community practitioners and through conference calls via cell phone. The NGO

liaison agreed to be responsible for bridging the conversation between the student and

community practitioners. He would be available to translate during the conference

calls be responsible for the creation of videos in the village.

6.1.4 Result of Field Visits

The primary outcome of third field visit was the finalization of the details of im-

plementation. The main changes were the reduced participation of the community

practitioners. It was originally envisioned that they would work with the student

practitioners on all steps of the design process. It had now been agreed that they

would participate for eight hours per design cycle and would contribute to the need

finding and the testing of the prototypes.

The change in the technology of collaboration from video to cell phone meant

that there would be no real time face-to face interaction between the student and

community practitioners. Their interaction would be asynchronous as their video

messages would reach one another through using postal mail. That would mean

certain latency in the design cycle. Keeping in mind such delays and the division of

labor at the Stanford and village ends, a time line was created (See Appendix D).

Additionally, a budget was created to account for the remuneration of the two

community practitioners. The NGO liaison was also compensated for his partici-

pation. Funds were also provided for the creation of videos and their shipping to

Stanford. (For complete budget see Appendix E).

Despite initial resistance to discuss the challenges of working on a handloom, it

emerged that the weavers were experiencing a lot of discomfort and pain in their limbs

due to over work. To make the loom more ergonomic was a possible design challenge

that would satisfy the requirement of engaging the active doing of both the student


and community practitioners as described below.

6.2 Selection and Training of Student Practition-

ers

The process of selecting student practitioners for the design team commenced once

the details of the participation of the community practitioners were finalized. In

keeping with the project’s requirements of an equal number of student and community

practitioners two student practitioners were selected to complete the design team.

6.2.1 Selection Process

Two information sessions were held at Stanford to introduce the project to under-

graduate engineering students in early March (March 4 and 5, 2009). A total of thirty

students attended the sessions. Interested students were asked to fill out a question-

naire (Appendix F), the aim of which was to collect some basic information about

the students and their interests. It also contained one essay type question designed

to gauge their attitude towards collaborating with the community practitioners.

Of the thirty students who attended the session, sixteen students filled out the

questionnaire. Of these, six students were shortlisted for interviews based on their

technical skills and their interest in developing communities. The purpose of the

interviews was to have face-toface meetings with the students, give them more details

about the research project and answer any questions they might have. The students

were asked about any prior work they had done with developing communities and

what they expected to learn from participating in this collaboration. They were also

given details about the nature of the work, the number of hours they may have to

work, and the timeline of the project. In addition, they were told that they were

research subjects in this project and would be required to maintain a journal of their

daily activities and reflections which would be used as data. Based on the survey

and interview data, two students were selected. These students will be referred to as

Student 1 and Student 2.


6.2.2 Training of Student Practitioners

The goals of the training of the student practitioners were as follows:

1. Familiarity with the weaving community and their practice: Since the student

practitioners would have limited interaction with the community practitioners,

the training included giving the student practitioners some understanding of

the demographics and living conditions of the community. Understanding the

prevalent culture of poverty in the community was also included since being

knowledgeable of the challenges faced by the community practitioners in their

everyday life would help the student practitioners collaborate with them better.

In addition to understanding the culture, the student practitioners would also

be exposed to the art and practice of weaving. This was necessary for the design

team to have a shared understanding of the context of the problem they would

address. Having a firsthand experience of weaving and a working knowledge of

the parts of the loom would also help the student practitioners develop a shared

vocabulary with the community practitioners who would facilitate collaboration

on the research project.

2. Recap of the design process: Although the student practitioners were selected

for their engineering expertise, the training included a quick recap of the design

process to prevent any misunderstanding of the method they were to follow in

carrying forward the research project. This was also seen as an opportunity

for the student practitioners to work with each other and learn how to collab-

orate with each other before plunging into collaboration with the community

practitioners with whom they had very little in common and with whom their

interaction would be sporadic and technology mediated.

To realize the goals stated above, the training comprised of the following steps:

• A toe-dipping exercise was created. The students were given two hours to work

with customers to redesign the wallet [36]. This process had been previously

by researchers at Center for Design Research at Stanford University to orient

people with the design process and has proven to be highly effective.


• A small-scale design project was set up to allow the student practitioners to get

familiar with each other. They were asked to improve the working experience

of students at the Tresidder Student Union Building at Stanford. The project

lasted two weeks and the student practitioners went through the steps of need-

finding (interviewing students at the Student Union), brainstorming possible

solutions, selecting one solution and creating scaled prototypes of their solution.

• The students were given a selection of readings to learn about poverty. These

readings were introductory and the students were encouraged to follow up with

other published research papers. A reflection guide was provided to both stu-

dents in order to assist them with the content and also to help them articulate

their questions and concerns about poverty. (For list of readings and reflection

guide, see Appendix G)

• Learning about the experience of weaving as well as about the handloom was

achieved by disassembly and reassembly of a small table loom. The students

were both taken to a school located near Stanford University that offered a

course in handloom weaving to see looms and to try them. The instructor at

the school generously gave them a small table loom. Disassembly of this small

loom served as an excellent method to gain a quick insight into the mechanics of

the loom itself. Through the course of the project, the two student practitioners

also threaded a loom and wove cloth on it at a weaving studio under the guidance

of a master weaver.

6.3 The Design Cycles

Consistent with the timeline that was decided, there were three design cycles to

address the challenge of making the handloom more ergonomic (Section 6.1.4) over a

six-month period. Table 6.2 summarizes the work accomplished in the three design

cycles.

For each design cycle, the student practitioners were responsible for generating

design solutions and fabricating the prototypes in response to the needs identified


Table 6.2: Summary of Design Cycles

DesignCycle

Duration (Dur-ing 2009)

Primary DesignResearch Focus

Communicationwith Weaversincluding ship-ping/delivery ofprototypes

Final Product

#1 Jun 29 - Jul 27 Lumbar Supportfor Lower BackPain

2 ConferenceCalls and 1prototype sentby the studentpractitionersto communitypractitioners onJuly 27, 2009

A Chair with Ad-justable Lumbar Sup-port

#2 Aug 4 - Aug 27 Mock-Pit forReplicating andAnalyzing CalfStrain

1 VideoRecorded andsent by Commu-nity practition-ers to Studentpractitioners(Received onAugust 10,2009)

Mock-Pit and Surf-board

#3 Oct 1 - Nov 21 Surfboard CalfStrain

3 ConferenceCalls

Completed Surfboard

by the community practitioners. The community practitioners contributed to the

need-finding and testing phases of the design cycles. They communicated their input

through the NGO liaison on the conference calls with the student practitioners. In ad-

dition to communicating their needs, they also gave feedback on ideas and prototypes

that the student practitioners shared with them.

6.3.1 Design Cycle 1 - Lumbar Support

The first design cycle saw the student practitioners familiarizing themselves with the

practice of weaving. Through the first design cycle, the students spoke with NGO


liaison and not with the community practitioners directly. The NGO liaison was

representing the weavers and was the source of the information. The design research

focus for this design cycle, pain in the lower back , was identified from the information

provided by the liaison.

Our arrival at posture as the first prototype’s focus was not exactly a

choice. NGO Liaison very directly stated that posture is the most neglected

issue for the weavers at this point. As the first cycle, it is nice to begin

already knowing the scope of the solution with a high degree of certainty.

[Student 1’s Journal, June 30, 2009]

Since the design problem was well defined, the benchmarking phase of this design

cycle was aimed at expanding the solution space. Effort was made to find examples of

problems similar to the lumbar pain experienced in weaving and innovative solutions

from other fields. Among those consulted were the Stanford University organist, a

professional weaver, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. All these ex-

perts were able to speak to the problem from their professional point of view and

volunteered their time and expertise. The points of view offered by these experts al-

lowed the student practitioners to see their design problem from different perspectives

and to see how their solution could potentially be applicable elsewhere.

Though we did find out that organ playing has even more similarities

to weaving that we thought! For example, the ergonomics (or lack thereof)

is very rooted in tradition. I believe [the organist] said ”We have to suffer

for our art!”. That the bench had little comfort or adjustability and has

not changed in ages if ever, is very telling of this fact.

[Student 1’s Journal, July 6, 2009]

A model of the chair called the ‘Two-Towers’ was created. It provided basic

lumbar support and could be adjusted for people of different heights.

After deliberation among the student practitioners and in consultation with pro-

fessors at Stanford, it was decided that the prototype be sent to the community

practitioners as a rough prototype. (Rough here meant that the physical prototype


Figure 6.5: Schematic of the ‘Two-Towers’ Chair (Scan from Student 1’s Journal)

constructed of wood, pvc piping, rope and cloth was not remade with cleaner cuts,

and was not sanded or varnished). It was sent as a rough prototype to encourage the

community practitioners to modify it and give them an opportunity to prototype at

their end [37]. The prototype was sent in disassembled form with instructions for re-

assembly and use. A booklet containing the instructions as well as a video explaining

the concept of prototyping was sent along with the prototype.

6.3.2 Design Cycle 2 - The Mock Pit

This design cycle was marked by the absence of communication from the field. A video

made by the community practitioners was expected by mid-July but did not arrive till

mid-August. Three conference calls were scheduled between the student practitioners

and community practitioners but none occurred. The first half of the design cycle was


Figure 6.6: Prototype of ’Two-Towers’ Chair

thus spent trying to come up with ways of dealing with the information blindness.

There was a reluctance to proceed without input from the community practitioners

while the option to sit back and wait was also deemed unacceptable. This tension is

captured in the quote below.

If we hash out a variety of different solutions and then present the one

that we find to be most successful, then we can feel that the prototype we

sent is better thought out, more resolved, etc. However, this does seem to

imply that we are pulling the focus of the team a little bit further away

from the intended Co-Design. If we try to resolve the product more on

our end, we become more attached to it and more invested in it, still

without getting the feedback that we need for true Co-Design. This may be

completely necessary in our case due to the difficulties in communication,

but it does feel a little like a resignation.

[Student 2’s Journal, August 7, 2009]

The situation changed with the arrival of the first video from the village on August

10, the middle of the design cycle. Although it did not contain all the information the

student practitioners had requested of their community counterparts, it had detailed

measurements of the pit in which the loom is housed. The remainder of the design

cycle was now used to incorporate the input from the field.


Today involved yet another switch in direction, but I think that was

necessary after the receipt of the video. One of the things that our ”infor-

mation blindness” has forced us to do is make assumptions that are not

grounded in anything other than our own intuition. If we had stuck to our

schedule just for the sake of sticking to the schedule, it would have defeated

the purpose of receiving the video in the first place. Instantly, many of the

logistical questions we were struggling to get around disappeared, which

allowed us to pursue [a] much more involved designs.

[Student 2s Journal, August 12, 2009]

In light of the input received from the community practitioners, it was decided

that the aim of the second design cycle would be to build an imitation of the pit

that housed the loom in India. Unlike the actual pit (which is sunk into the ground),

this “mock-pit” would be built above the ground using wood. The mock-pit was

considered essential to do more testing at the Stanford end before sending future

prototypes to India.

Figure 6.7: The Mock-Pit

In addition to constructing the pit, it was decided that a second area of discomfort,

pain in the shins and calf muscles (that was apparent from the video) should be


addressed. The continuous pedaling motion required to move the heddles up and

down was recognized as the main cause for the pain. A device was designed to

replace the traditional pedals and alter the motion of the legs to use the stronger

thigh muscles thereby alleviating pain in the weaker calf muscles. It was named the

“surfboard” by the student practitioners.

Figure 6.8: The Surfboard

6.3.3 Design Cycle 3 - The Surfboard Pedal

The previous two design cycles coincided with the academic summer quarter. The

students worked on the project full time (forty hours per week). Design Cycle 3

overlapped with the academic fall quarter and the students reduced their hours to

2.5 to three hours per week.

In a school setting, particularly with Stanford on the quarter system,

it is difficult to maintain focus on a project for more than one quarter,

because quantity of time, scheduling, and educational focus can change so

much from quarter to quarter.

[Student 2’s Journal, October 1, 2009]


The other significant change was that the two community practitioners (Weavers

1 and 2) from the field were now in direct communication with the students. One

of the reasons for breakdown in communication in the previous design cycle was the

absence of a reliable translator in the absence of the NGO liaison, who was busy. For

this design cycle, a translator was found at Stanford. This allowed the student and

community practitioners to converse directly and regularly. Three calls took place

over the course of the design cycle. This was by far the most number of calls that

had taken place in any design cycle.

The conference call went very well. We spoke with both Weaver 2 and

Weaver 1 and they were both very excited to hear that we were coming in

the summer to visit them. It was so nice of [the] Stanford Translator to

volunteer her time so generously to be our translator; it is really what is

making our communication possible now in the absence of NGO Liaison.

[Student 1’s Journal, November 4, 2009]

The focus of this design cycle was to continue to improve the “surfboard”. Mindful

of the feedback received from the community practitioners about the unfinished nature

of the two-towers prototype in design cycle 1, the students accurately machined,

sanded, painted and varnished the surfboard prototype before packing it.

Figure 6.9: The final Surfboard in Koyalagudem


The surfboard prototype was delivered to the community practitioners by the

author. In the field, it was found that the surfboard did not fit in the pit. It needed

to be reduced in size to be tested any further. The community practitioners took the

surfboard prototype to a local carpenter and had it cut to size and then tested it on

their own loom. Though the motion was found to be convenient, it was also found

that the board was difficult to anchor to the ground and did not create sufficient

clearance between the warp threads (shed height) for the weft to be woven through.

6.4 Summary

On the whole, the student practitioners and community practitioners collaborated

on finding solutions to make the handloom ergonomic, and came up with possible

solutions to alleviate the pain experienced by weavers due to extended use of the

loom. Although only one iteration of both the prototypes was possible due to time

constraints, it opened up the possibility of future collaborations with the weaving

community.

Participating in the design cycles exposed the student practitioners to experiences

of discontinuities. The limited communication from the community practitioners

(particularly in design cycle 2), and the student practitioners’ resulting confusion

about how to proceed led to experiences that bordered on becoming experiences of

extreme undergoing. However, the student practitioners were able, in consultation

with senior scholars at Stanford and the author, to find ways of staying engaged in

active doing.

As per the requirements of their participation in this research project, the student

practitioners maintained reflection journals. They recorded and reflected on their

experiences of the three design cycles. These journal entries served as data for this

dissertation. The analysis of this data is described in the next chapter.

Chapter 7

Data Analysis

This chapter describes the data analysis methods used to answer the research ques-

tions (Section 3.6):

• How can the experiences of discontinuities (as extreme undergoing) be shifted to

learning experiences?

• How do student engineers transition from discontinuity to renewed action and

how can Dewey’s theory of learning be used to explain the learning in this tran-

sition

The data analysis required a method that would make it possible to identify student

practitioners’ experiences of discontinuity and renewed action as defined in Section

3.1 and Section 3.4 respectively. The method developed was a Meta Framework-

based Coding System (MFCS), modeled on two cases of psychotherapy research.

The data required for an MFCS analysis approach had to be representative of the

student practitioners’ lived experience of participating in the research project and

finding evidence of presence of discontinuity and renewed action. The primary source

of data was the journal entries made by the student practitioners over the course

of their participation in the research project as these were representative of their

lived experience and expressed in their own voice. To find presence of discontinuity

in the lived experience of the student practitioners, the analysis was preceded by a

pre-analysis using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach.

73

CHAPTER 7. DATA ANALYSIS 74

Section 7.1 describes how IPA was selected as the method for pre-analysis. Section

7.2 describes what constitutes data for this research project and the sources of these

data. Section 7.3 lays out how the IPA method of analysis to gathers evidence of

the presence of discontinuity and renewed action in the lived experience of the stu-

dent practitioners. Section 7.4 lays out the development of the MFCS data analysis

method. Section 7.5 describes how MFCS was applied to analyze the data. Section

7.6 presents answers to the two research questions from the analysis of data. Finally,

Section 7.7 summarizes the process of transition from discontinuity to renewed action,

and introduces that process as a context for discussion of the results of the overall

data analysis, to follow in the next chapter.

7.1 Pre-Analysis

To answer the work’s the two research questions, it was necessary to access the stu-

dent practitioners’ experience of participating in the research project. The question

of selecting an appropriate pre-analysis method thus became one of identifying a

method concerned with the lived experience of the student practitioner. To this end,

phenomenological research with the aim “to return to embodied, experiential mean-

ings aiming for a fresh, complex, rich description of a phenomenon as it is concretely

lived” [38] was a natural choice.

There exist many variations of how to implement phenomenological inquiry, like

Giorgio’s psychological phenomenological approaches [39], Halling’s dialogal approach

[40] and Smith’s Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis [41]. Each approach differs

with respect to its treatment of researcher pre-knowledge. They also differ on being

either eidetic, that is it seeks “to throw light on the essential and general structures

of a phenomenon” [38, p. 9], or being idiographic, that is focused on making explicit

the individual experience [38, p. 9-10].

However, phenomenological methods are malleable and lend themselves to ex-

pansion, innovation and improvement as mentioned by Smith in describing IPA, “it

should be recognized that there is no one single, definitive way to do qualitative anal-

ysis. We are offering suggestions, ways we have found have worked for us” and that


it “is inevitably a personal process” [42, p. 220].

7.1.1 Factors Influencing Selection of Pre-Analysis Method

The selection of a pre-analysis method is predicated on the intention of the research

inquiry. To answer the two research questions of this dissertation, it is necessary to

take into account the aim of finding evidence of discontinuity and renewed action in

the lived experiences of the student practitioners. The aim was not to make gen-

eral assertions about discontinuity, but to focus on the individual experiences of the

student practitioners in the context of this research project. Thus phenomenological

methods that were idiographic were more suitable than those that were eidetic in

their outlook.

In addition to the aim of data collection and analysis, the framework of the re-

search project also imposed constraints on the methods that could be used. As

discussed in Section 4.4, the author was part of the five parameters that were incor-

porated in the framework. Since the author was part of the framework, she could not

gather data about student practitioner experiences as an external observer. Further,

since the aim of the first research question was to find evidence of influence of the

five project parameters on enabling the student practitioners’ transition from experi-

ences of discontinuity to learning experiences, it was necessary to find a data source

or data collection method that would not affect any changes to the framework and

compromise the research.

It was found that IPA satisfied the necessary conditions and was selected as the

pre-analysis method. The characteristics of IPA that made it most suitable for this

purpose are described in the next section.

7.1.2 Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), as the name suggests, is phenomeno-

logical, “in that it is concerned with an individual’s personal perception or account

of an object or event.” In addition, it combines phenomenology with ‘interpretation’,

that is it recognizes that making sense of the participant’s experiences requires the


researcher to use her own conceptions and experiences to interpret data. Thus the

IPA approach is one in which “the participants are trying to make sense of their

world; the researcher is trying to make sense of the participants trying to make sense

of the world” [42]. This not only allows, but also makes it necessary for the researcher

to be subjectively present in the analysis.

The choice of IPA made it possible to use the journals maintained by the student

practitioners as a primary source of data. IPA requires that data must come from

subjects who are selected to be similar or homogeneous. In this research project,

the student practitioners were selected using the same selection criteria and they also

maintained reflection journals along similar formats (where they made notes about

their daily activity and then reflected on them); therefore their journal entries would

qualify as data. These journal entries were representative of the lived experience

of the student practitioners, expressed in their own words. They were the primary

source of data.

In addition, all supporting documents, prototypes and artifacts created by the

student-practitioners were used as data. These data (in addition to the journals)

would provide the context for the experiences described in the journals. This would

be in accordance with the necessary condition for phenomenological inquiry, to look

at the lived experience of the subject from within the context of the phenomenon and

not from without.

The use of the journals as the primary data source and using the artifacts and

other documents as secondary data made it possible to collect data without effecting

any change to the research project framework, thereby maintaining the integrity of

the research inquiry.

IPA is also characteristically idiographic and inductive. This implies that the

method focuses on the particular (individual experiences) instead of generalization

and does not work with a pre-existing hypothesis. Rather it is more open-ended and

seeks to capture the experiences of the participants as they are, as well as how they

make sense of it.


7.2 Data from the Research Project

7.2.1 Student Practitioner Reflection Journals

A total of 214 pages of data were collected as data from reflection journals of the

two student practitioners , Student 1 and Student 2. (There were 49 journal entries

recorded in 170 pages in Student 1s journal and 31 journal entries recorded in 77

pages in Student 2s journal.) Both journals had entries from the month of April, 2009

when the student practitioners were selected and given a brief overview of the design

process, but the daily journaling started in mid June (June 17, 2009) and continued

till mid-November (November 14, 2009). Although the student practitioners were

free to express themselves in the style of their choice, they were asked to make notes

about their daily activities and then to reflect on them. They were also asked to

ensure that they took care to include the date (and time, in the case of multiple

entries for the same day) for each entry. This was done to ensure that they took note

of their everyday experience and could then highlight and reflect on the parts they

felt were most significant. Both student practitioners began by keeping hand written

journals, but soon shifted to keeping online, password-protected journals. This shift

was done in consultation with the author and the format of the journal entries was

maintained. The journals were accessible only to the author and were not shared

between the student practitioners.

7.2.2 Other Data Sources

In the course of the research project, the student practitioners also kept notebooks

that contained calculations, diagrams and notes made by them about their design

efforts. In addition to handwritten, informal notes, the student practitioners created

several other documents including agendas and minutes from conference calls with

the community practitioners in India and reports describing the design cycles. These

additional documents were not analyzed but were used as evidence of active doing on

the part of the student practitioners.

The student practitioners also created two videos, one booklet and three full scale


prototypes in wood as well as several rough prototypes in foam-core. The videos,

booklet and two of the three full scale prototypes were sent to the community practi-

tioners in the course of the design cycles. These artifacts were used as data similar to

the other documents, to contextualize the journal entries of the student practitioners.

7.3 IPA Methodology

The aim of analysis using IPA methodology is to capture a rich account of the lived

experience of the student practitioners and find evidence of presence of experiences

of discontinuity. (Evidence of presence of renewed action was a concern of the main

analysis method and not that of pre-analysis). The following section presents the steps

involved in the pre-analysis and is followed by the implementation of the pre-analysis

method on the journal entries made by the student practitioners.

7.3.1 Steps of Pre-Analysis

The IPA method starts by reading and re-reading the data set and making note of

anything significant. This is followed by identifying ‘themes’ or “key words to capture

the essential quality” [42, p. 221] of what is being found.

The emerging themes are then listed, and connections among them are found. This

is a process of clustering themes that can be captured by a “superordinate concept”

[42, p. 222]. It is important at this point to refer back to the data and check that the

superordinate concepts or major themes have direct connections to the data and the

voice of the participant.

Next, the emergent major themes are tabulated. As before, evidence for the major

themes is found in the data to ensure that researcher bias does not create concepts

that do not exist in the experience of the participants as expressed by them. It also

possible to edit the list of themes and remove those that are not well represented in

data.

This master list can now be applied to other data sets under consideration. Al-

ternately, the aforementioned steps can be used for each individual data set and the


emerging list of superordinate concepts can be compared and consolidated.

The results of the analysis are expressed as a narrative account of all or some of

the major themes that emerged from the data, supported by quotes taken from the

data set.

The IPA method of pre-analysis thus consists of three steps, namely:

1. Searching for themes in the data set

2. Clustering similar themes to form superordinate concepts

3. Creating a master list to be applied to other data sets

These steps are followed by writing up the results, highlighting the most significant

aspects of the themes and supporting these interpretations with quotes taken from

the data, thus preserving the voice of the participants.

7.3.2 Applying Pre-Analysis Methods to Student Practitioner

Journals

The journal entries of Student 1 (both hand written and online) were read and re-read

several times and notes were made. By looking at these it was possible to identify

16 themes. These were clustered into five major themes namely: Practice, Reflec-

tion on Practice, Assumptions in Practice, Assumptions in Reflection and General

Reflections. Each is explained briefly with an example next.

• Practice: This major theme encompassed the experience of everyday activities

described the student practitioner. It included among others practices focused

on the project, the practice of design and practices of self. Example: “I am very

thankful we decided to invest in the circular saw, as after spending an entire day

cutting building material with that device, I simply cannot imagine had we left

ourselves with only the wood and hack saws... Yikes!” [Student 1’s Journal, July

13, 2009]


• Reflection on Practice: This major theme exposed the doubts or concerns the

student practitioner had about practice. Example: “I am very nervous about

the video and how, despite our best intentions, it will be received. I was telling

a friend about the message we were trying to convey in the first package, and

he immediately jumped to ask: “Aren’t the weavers going to think that you are

dumping your work onto them?” I hope that our booklet and videos will not be

in vain.” [Student 1’s Journal, July 2, 2009]

• Assumptions in Practice: This theme encompassed expressions of surprise that

practices did not have the desired effect or result. Example: “I was surprised

how difficult it was to model the FBDs of the two seat versions for prototype

1. Our exercise was not enlightening as far as how to minimize material in the

Two Towers or how to stabilize/support the vertical column in the Vertebrae

model.” [Student 1’s Journal, July 16, 2009]

• Assumptions in Reflection: This theme covered assumptions that the student

practitioner was expressing about what an ideal situation would be. Example:

“Together, Student 2 and I identified what messages/sentiments we wanted to

express through imagery in the booklet. Ownership over the product on the part

of the villagers. Engagement of their minds in the ideation of solutions. A sense

of incompletion from our end, as we are missing the most crucial information:

their expertise, experience and knowledge base, their creativity and needs in their

own words and expressions.” [Student 1’s Journal, July 21, 2009]

• General Reflection: These were reflections made in third person and had no

direct connection to project activities. Example“Granted everyone needs their

own personal space as well, but every once in a while doing things together can

be a strengthening exercise.” [Student 1’s Journal, July 7, 2009]

Since IPA was being used as a pre-analysis method to look for evidence of presence

of discontinuity, the major themes were interpreted from the point of view of looking

at whether or not there was evidence of violation of expectation (V.O.E) as described

in Section 3.1.2, which is the sources of discontinuity. The themes of Reflection on


Practice and Assumptions in Practice provided examples of expectations that had not

been met or had been violated. The tabulated data in Fig 7.1 show several examples

of expression of V.O.E.

Figure 7.1: Examples of V.O.E or discontinuity in journal of Student 1

Each of these examples demonstrates that expectations about behaviors and prac-

tices were violated. In the first case, it was expectations about the behavior of the

author, in the second it was expectation with regard to the ease and productivity of

an activity (making Free Body Diagrams), and finally it was expectations regarding

the behavior of an expert (TA of a mechanics class) that were violated. Thus there

was evidence in the journal of Student 1 of the presence of discontinuity.

Consistent with the IPA method, the master list was applied to the journal of

Student 2 and evidence of the presence of discontinuities was found. Some examples

of V.O.E expressed in the journal of Student 2 are given below.

• “I am amazed at how many logistical issues there are, and how completely un-

predictable they are. Going into this project, I had the opinion that any logistical

pitfalls came from a general unpreparedness on the part of the team.” [Student

2’s Journal, July 24, 2009]


• “I think we are going to have to be careful about how we read the feedback we

get from people” [Student 2’s Journal, July 17, 2009]

7.3.3 Summary of Pre-Analysis

The use of IPA methods allowed the data from the journals of the two student prac-

titioners to be studied as their lived experience. Evidence of the presence of discon-

tinuity was found in both journals. This was expressed as surprise or concern when

practices did not have the expected effect or result. These data were next analyzed

using the MFCS ananlysis as described in the next section.

7.3.4 Data Analysis

The challenge of selecting the analysis approach for this research project was to

ensure that it treated the text of the reflection journals as representative of student

practitioners’ experience. It necessitated that the approach be premised on analyzing

the text for evidence of student practitioners encountering discontinuities and arriving

at renewed action. The aim was to create an analysis scheme that could be used

subsequently by others, unfamiliar with the context of this research project and still

lead them to arrive at the same conclusions.

Analysis approaches used in the field of emotion coding served as a model to

create a coding scheme for the journals of the student practitioners. Two examples of

analysis in the field of emotion coding are briefly described below to clarify the meta

framework that was adapted for analyzing the data from this research project.

7.3.5 Coding System Models

The first model came from the field of Couples Therapy. Dorian and Cordova studied

intimacy in in the interaction of married couples [43]. Their approach was to study the

interaction of partners in sharing hurt feelings for a duration of thirty minutes, with

each partner taking fifteen minutes each to talk. The interactions were then viewed

and coded using the Intimacy Coding System. What is relevant to this research project


and the question of data analysis is the process of creating this coding scheme.

First a theoretical understanding of the role of intimacy in marriage was laid out.

This theory proposed that intimacy was essential in marriage and that it could be

studied as “a process in which behavior vulnerable to interpersonal punishment is

reinforced by the response of the other partner.” What this means is that intimacy

can be understood and studied in the process of partners exposing themselves through

discussion of sensitive topics, leaving each to be judged by the other partner. To this

end Dorian and Cordova identified ‘events’ where the vulnerability was reinforced by

the other partner and other ‘events’ where the vulnerable behavior was suppressed.

The ratio of reinforced to suppressive events would be an indicator of the safety

and comfort of intimacy in the relationship. From this theory, the key concepts

namely vulnerability, reinforcement of vulnerability, suppression of vulnerability and

intimate safety were defined. This was followed by repeatedly watching a sample

of interactions to recognize which behaviors were representative of the identified key

concepts. Over many iterations, a coding scheme of four variables was determined:

namely vulnerability, reinforcing response to vulnerability, suppressive response to

vulnerability and closeness at the end of the interaction. These codes were applied,

modified and re-applied repeatedly to create the final coding scheme that was used

for training independent coders.

The second model also came from the field of emotion coding. The Specific Affect

Coding System (SPAFF) was also developed “for the purpose of systematically ob-

serving affective behavior in the context of marital conflict” [44]. This coding system

followed a process similar to the Intimacy Coding System. SPAFF was built on previ-

ously existing coding schemes such as the Couples Interaction Scoring System (CISS)

[45] and Facial Action Coding System (FACS) [46] which, in turn, were developed in

a way similar to the Intimacy Coding System, by minutely and repeatedly observing

minute facial muscle movement and using specific muscle movements as indicators of

the previously defined emotional states. SPAFF addressed the need to incorporate

verbal content in addition to affective cues by coding for 10 behaviors including but

not limited to humor, anger, interest/curiosity, dominance, sadness and fear. Both


CISS and FACS are examples of microanalytic coding schemes where micro interac-

tions (like facial muscle movements) were coded. These codes were later clustered to

generate concepts but the clustering was done after the analysis as an overlay over the

coded data. SPAFF sought to bring the context of the interactions into the coding

scheme by bringing in verbal information. It extended the definitions of key concepts

in CISS and FACS by adding verbal context. These key concepts were identified

in data from couples’ interactions and were after several iterations developed into a

coding scheme that could be used to train independent coders.

By studying the process used to develop these two coding schemes, the MFCS

emerged as shown in Fig 7.2.

Figure 7.2: Meta Framework for Generating a Coding Scheme (MFCS)

7.4 Applying the MFCS

The MFCS described in the previous section was followed to generate a coding scheme

for this research project. The description of each step follows in the next subsections.


7.4.1 Identifying key concepts

The first step in the MFCS was to recognize the key concepts from the theory under-

lying the interactions of interest. Since the research questions are about transitioning

from discontinuity (as extreme undergoing) to learning experiences (as a combina-

tion of active doing and undergoing), the theories used for the first step were those

described in Chapter 3 of this dissertation. As seen in Section 3.4, experiences of dis-

continuity as experiences of extreme undergoing are those where active doing stops

and a shift to learning experience happens when active doing is restored or there is

engagement in renewed action. Thus discontinuity and renewed action emerged as

the key concepts.

7.4.2 Defining the key concepts

Definitions of discontinuity and renewed action are presented in Chapter 3 (Section

3.1.1 and Section 3.4). They are as follows:

• Discontinuity: Drawing from Zimbardo’s theory, discontinuity is experienced

when a highly valued expectation/belief is violated. In the case of the student

practitioners, these discontinuities are likely to come from their assumptions

about the community practitioners and their expertise in engineering design.

• Renewed Action: Action that comes after a discontinuity has been under-

stood and overcome has been called renewed action. The naming is deliberate

to differentiate it from merely resuming the same action that was being under-

taken prior to experiencing a discontinuity. Renewed action implies acting out

of having understood and contextualized the discontinuity.

7.4.3 Identifying representations of key concepts

The next stage was reading the data to identify how discontinuity and renewed action

were represented in the data. For the first iteration, the handwritten parts of the

journals (entries that were recorded during the month of June 2009) were used.


Identifying Discontinuities

On reading through the data, it became apparent that discontinuities were at times

explicitly expressed. In other cases, they were implied in expressions of struggle and

in a few cases expressions of joy. The most obvious representation of discontinuity

was as an expression of surprise or concern as shown in the following two examples:

“ I was having some difficulty with what [studying the evolution of the

loom to imagine what the future of the loom might look like] [the author]

had asked Student 2 and I to do.” [Student 1’s Journal, June 19, 2009]

“ This [disassembly and reassembly of the table loom] part was more

helpful than I had imagined.” [Student 2’s Journal, June 18, 2009]

As mentioned earlier, discontinuities were not always explicitly expressed. Dis-

continuities at times were implied in texts that spoke of the struggle or joy that the

student practitioner had experienced. In such cases, the discontinuity was coded as

the event upon which the student practitioner was reflecting on. For example,

“ I was disappointed we couldn’t get a floor loom” [Student 1’s Journal

June 18, 2009]

This statement in itself was not the discontinuity. The student practitioners were

engaged in learning from the scaled down version of the handloom (the table loom)

while believing that learning would not be possible or would be ineffective.

Identifying Renewed Action

Following identification of discontinuities in the data, evidence for renewed action was

sought. These were statements that expressed the student practitioners’ understand-

ing of the discontinuity and their intention to re-engage in active doing. For example,

the three instances of discontinuities presented in the previous section (Section 6.2.4)

were associated with the following three renewed action:


1. Discontinuity: I was having some difficulty with what [the author] had asked

Student 2 and I to do.

Renewed Action:

“that it’s good to have someone worry/focused on the technical

mechanical details of a projects but what truly makes something new

and innovative and what really makes someone an engineer is apply-

ing those details to untested pathways to achieve the same/better or

different ends. As an engineer you can give form to anything in your

mind- but to improve a process you cannot simply be fixed on the de-

tails it is a combination of engineering knowledge and creativity and

thought.” [Student 1’s Journal June 19, 2009]

2. Discontinuity: This [disassembly and reassembly of the table loom] part was

more helpful than I had imagined.

Renewed Action:

“ Also, because now we have a basic starting point - the small table

loom - we can communicate about the bigger loom comparatively; for

example we can talk about how the pit looms are x times bigger than

the table loom, or has a friction brake instead of a ratchet brake etc.”


3. Discontinuity: Acquiring a small table loom. [Decision to acquire a small

table loom was made on June 3, 2009]

Renewed Action:

“ The table loom is a great min project to get us re-accustomed to

working together, to thinking critically after a brief hiatus and to work

on our manufacturing skills” [Student 1’s Journal, June 18, 2009]

In each of the three instances of discontinuities above, we see that a discontinuity

has been understood, and there is an indication of how to move forward. Not all


discontinuities were, however, associated with renewed action. Discontinuities that

had associated renewed action were called “resolved discontinuities” while those that

had not renewed action were called “unresolved” discontinuities. Since representa-

tions of both key concepts were found in the data without modification of concepts,

discontinuity and renewed action were chosen as the variables of the coding scheme

7.4.4 Re-reading the data for modifying current variables

and identifying additional variables

On reading through the data for verification of representations of discontinuity and

renewed action, it was found that these two concepts could be identified in data and

could be used as such as variables in the coding scheme. It was also found that

the reflection journals were predominantly composed of the student practitioners’

experiences of joy and struggle. They were expressions of their emotions, reflections

and at times statements made in the third person about the topic under discussion.

These were representative of the student practitioners’ transition from discontinuity

to renewed action. The student practitioners had expressed their attempt to explain

to themselves what expectations had been violated and why it mattered to them.

Their expression was one of recognizing their assumptions about themselves, learning,

the design process, and the community practitioners, and this recognition left them

exposed to subsequent critical reflection. Their feeling of exposure resulted in these

expressions being collectively called “vulnerability”.

Three instances of vulnerability associated with the examples of discontinuities

and renewed action presented in Section 7.4.3 are shown below.

1. Discontinuity: I was having some difficulty with what [the author] had asked

Student 2 and I to do.

Vulnerability: “I thought she had asked us to figure out what the needs were

for the most primitive loom and how different but related needs arose and helped

to create the form it took over the ages. I wasn’t really sure how to go deeper

as [the author] was asking.”


Renewed Action: that it’s good to have someone worry/focused on the tech-

nical mechanical details of a projects but what truly makes something new and

innovative and what really makes someone an engineer is applying those details

to untested pathways to achieve the same/better or different ends. As an en-

gineer you can give form to anything in your mind- but to improve a process

you cannot simply be fixed on the details it is a combination of engineering

knowledge and creativity and thought. [Student 1’s Journal Jun 19, 2009]

2. Discontinuity: This [disassembly and reassembly of the table loom] part was

more helpful than I had imagined.

Vulnerability: “When we first got the loom, I was a little disappointed because

it was so small and unlike the pit looms used in India (mostly I was at least

hoping for something with foot pedals). However, I didn’t realize until we took

the small loom apart how fuzzy my understanding of how looms actually worked

really was and how limited my knowledge of the terminology was.”

Renewed Action:

“ Also, because now we have a basic starting point - the small table

loom - we can communicate about the bigger loom comparatively; for

example we can talk about how the pit looms are x times bigger than

the table loom, or has a friction brake instead of a ratchet brake etc.”


3. Discontinuity: Acquiring a small table loom. [Decision to acquire a small

table loom was made on June 3, 2009]

Vulnerability: “ I was disappointed we couldn’t get a floor loom but am hopeful

with the meeting [with a professional weaver] on Friday”

Renewed Action: The table loom is a great mini project to get us re-

accustomed to working together, to thinking critically after a brief hiatus and

to work on our manufacturing skills. [Student 1’s Journal, June 18, 2009]

Since the second research question was about understanding the transition from

discontinuity to renewed action, vulnerability was added as a third variable to the


coding scheme. Because part of the goal of the second research question was to

understand the transition from a Deweyan perspective, a definition for vulnerability

was sought in John Dewey’s work.

As seen from the quotes above, vulnerabilities were expressions of the student

practitioners’ affective responses. They voiced their hopes and aspirations as well as

their joy and disappointment when their expectations were not met. Their experience

of wrestling with understanding the expectations that had been violated are resonated

in Dewey’s concept of doubt that marks the beginning of the process of inquiry, which

is “... uneasy, ... tension that finds expression and outlet in the process of inquiry”

[47, p. 7]. Inquiry, for Dewey is the process of moving from a state of doubt to a state

of belief or new knowledge and can serve as the basis of understanding the learning

that happens in transition from discontinuity to renewed action.

7.4.5 Specification of the Coding Scheme

A final reading of the data was done to ensure that the three variables, discontinuity,

vulnerability, and renewed action, were defined and had clear links to representation

in the data. The collective of discontinuity and associated vulnerability and renewed

action (if it existed) we labeled a discontinuity event.

The complete data set was read and statements of surprise, concern or mention

of anything that the student practitioners had called out as noteworthy and out

of the ordinary for them were identified and coded as discontinuity. Once all the

discontinuities were noted, the data set was re-read to find instances of renewed

action. A note was made of all statements about future action, such as resolve to

think about an event, happening, or decision. These were read in conjunction with

the previously coded discontinuities to understand the context of these statements

and coded as renewed action. The data that remained, that was uncoded thus far

was coded as vulnerability.

The completely coded data were re-read to discern the discontinuity events. It

was found that in most discontinuity events, the discontinuity was encountered first,

followed by text coded as vulnerability and with the final sentences coded as renewed


action. It was also possible for the vulnerability-coded sentences to imply the discon-

tinuity and then be followed by renewed action. In a few instances, the renewed action

came first and the vulnerability and discontinuity followed, written retrospectively.

The coding scheme was thus specified to code for three variables namely discon-

tinuity, vulnerability and renewed action. Their representations were noted and the

coding scheme was ready to be applied to the remainder of the data.

7.5 Applying the Coding Scheme

Having arrived at a coding scheme using the handwritten journal entries, the remain-

der of the journal entries (both handwritten and typed) were coded for discontinuity,

vulnerability and renewed action. A journal entry could have multiple instances of

discontinuity events. Each journal entry could be coded only once as well as each

discontinuity event in a particular journal entry could also be coded only once. Each

instance of a discontinuity event was marked up to differentiate between discontinuity,

vulnerability and renewed action. The discontinuities were italicized, vulnerabilities

were highlighted in bold, and renewed actions were left in plain text. The coded

form of one discontinuity event is shown in the example below:

I guessed that the left over work would take us 3 hours but it took us

5.5 hours. Of course. Although I thought 3 hours was even an

overestimate. I should remember to overestimate my overestimates by

a factor of 2 for any kind of analytical or construction-based project. We

had a bit of difficulty finding suitable, ball-bearing casters of an

appropriate size, but we managed to figure out a way for it to

work (get the smallest available casters so that they can fit on

the 2x2” (1.5 x 1.5”) beams and drill holes into the beams for

the neck of the casters to slide into. [Student 1s Journal, August 22,

2009]

The coded data were put into tables as shown in Fig 7.3 to enable easy retrieval

for future use.


Figure 7.3: Format used to Tabulate Coded Data

7.6 Answering the Research Questions

7.6.1 Analysis for Research Question 1

The first research question is: how can experiences of discontinuity (as experiences

of extreme undergoing) be shifted to learning experiences (as a combination of active

doing and undergoing)? Evidence to answer this research question involved finding

instances of discontinuity followed by renewed action. To that end, the total number

of discontinuities found in the journals of both student practitioners were tallied, as

were the total instances of renewed action.

Coding the complete data set showed a number of discontinuities with renewed

action (108) and a small number of discontinuities that remained unresolved (14).

The evidence showed that the shift from experiences of discontinuity (as extreme

undergoing) to learning experiences had occurred. A graph showing the number of

discontinuities experienced by the student practitioners over time is shown in Fig 7.4.

The evidence (described further in Chapter 8) further suggests that the five pa-

rameters (described in Chapter 4), in combination with the framework for selection

and training of student practitioners, selection of the developing community and com-

munity practitioners and selection of the design problems (Chapter 5), were successful


Figure 7.4: Distribution of Discontinuities over Duration of the Research Project

in creating an environment that was not disruptive and supported learning as a com-

bination of active doing and undergoing. Although the aim of this research is not

to test and validate the five parameters, the resolved discontinuities were re-read to

discern the influence of the parameters on student practitioners’ experience of the

research project. This result is discussed in more detail in the next chapter (section

8.1).

7.6.2 Analysis for Research Question 2

To understand how the transition from discontinuity to renewed action happened,

sections coded vulnerability were further scrutinized. It was found that vulnerabilities

primarily stemmed from interactions with the community practitioners or with regard

to how the student practitioners perceived themselves, especially in the context of

being designers working with a developing community.

Three things could be discerned from analyzing the vulnerability sections of the

data. These were:


1. The highly valued expectation /belief that was violated (and was the cause of

the discontinuity)

2. Reflection on the highly valued expectation/belief

3. The resulting change in the highly valued expectation/belief. This updated

expectation/belief was either a change in, or a reinforcement of, the existing

highly valued expectation/belief.

The two different types of updating, namely change in and reinforcement of an

existing highly valued expectation/belief are discussed below.

Changed Beliefs

Three coded discontinuity events as taken from the journal of Student 2 are discussed

here to demonstrate how a highly valued expectation/belief was changed in light of

reflecting on the discontinuity. The vulnerability in each of the three discontinuity

events indicates that the highly valued expectation/belief is about the community

practitioners and their access to resources such as raw materials for prototyping.

Figure 7.5: Student 2 - Discontinuity 1

In Fig 7.5, the expectation/belief that working with developing communities im-

plies working with reduced or improvised resources surfaces for the first time. It


occurs as a result of a discontinuity arising from finding the ability to prototype and

build freely while constrained. This assumption is stated as fact.


In Fig 7.6, a discontinuity experienced by finding the process of improvising for

parts enjoyable, contrary to the expectation/belief that it would be an uphill task,

Student 2 expresses a reinforcement of the assumption that versatility in working

with limited resources is key to collaborating with developing communities.

Finally, in Fig 7.7, the assumption about the resources available to the community

practitioners and their ability to work with them is challenged by conversations with

the NGO liaison. Critical reflection causes the updated belief to be quite the opposite

of what was previously believed to be true. The shift in assumptions manifested in

practice. Prior to this entry the student practitioners restricted themselves to working

only with hand powered tools and using wood as their main material for fabrication.

The update in belief saw the student practitioners shift to using power tools for

subsequent fabrication. The material used for building the prototype was still wood,

but it was now deliberate and not because of lack of choice.



7.6.3 Reinforced Beliefs

Three coded discontinuity events as taken from the journal of Student 1 are discussed

here in order to demonstrate how a highly valued expectation/belief was reinforced in

light of reflecting on discontinuity. The discontinuity arose as a result of interacting

with people outside the Stanford community. These people have been identified as

POSU (Person Outside Stanford University) and POSU 2. The vulnerabilities show

that the highly valued expectation/belief that people offering to help with the project

would appreciate the project’s intentions and be willing to volunteer was violated

and the resulting discontinuities reinforced belief that only people who are connected

through an extended network of familiar and genuinely interested people should be

approached for seeking help with the research project.

Fig 7.8 and Fig 7.9 show the hesitation and doubt experienced by Student 1 in

the two meetings with POSU The discontinuity comes from the question of payment.

Most people connected with the project had generously volunteered their time. The

attitude of this particular person (POSU) thus stuck out.

Fig 7.10 shows that the belief held by Student 1 about the person has not changed.




Rather, it has been reinforced. The challenge posed by interacting with people outside

of a trusted community (like Stanford) has been acknowledged, but the contrast

between the interactions within the community and outside it have only served to

reinforce the value of seeking help from people who are connected through a trusted

network. There is the additional belief that people can be and should be generous

when doing a little bit for a student whose project involves a developing community.

This belief was present in Student 1 herself and was reinforced from her interactions

with other members of the Stanford community who had been generous with their


time and resources.


7.6.4 Emerging pattern of transition

From observing the 108 instances of discontinuity events, a pattern of transition

from discontinuity to renewed action emerged. The vulnerability section included

expression of the highly valued expectation/belief that was violated and caused the

experience of discontinuity. This is followed by reflection on the highly valued expec-

tation/belief that leads to an updated (changed or reinforced) belief. This transition

is shown in Fig 7.11.

This mechanism will be explained from a Deweyan perspective in the next chapter

(Section 8.2).

7.7 Summary of Analysis Results

The data sources for the research project were identified and analyzed using a Meta

Framework-based Coding Scheme. The process for the development of MFCS was

described and it was used for the analysis of project data to identify discontinuities,

vulnerabilities, and renewed action, and to understand the transition from disconti-

nuities to renewed action.


Figure 7.11: Transition from Discontinuity to Renewed Action

Data analysis showed that a high incidence of discontinuities (108) led to renewed

action and only a small number of discontinuities (14) remained unresolved. By

tracking the source of discontinuities and looking at the associated vulnerabilities, a

mechanism of transition from discontinuity to renewed action emerged as shown in

the previous section (Section 7.6).

This chapter presented the development of an appropriate coding scheme and its

application to the data collected during the course of the project. A discussion of the

results, and their implications for the research questions of this dissertation will be

taken up in the next chapter.

Chapter 8

Results

This chapter details the results of the analysis of the data as captured from the

reflective journals of the student practitioners.

8.1 Overview of the Research Project

The two research questions of this dissertation are:


learning experiences? and



sition

In Chapter 4, five parameters were identified (participation of a developing com-

munity, balancing active doing and undergoing, active reflection, trust and support

and an RtD approach) to enable the creation of an environment that was not dis-

ruptive and supported learning. In combination with the project implementation

framework proposed in Chapter 5, these parameters should enable student practi-

tioners to transition from experiences of discontinuities (as extreme undergoing) to

learning experiences (as a combination of active doing and undergoing) by engaging

in renewed action.

100

CHAPTER 8. RESULTS 101

The previous chapter described the method used to analyze the research data that

consisted of the experiences of the student practitioners as expressed in their reflection

journals. The aim of the analysis was to glean whether the project had succeeded

in creating conditions for transitioning from discontinuity to renewed action and,

if the transitions had happened successfully then to understand how the transition

happened.

The results of the analysis pertaining to the two research questions are discussed

below in Section 8.2 and Section 8.3 respectively.

8.2 Research Question 1

The first research question is: how can the experiences of discontinuities (as extreme

undergoing) be shifted to learning experiences? Evidence to show this shift was found

in instances of discontinuity being followed by renewed action. The analysis as de-

scribed in the previous chapter showed a total of 122 instances of discontinuity. A

majority of these (108) were accompanied by renewed action and called resolved. The

remaining 14 discontinuities remained unresolved as renewed action did not follow

these discontinuities. A discussion of resolved and unresolved discontinuities follows

in sections 8.2.1 and 8.2.2 respectively.

8.2.1 Resolved Discontinuities

A total of 108 discontinuities were followed by renewed action. The resolved dis-

continuities could be classified as those that might appear in any engineering design

project and those that arose as a result of collaborating with a developing community.

Two examples of discontinuities that may appear in any engineering design project

are given below. The renewed action that followed these discontinuities is also given

to show how the discontinuities were resolved.

• Taken from the journal of Student 1, the following was identified as a discon-

tinuity, “I was shocked to find that the documentation for the first design cycle

took over 3 days!” This discontinuity was reflected on and measures were taken


to ensure that the same problem did not recur in the future. The renewed ac-

tion was found in the following, ”I am glad that we are doing somewhat more

concurrent documentation for this design cycle”. [Student 1’s Journal, August

10, 2009]

• Taken from the journal of Student 2, the following was identified as a discontinu-

ity, “I actually really appreciate the level of detail that went into the calculations

of the rebuilding.” The discontinuity arose since Student 2 was herself not used

to working on manufacturing assignments that required precise calculations.

The renewed action that followed was, “However, working with someone [Stu-

dent 1] who is very used to that will be good for me, because I do not think it

necessary to think on more technical terms. [Student 2’s Journal, June 26, 2009]

For the remainder of the research project, the majority of the calculations were

found in the notes of Student 1.

Such discontinuities arising from identifying strengths of team members and time

allocation of various task (in this case documentation) may reasonably be expected

of student engineers realizing the demands of engineering work.

Other discontinuities resulted directly from the student practitioners collaborating

with the community practitioners on the design team. Most were a result of their

expectation (and sometimes apprehension) of their own behavior and that of their

community counterparts. Others pertained to communication with the community

practitioners and ensuring that they were equal participants in the design. Two

examples of discontinuities experienced by the student practitioners are given below.

• The following discontinuity was experienced in the first communication between

the student practitioners and the NGO liaison. “I am trying to think about why

I was resistant to talk, and I’m realizing that it displays a change in philosophy

that I need to work on.” It violated the highly valued expectation that if the

student practitioner “didn’t have any specific questions to ask and we had gotten

the information we were looking for, there was nothing more to be said. Critical

reflection however changed this belief and the resulting renewed action was, “I


revert very easily into the “silent observer” role rather than “active participant”,

particularly when I am recording information. This is something I will work on

for the next call.” [Student 2’s Journal, June 29, 2009]

• The following discontinuity also arose during a conference call with the NGO

liaison. “I am glad we were finally able to get a hold of [the NGO liaison] for

the conference call. Student 2 and I were primarily leading the conversation,”

The experience was new and was found to be “ weird but not difficult”. It

was resolved with the following renewed action “It is good to practice doing

somewhat stressful activities like that are all very much a part of research of

this sort. [Student 1’s Journal, July 26, 2009]

8.2.2 Unresolved Discontinuities

It is noteworthy that not all the discontinuities were resolved. By looking at the 14

discontinuities that remained unresolved, it was seen that these were all to do with the

student practitioners’ interaction with the community practitioners. They centered

on self doubt of the student practitioners. Most spoke of the student practitioner’s

expressing concern over being aware of how their actions would be perceived by

the community practitioners. The videos and prototypes sent to the community

practitioners surfaced the vulnerabilities the student practitioners experienced. Two

examples of unresolved discontinuities are given below.

• Reflecting on sending a video to introduce themselves to the community prac-

titioner’s introducing themselves, a discontinuity was discerned in the following

vulnerability section: “I am worried that my video to the village is not personal

enough - but I also think that too personal of a video can be seen as ”flaunt-

ing”, its like saying: look at the life/freedom of path that I have all the liberties

and activities that I do by choice/desire. I am more privileged than you and

we are very different! I do not want to convey such a message to the villages

accidentally.” [Student 1’s Journal, April 25, 2009]

• Reflecting on the package containing the two-towers chair prototype along with


videos explaining the prototype and the process of prototyping and a booklet

explaining the unfinished nature of the chair with a professor at Stanford, re-

sulted in the following discontinuity “I have been thinking a lot about several

things that he brought up. One was the sense of silliness that he immediately

got from our description of the package.” The expression of vulnerability that

followed was, “ That is actually something that I have been worried about (I

didn’t mention this in the conversation, though I kind of wish I had)...I have

been worried about the possibility (probability) that the villagers will open our

package and scoff at our poor craftsmanship, and disregard the rest of the pro-

totype in response. If their primary understanding is in skilled labor, if they see

an unskilled creation such as our prototype, it seems like it would be very easy to

only see the unskilled nature of the prototype. Hopefully the videos convey our

intent and where our influence and skill is applied. I am just worried that the

opinion of ”with all their fancy tools, why weren’t they able to create something

better?” will be the pervading opinion. [Student 2’s Journal, August 3, 2009]

These unresolved discontinuities however, did lead to more detailed reflection

about their sense of self and their perceived interactions with developing communities

in the future. The project duration and experiences enabled such discontinuities to

emerge and be articulated. However, the time constraint implied that the student

practitioners could not come to resolution of these discontinuities.

8.2.3 Influence of project parameters

Once evidence of resolved discontinuities was found, the resolved discontinuity events

were further analyzed to find the influence of the five parameters on the student prac-

titioners’ experience of the research project. Evidence of influence of each parameter

was identified and these are presented below.

Participation of a developing community:

This parameter was seen as one of the key factors in the continuation and successful

completion of the Co-DiViNE project (Section 2.3.5). In this research project the


developing community was more directly involved. The community practitioners

were part of the design team, collaborating with the student practitioners. Their

participation made the student practitioners aware of the challenges of working with

a developing community towards creating sustainable solutions to the problems faced

by the developing community. The interaction of the student practitioners with the

community practitioners was the source of many discontinuities but their presence

was also a major factor in arriving at renewed action.

Several discontinuities occurred during the second design cycle (August 4-27, 2009)

when there was very little communication with the community practitioners (Section

6.3.2). Discontinuity events arising from uncertainty about how to proceed with the

second design cycle were found in the journals of both student practitioners.

“Our team faced the decision to focus on breadth of a solution of depth

of a solution. Currently we just have an ad hoc solution for a chair, which

only satisfies the problem of back-related posture as suggested by the NGO

liaison.” [Student 1’s Journal, August 4, 2009]

“[the author] basically presented it as two options for moving forward;

one is moving forward as planned and continuing to design the loom chair,

and using our experiences and knowledge as designers and engineers to

carry it forward based on what we think is best, and the other is switching

focus entirely in order to address our information blindness as the next

challenge.” [Student 2’s Journal, August 4, 2009]

The decision was made after the arrival of a video from the community practi-

tioners. The impact of the video is captured in the following discontinuity event.

“Today involved yet another switch in direction, but I think that was

necessary after the receipt of the video. One of the things that our “infor-

mation blindness” has forced us to do is make assumptions that are not

grounded in anything other than our own intuition. If we had stuck to our

schedule just for the sake of sticking to the schedule, it would have defeated

the purpose of receiving the video in the first place. Instantly, many of the


logistical questions we were struggling to get around disappeared, which

allowed us to pursue much more involved designs.” [Student 2s Journal,

Aug 12, 2009]

What is evidenced from the journal entries is that the video communi-

cation from the community practitioners was responsible for the renewed

action of the student practitioner. It also shows that student practition-

ers were mindful of the participation of the community practitioners as

designers and thus showing that collaboration between the student and

community practitioners happened, making the boundary between design-

ers and users porous. The student practitioners made efforts to maintain

the co-equal ethic of the project even during the second design cycle when

they heard very little from the community practitioners.

Balancing active doing and undergoing:

This parameter was arrived as at from the implications of the theoretical discussions

in Section 3.5. It was added to prevent experiences of extreme undergoing.

The situation that came closest to the becoming an experience of extreme under-

going was during design cycle 2, when communication from the field was minimal.

Despite attempts to contact the NGO liaison and others at the NGO, due to unan-

ticipated circumstances, they were unable to respond. This situation could have

potentially left the student practitioners feeling overwhelmed and unable to act, in

effect, experience extreme undergoing. This was however, prevented by having an

active doing component (engineering design) to fall back on. Two journal entries in

support of this claim are given below:

“Yesterday, even after we reached our decision concerning the lack of

communication, I was still constantly thinking about my role as an engi-

neer in the developing world, and ethical research practices, etc. Today,

however, there was none of that. I concentrated very specifically on the

task at hand, and worked to complete that task, barely even remembering

the concerns we had yesterday. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it


was very pronounced. It see it as almost an efficiency thing; in order to

complete any practical task, it is necessary not to question the legitimacy

of the task (at least during the time in which you are concentrating on that

task).” [Student 2’s Journal, August 5, 2009]

The quote above shows how re-engaging with active doing (in this case making

foam core prototypes) was experienced as shifting away from reflecting on the self.

After a few days of intensely thinking about what direction the second design cy-

cle would take and what would be fair to the community practitioners without any

resolution, a day devoted to active doing enabled renewed action.

“I like the fact that after a long day of discussion, planning, more

discussion, undoing of planning, redoing of planning and recombination

of ideas/approaches/plans/timelines, we were able to agree on a course of

action for the second design cycle as integrating our two primary concerns:

villagers welfare (focus on good posture maintenance) and more recently,

establishing some semblance of physical presence (due to the absentia of

feedback or any information really from India at this time).” [Student 1’s

Journal, August 4, 2009]

The journal entry above offers evidence that, for the student practitioners a bal-

ance between a well defined engineering problem pertaining to the welfare of the

weavers and a more open ended problem of addressing the communication challenges

faced by the design team, was a happy outcome. It showed that the student practi-

tioner without being exposed to concepts of active doing and undergoing felt naturally

comfortable with a combination of problems that would provide a mix of active doing

and undergoing. The well defined problem would provide mostly active doing expe-

riences as this was an area they student practitioners were familiar with and knew

how to act. The communication problem on the other hand, would predominantly

lead to undergoing as it would require understanding the local context of the commu-

nity practitioners and imagining effective, efficient and culturally appropriate ways of

bridging the time and geographical distances.


Active reflection:

This parameter was also derived from theoretical arguments presented in Section 3.5.

Both Zimbardo and Dewey claimed, from their respective perspectives that reflection

is critical to prevent discontinuity initiated searches from going awry and turning

them into learning experiences.

The act of journaling has been shown to be an effective and well accepted way of

encouraging reflection (Section 4.6). In the case of this research project, the student

practitioners found the active reflection through journaling helpful in keeping track

of their thought process. This in turn helped them stay engaged with the project.

The following quote is evidence for how the parameter of active journaling helped the

student practitioners.

The discontinuity emerged as a result of the student practitioners reflecting on

the first design cycle.

“Today was a day full of reflection over the past few weeks of the

project, so it feels a little weird to meta-reflect on the reflection that hap-

pened today. Today’s work reminded me of how important it is for the

nature of this project to keep good record of everything that happened, or

else it would be impossible to remember everything and draw it back in

enough detail to be useful.” [Student 2’s Journal, July 29, 2009]

This was followed by the vulnerability that described past experiences with jour-

naling and the update belief that emerged through reflection.

“ I actually have never been the journaling type (even in middle school

and high school, when keeping a diary was all the rage, I had trouble

maintaining one) so this is a bit of a new experience for me. However,

even though it sometimes feels like a bit of a chore to spend extra time

recounting the thoughts of each day, it has really helped me invest more

of my thought into the project, since what I think about and what I reflect

upon becomes more firmly entrenched in my memory. Since it is something

that I don’t turn off when I leave the KGC, but rather must think more


about at least once later in the day, it has slowly come to pervade my

thoughts and experiences outside of the project.”

The discontinuity was then resolved with the following renewed action:

“Anyways, my point here is that the reflections have enabled me to

invest much more of my concentration into the project, so much so that

the depth of learning that I am getting from it is much more than I ever

would have expected.”

Trust and Support:

From the experiences in the Co-DiViNE project, it was evident that having the sup-

port of the senior scholars at Stanford was necessary for the student-interns and the

author to persevere with the Co-DiViNE project. In this research project too, the

presence of a trusted and nurturing environment at Kozmetsky Global Collabora-

tory and the involvement of senior scholars at Stanford (the PI of the Co-DiViNE

project and the principal adviser to this dissertation) made it easier for the student

practitioners to overcome discontinuities. This is evidenced in the following quotes.

“The best part about [the meeting] was after the meeting, when ... and

I had a juggling contest, then tried to teach [Senior Scholar] how to juggle

in 5 minutes, then had a giant game of catch between everyone–but with

7 balls running around! We were all getting pelted with the juggling balls;

it was so funny! This experience was meaningful to me, because for how

greatly our academic experience/knowledge/worldly wisdom/interests may

differ, there is a shared almost child-like humanity and fascination with

the world, still.” [Student 1’s Journal, July 10, 2009]

“I really appreciate the level of “silliness” in the office. It is easy to

get bogged down in the importance and seriousness of what you are doing

“for” the developing world. On the one hand, yes poverty is a very serious

issue, but if workers and designers and the engineers are expected to work

without humor or something more flexible, it seems like you are taking on


a self-sacrificing role, which is exactly the type of attitude we are trying

to avoid.” [Student 2’s Journal, July 20, 2009]

Research through Design (RtD):

This parameter was introduced as an appropriate research approach. However by

opting for this approach, it became possible to incorporate engineering design as the

active doing component. This selection allowed the student practitioners easy ac-

cess to active doing. In situations that could potentially have become experiences of

extreme undergoing, the engineering design component ensured resolution of discon-

tinuities by engaging in renewed action.

Using RtD as one of the project parameters, also gave the research project flex-

ibility with regard to how the design cycles unfolded. The student interns were not

constrained by expectations of deliverables. Rather they understood that the flow of

the process could be more organic as evidenced in the following quote.

“As frustrating as this day was, after stepping back and thinking about

it, we realized that sending the package on Monday instead of Friday would

not be too problematic for the overall project. This realization, that we did

have the flexibility to move the send off date by one business day, was the

only thing that was required to overcome the issue.” [Student 2’s Journal,

July 24, 2009]

This was the renewed action that followed a discontinuity experienced when the

shipment of the prototype from the first design cycle (two tower chair) was delayed

from Friday to the following Monday. The package dimensions exceeded the size

limitations of parcels for international shipment. Incorporating RtD made this shift

not only possible but also permissible. The reflections that preceded this renewed

action were very significant for the student practitioner. The vulnerability portion of

this discontinuity event are shown below.

“Going into this project, I had the opinion that any logistical pitfalls

came from a general unpreparedness on the part of the team. I had felt this


about most of the project classes that I had take during the school year,

where I passed off random pitfalls and issues that were out of my control

as things that I should have left time for. As I have been working through

this project, I am learning to be more forgiving of myself. I understand

now that there are challenges that I never could have accounted for (no

matter how much research I did to look at the problem), and that thinking

that I could have planned for them is actually a form of hubris, almost as if

I was thinking that somehow I was supposed to instantly understand all of

the possible complexities of a project and account for them independently.”

The discussion of the influence of the five parameters on the experience of the stu-

dent practitioners shows, that these parameters in combination with the framework

for selection of project participants (student practitioners and community practition-

ers) and the design problem, resulted in creating a bounded but porous learning

environment. The training of the student practitioners and their continuous interac-

tion with the author and senior scholars at Stanford also helped contextualize and

revise expectations about modes of learning. Thus it can be said that this project

moved closer to the Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant of the research inquiry space

(Section 3.4, Fig 3.1)

Further research is needed to develop the training into a curriculum that can be

offered to student engineers enabling them to collaborate with developing communi-

ties safely and continue to learn from the collaboration without experiencing extreme

undergoing.

8.2.4 Response to research question 1

With 108 out of 122 (88.5%) discontinuities being resolved, the research project did

provide a safe environment for experiencing discontinuities and transitioning to re-

newed action. The five parameters influenced the student practitioners’ experiences.

The confirmation of a cause-effect relationship between the parameters and the cre-

ation of a safe environment will be the subject of a follow-up research study designed

to quantitatively validate the efficacy of these parameters.


8.3 Research Question 2

The second research question is an attempt to understand how the transition from dis-

continuity to renewed action happens. As seen in the previous chapter the transition

from discontinuity to renewed action has three intermediate steps. These are:

1. Expression of highly valued expectation/belief that was violated

2. Reflection on highly valued expectation/belief

3. Updated (changed or reinforced) expectation/belief

What follows is a discussion of these phases from a Deweyan perspective.

8.3.1 Deweyan Inquiry

The nature of learning experienced by the student practitioners during the transition

from discontinuity to renewed action is best described by the Deweyan inquiry process:

“Problems which induce inquiry grow out of the relations of fellow beings to one

another, and the organs for dealing with these relations are not only the eye and ear,

but the meanings which have developed in the course of living, together with the ways

of forming and transmitting culture with all its constituents of tools, arts, institutions,

traditions and customary beliefs” [48].

The process of inquiry as described by Dewey begins in doubt (previously defined

in Section 7.4.4), which is “... uneasy,.. tension that finds expression and outlet in the

processes of inquiry.” Inquiry terminates in belief that Dewey defines as “the settled

condition of objective subject-matter, together with readiness to act in a given way

when, if, and as, that subject-matter is present in existence” [47, p. 7].

8.3.2 Augmenting the Deweyan Process of Inquiry

The addition of the parameter of active reflection to the project created an opening

for examining what highly valued expectation/belief had been violated. This was


evidenced in the vulnerability sections of the coded data. In other words, a disconti-

nuity experience seeded a doubt to start the inquiry process by making the student

practitioners aware of some pre-existing (consciously or unconsciously) held belief.

The second phase of transition was that of reflecting on the highly valued ex-

pectation/belief that had been violated. Dewey defined critical reflection as “active,

persistent and careful consideration of an belief or supposed form of knowledge in the

light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends” [49].

Mezirow built on this definition and created three categories of reflection, namely con-

tent, process and premise reflection. Reflection on what was perceived was classified

as content reflection whereas reflection on how we perceive was categorized as process

reflection. Premise reflection was reflection on the assumption and foundations that

laid the foundation of “why we perceive, think, feel or act as we do” [50] and comes

closest to what Dewey meant by critical reflection. This idea is echoed in Boyd and

Fales definition of reflective learning.

“Reflective learning is the process of internally examining and exploring an issue

of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of

self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective” [51]. Reflective thinking

is thus seen as capable of altering an individual’s perspectives, by opening up existing

knowledge and beliefs, to scrutiny in light of experience.

In recognizing the assumptions/beliefs that were highly priced, the student prac-

titioners’ inquiry resulted in reexamining the beliefs in light of the context of their

experience. It lead to reflection on why they held the beliefs that they did and how

their recent experience either challenged or reaffirmed their assumptions.

The final phase was arriving at an updated expectation/belief that was either

different from the one they previously held or a reinforced version of the previously

held highly valued expectation/belief. This was evident in the student practitioners

description of how they intended to engage in renewed action. This is consistent with

the Deweyan definition of belief, which also marks the end of the inquiry process.

The current process of Deweyan inquiry can be simply represented diagrammat-

ically as shown in Fig. 8.1. The discussion above augments the process by making

the transition from Doubt to Belief more explicit and discrete. The emerging model


is shown in Fig. 8.2.

Figure 8.1: Diagrammatic Representation of Deweyan Inquiry

Figure 8.2: Updated Model of Deweyan Inquiry

8.3.3 Evidence Supporting the Augmented Process of Deweyan

Inquiry

Discontinuity experiences for the student practitioner arose from violation of highly

valued expectations/beliefs about the learning environment, practice/modes of learn-

ing, interaction with community practitioners, others associated with the project and

about themselves. Although both student practitioners were forced to question their

aptitude, competence and intentions, the emerging highly valued expectations/beliefs

were very different for each of them. One illustration of a highly valued expecta-

tion/belief that evolved over the course of the project is presented for each student

practitioner in the following sections (Section 8.3.1 and 8.3.2).


Student 1’s Beliefs

From the earliest entry in her journal, it was evident that Student 1 valued expertise

and the people whom she viewed as experts. Her attitude was one of learning from

experts. Her highly valued expectation/belief about herself was that she was a novice

student engineer with very little experience or expertise. The expectation is that in

time she will become an expert engineer.

In response to a discontinuity caused by a conversation with the author about

learning from experts outside the domain of engineering, the following reflection took

place:

“ In my past, I can think of two such professors in the field of An-

thropology (STS) and art history who have left a mark on me through my

discussions with them in and out of the classroom. There is something to

be said about how impressionable a young aspiring engineers mind is and

how significant it is to inundate them with new ideas and world views and

experiences that they can take the path they truly want themselves when

the time is right.” [Student 1s Journal, June 20, 2009]

The phrase “There is something to be said about how impressionable a young mind

is”, captures her highly valued belief. The critical reflection on the discontinuity

makes her recall experts from other domains who made an impression on her in the

past. This is followed with an updated belief that reinforces the original. It is captured

in the final phrase, ‘how significant it is to inundate them with new ideas and world

views and experiences that they can take the path they truly want themselves when

the time is right.”

Another instance of a discontinuity caused by violation of the same belief happened

when a visitor to the Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory asked the student practitioners

if they could envision undertaking a research project similar to the one they were

participating in. The reflection that followed was:

“ I remarked that I could not see myself doing what [the author] is

doing, because I lack the intellectual tools and training that she has, and


that I hope to help develop those tools by work that I am currently doing

and work that I hope to do senior year and in graduate school.” [Student

1s Journal, July 31, 2009]

The same highly valued belief is echoed in the words, “I lack the intellectual tools

and training that she has”. Critical reflection follows in the remainder of the quote.

The indication of a time frame in the foreseeable future indicates the reinforcement

and thus updated belief.

Another entry shows her beliefs even more clearly. This particular reflection came

about when the student practitioners watched a video about leadership with a focus

on Don Quixote.

“ I can identify a lot with Quixote, just as an individual. I always feel

that I am the silly one in the group, the clumsy one. But in the end, there

may just be potential for something serious to become of me! Now if I

just had the self-identification part down... ” [Student 1s Journal, July

27, 2009]

The first sentence indicating her resonance with Don Quixote shows her existing

belief. The critical reflection is at first negative, but becomes more hopeful resulting

in an updated belief that has shifted from waiting to acquire expertise over time to

understanding herself and her strengths.

Her experience in the project especially interacting with the Stanford community

and with the people involved in the project made her more aware of her beliefs about

knowledge but also gave her the hope of how to engage in active doing to build

a broader knowledge base but also gain deeper knowledge in certain areas. This

is evidenced in the quote taken from a reflection document written by the student

practitioners at the end of the first design cycle.

“ My experiences thus far have reinvigorated and intensified my desire

to be a life learner and a life lover. There is so little I know, and so

much to know. This notion is the result of many weeks of getting to know

Student 2 and the author as individuals their tastes, opinions and values.


Through my conversations with my team and with the extended Stanford

design team, I am beginning to see the power of an idea, the criticality

of creativity and resourcefulness and the necessity of a support network of

like-minded and un-like-minded individuals to challenge me and force me

to think about every aspect of an idea.” [Student 1’s Reflection Document

August 23, 2009]

Student 2’s Beliefs

For Student 2, her beliefs regarding her role and her actions with regard to developing

countries surfaced regularly. The highly valued expectation/belief she had of herself

was that she had to work with developing communities but had doubts about how to

engage.

In response to discontinuity emerging out of reflecting on a quote by Lila Watson,

an Australian aboriginal artist that says “If you have come to help me you are wasting

your time. If you have come because you see that your liberation is tied to mine,

then let us begin together”

“ What came up then was a deep-felt sense that I have been privileged

for no reason other than luck, and an overwhelming number of resources

are accessible by me that are not accessible by the vast majority of other

people. My personal unrest comes at the very surface as a sense of guilt

and undeservedness for my luck, which then translates into a desire to at

least try to personally allocate my resources in a way that is more fair; by

using my education and my luxury time to work with people who are less

well off.” [Student2s Journal, July 21, 2009]

Her belief is clear in the first part of the quote where she feels she is lucky to

be privileged. Critical reflection shows that her need to engage with developing

communities comes from a sense of guilt for having access to abundant resources

without having done anything to deserve it. The update in light of the discontinuity

is finding a way to engage that is not only possible but also appears to be ethical to

her.


This discontinuity was quickly followed by another while discussing what the term

liberation meant with the author.

“ After talking with the author, who talked about liberation in terms

of developing open and honest human connection, I am starting to think

that my liberation is more than just that...it is in a sense of understand-

ing the world a little bit better, experiencing every aspect, both positive

and negative, of the world that I can, it is breaking down the communica-

tion barriers that make me often wary of other people, particularly people

whose backgrounds are different than mine, and just generally developing

an openness to new things and experiences.” [Student 2s Journal, July 21,

2009]

The belief is still that she must work with developing communities in a feasible and

ethical way. The critical reflection however, causes a shift in her belief as is evidenced

by the updated belief, “ it [liberation] is breaking down the communication barriers

that make me often wary of other people, particularly people whose backgrounds are

different than mine, and just generally developing an openness to new things and

experiences.” This shifts the reason for her engagement with the developing world

from guilt to overcoming communication barriers and experiencing things as they

are.

An entry a few days later reflecting on Don Quixote resurfaced her updated ex-

pectation/belief but she had not resolved the challenge of working with a developing

community effectively and ethically.

“ This brings up a bigger concern I have been having with dealing with

the developing world. I have a very strong image of the stereotypical ”do-

gooder” and the image of what I absolutely do not want to be - a bumbling

white woman who cares a lot about what she does but is chuckled at and

even scorned at by the people she is trying to help, who allow her to ”help”

them for as long as she is interested and then go on and do their own

thing, definitely not better off and maybe even worse off as soon as she

leaves. I am not ready to be a Don Quixote, unfortunately I don’t think


I am confident enough in my understanding of what I am choosing to do,

and why, that public opinion is still pretty powerful.” [Student 2s Journal,

August 3, 2009]

The belief is stated vividly in the description of the “do-gooder”. The critical re-

flection results in an unfavorable comparison to Don Quixote and realizing the lack

of clarity regarding engagement with developing communities. This discontinuity

remained unresolved and was not followed by an updated belief or renewed action.

The update in the beliefs of the student practitioners shows that they engaged

in reflective learning (as defined in Section 8.3.2) and that the research project pa-

rameters and framework were successful in shifting from experiences of discontinuity

to renewed action and preventing experiences of extreme undergoing and supporting

learning experiences instead.

8.3.4 Response to Research Question 2

The second research question of this dissertation was how do student practition-

ers transition from discontinuity to renewed action and how can Dewey’s theory of

learning be used to explain the learning in this transition. In response, a process of

transition from discontinuity to renewed action was identified and found to resonate

with Dewey’s process of Inquiry. The mechanism identifying three intermediate steps

in transition from discontinuity to renewed action was presented and resulted in the

creation of an augmented process of Deweyan inquiry. The presence of critical reflec-

tion indicated reflective learning and sufficient evidence was found to indicate that

the student practitioners engaged in reflective learning.

8.4 Summing up of Responses to Research Ques-

tions

This research project was undertaken to further engineering education practices and

engineering education research with respect to preparing student engineers to work


with developing communities. Experiences of the Co-DiViNE project brought into

focus some of the challenges that could be expected in collaborations among student

engineers and developing communities. A research inquiry space was theoretically

derived and the inquiry was visualized as a shift from the Impaired Learning (NE)

to the Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant of the research inquiry space. As such, the

research questions for this dissertation were articulated as being:


learning experiences? and



sition

They were addressed by identifying five parameters (participation of a developing

community, balancing active doing and undergoing, active reflection, trust and sup-

port and a research through design approach) and proposing a framework for inte-

grating and implementing them.

Analysis of data comprising primarily of the student practitioners’ entries in their

respective reflection journals showed that the student practitioners were able to safely

transition from discontinuity to renewed action and additional analysis of the resolved

discontinuity events showed that the five parameters had influenced the experience

of the student practitioners. Thus evidence for responding affirmatively to research

question 1 was found.

Evidence of reflective learning was found in the data. The transition from disconti-

nuity to renewed action was found to have three intermediate phases. Integrating the

newly discerned process with Dewey’s concept of Inquiry resulted in the creation of an

augmented process of Deweyan inquiry. Thus evidence for responding affirmatively

to research question 2 was found.

By providing a bounded but porous learning environment it was concluded that

it was possible to shift the current research project towards the Balanced Learning

(SE) quadrant from the original untenable position of the Impaired Learning (NE)

corner where the Co-DiViNE project had found itself Evidence of reflective learning


8.2 confirms this conclusion. Dewey’s understanding of the integral role that the

environment plays in the process of inquiry is at the core of research question 2:

“Environmental conditions and energies are inherent in inquiry as a special mode

of organic behavior” [52]. The five parameters in conjunction with the framework

laid out in this dissertation were effective in providing an environment that was not

disruptive and enabled student practitioners to safely transition from discontinuity

to renewed action and engage in reflective learning.

The next chapter concludes this dissertation by discussing the avenues of future

research in engineering education practice and engineering education research.

Chapter 9

Future Work

“Given imagination, courage and the desire to experiment and to learn

from its results, there is a push toward, a momentum for creative work.”

-John Dewey [53]

This dissertation was a modest beginning on a journey of creating sustainable,

global prosperity. Recognizing the experience, knowledge and skill that exists in

the poorest communities is a humbling experience that simultaneously overwhelms

and inspires. The project described and analyzed in this thesis is a nugget, a small

part of a long and continuous process of experimentation and learning. This chapter

describes the opportunities for future research that emerge from the findings of this

work. Section 9.1 explores the possibility of future direction of the research project

undertaken in this dissertation. Section 9.2 looks at the future research emerging

from this work that can contribute to the field of engineering education research.

Section 9.3 presents possible research opportunities to advance engineering education

practices.

9.1 Future Directions of the Research Project

One of the new elements introduced in this project was shifting the community from

role of consumers of design to co-creators. Blurring the boundaries of consumer and

designer was attempted but could be enhanced in the future.

122

CHAPTER 9. FUTURE WORK 123

9.1.1 Technology and face-to-face interaction

As described in Chapter 6, it was challenging to set up a communication channel

that would allow the student and community practitioners to collaborate in real

time. Limited access to the Internet was one of the severe limitations to real-time

collaboration. Implementing the research project with regular, video communication

would enable the community practitioners to be more involved in the process and

experience the design process more directly. That in turn might modify the nature

of discontinuities and renewed action.

9.1.2 Community Practitioners as Subjects

A natural research question emerging from this research, is extending it to include

the experiences of the community practitioners. That would entail a Co-DiViNE

project like intervention as a precursor. Giving the community practitioners access

to visual technology will serve both as a means of communication with the student

practitioners and as a tool to capture their reflections. The video reflection journals

will require the analysis methods to move beyond just the text to include the other

sources of data such as voice and emotions. The richness of the data could lead to

more nuanced insights.

9.2 Future Research in Engineering Education Re-

search

The research presented in this dissertation introduced three ideas:

1. Visualizing a research inquiry space for engineering education pedagogy design

2. A meta framework based coding scheme to identify discontinuities, vulnerability

and renewed action in research data consisting of student practitioners’ notes

and entries in reflection journals


3. An augmented process of Deweyan inquiry for understanding how learning hap-

pens in transitions from discontinuity to renewed action.

All three ideas need to be developed and tested further. Avenues of future research

on these ideas is discussed briefly in the following sections.

9.2.1 Visualizing the Research Inquiry Space

The research inquiry space provides a simple way of looking at the research ques-

tions being undertaken in the field of engineering education research. It captures the

teaching and learning experiences of teachers and students respectively, as a function

of the learning environment and presence (or absence) of existing modes of teaching

and learning. It can be an effective tool for visualizing future research efforts trying

to understand student experiences in different learning environments and designing

and developing teaching practices for the different situations represented by the four

quadrants of the research inquiry space. By extending it to other research problems,

it is possible to create an epistemology for the field of engineering education research

enabling researchers, irrespective of disciplinary backgrounds, to share and discuss

ideas, insights and methods.

9.2.2 Coding Scheme

The meta framework based coding scheme developed in Chapter 6 is in its infancy.

The methodologies adapted to generate the code took several years to mature and

reach a stage where independent coders could be taught the coding scheme. Applica-

tion of the coding scheme to other existing data sets and data collected from future

research projects (such as those described in Section 9.1) would in time yield a rigor-

ous coding scheme that independent coders could be trained in. This analysis scheme

has the potential of identifying whether students are learning through their partici-

pation in projects similar to the one presented in this dissertation. It also makes it

possible to detects sources of extreme undergoing early and makes it possible for the

researchers or teachers to intervene and prevent the project participants from suffer-

ing. It is critical to provide a safe, nurturing, non-disruptive environment for student


practitioners to learn. The ability to detect experiences of extreme undergoing early

on becomes even more critical if the community practitioners were to become more

involved. Having access to their reflections would make it possible to ensure their

safe participation and learning.

9.2.3 Augmented Process of Deweyan Inquiry

A process of learning to transition from discontinuity to renewed action was presented

in Section 8.3.2. This process showed that discontinuities seed doubts. This marks the

beginning of inquiry. Learning happens as a result of critical reflection on the violated

highly valued expectation/belief. The reflection results in an updated belief that is

either different from the original belief or a reinforced version of it. The updated belief

is antecedent to renewed action. Thus, it is found that reflective learning happens

in the transition from discontinuity to renewed action. As mentioned in Section 1.1,

there is a call to focus engineering education research on learning mechanisms and

systems. Further research can nuance the model further and test if tit is applicable

to explain the learning experiences of student engineers in other projects that are

either moving towards or are located in the Balanced Learning (SE) quadrant of the

research inquiry space.

9.3 Advancing Engineering Education Practice

At the very core of this research inquiry was a need to better prepare student engi-

neers to work with developing communities. To that end, this research identified five

project parameters, a framework for incorporating these parameters into a learning

environment and a training program to prepare the student practitioners to collabo-

rate with a developing community. Two possible research opportunities are described

in the following two sections.


9.3.1 Project Parameters

The research finding of this dissertation showed that it is possible to take on engi-

neering design problems that may be potentially overwhelming and even traumatic

by re-contextualizing them and creating environments where they can be addressed

safely. The five parameters in conjunction with the framework enabled in a learning

environment that was bounded and porous. Evidence was found to demonstrate that

in this environment, experiences of extreme undergoing were mitigated and learning

was supported.

Further research is needed to understand the efficacy of such parameters. Modeling

the influence and contribution of the parameters in creating the learning environment

will allow for testing the parameters and validating their efficacy.

Research is also necessary in identifying additional parameters that maybe neces-

sary to create a learning environment that would balance active doing and undergoing,

consistent with Dewey’s vision.

9.3.2 Developing Curriculum

Poverty can be a shocking experience, but it is possible as shown in this dissertation,

to address some of its issues on a small scale through collaboration and creation of

safe environments for practitioners. This dissertation proposes one approach and

demonstrates that it is possible to sustain learning in what might otherwise become

disruptive environments. The training of the student practitioners was an effort

to prepare them for experiencing discontinuities arising from collaboration with a

developing community. It was the first step towards creating a curriculum for training

students to work in projects that are moving towards or are in the Balanced Learning

(SE) quadrant of the research inquiry space. Give the growing interest among students

to work with developing communities, the development of a suitable curriculum is of

utmost urgency.


9.4 In Conclusion

Dewey wrote on the subject of what he called the “the art of modern bridge building”.

He said, “There was, I take it, no definite art or science of modern bridge-building

until after bridges of the new sort had been constructed. It was impossible that the

new art should precede the new achievement.” Describing the persons who undertook

the building of modern bridges, he said, “Someone had to have the imagination to get

away from the ‘thought’ of the existing easily recognized pattern. This took daring, the

courage to think out of line with convention and custom; it took inventiveness in using

existing scientific material in a new way, for new consequences” [54]. Problems such

as poverty require a sustained and dedicated effort by a group of innovative, creative

and courageous people. The student-interns of Co-DiViNE, the student practitioners

of the current project and the author, confronted with discontinuities discovered their

own motivations for working with chronically poor communities. Together they found

ways to support, nurture and sustain the collaboration and themselves. The future of

this work is to continue to understand and clarify the nature of sustaining the self and

sustainably engaging in learning from and about ourselves and those we collaborate

with - the knowledge and experience needed for designing sustainable solutions to

challenges facing people is embodied in their practices that reside within the context

of their communities.

Appendix A

List of Research Publications to

Ensure Sustainability of the

Co-DiViNE Research Project

Intervention

128

Table of Contents

I. Inspiration: This section describes the inspiration for this project. The section contains papers describing the Chronic Poverty as a concept and specifically the case of Chronic Poverty in India. It also includes a paper describing the relationship between Literacy and poverty. These papers highlight poverty conditions and reflect the research done by several people on not only the current state of poverty and the facts and figures that go with it but also the possible causes of it. This section marks the beginning of the project in the spirit that “A problem well stated is half the problem solved”.

The section then takes a closer look at the initiatives taken in the past to tackle this condition. It delves into the debate between choosing a quick solution or between thinking through and working from the ground upwards, which is more time consuming but is ethically sounder. This discussion is presented in the papers which discuss Expediency as opposed to Morality with reference to engagements with marginalized communities. These set of papers encourage the reader to think deeply of the nature of the project and what is morally correct when undertaking a research of this nature. The section then continues to set the platform for the argument that Western prosperity is largely because of External Symbolic Systems which led to impersonal exchange and to the economic growth and prosperity the west has now. These papers take a closer look at memory and external storage systems and how language or symbolic systems have helped societies store their knowledge and dwell upon it leading to creation of new knowledge. This section then concludes with taking a closer look at Oral tradition and how visual literacy can help pre-literate communities to develop their own external symbolic system and be able to break the cycle of chronic poverty and prosper towards a more satisfying life. It has papers which show how new technologies are bridging the gap between oral and formal literacy and how they are the future. It also has case studies highlighting the use of visual techniques for community development. 1. Background on current state of Extreme Chronic Poverty

i. “Chronic poverty: Meanings and Analytical Frameworks” by David Hulme, Karen Moore and Andrew Shepherd, CPRC Working paper 2, (November 2001)

ii. “Chronic Poverty and Remote Rural Areas” by Kate Bird, David Hulme, Karen Moore and Andrew Shepherd, Chronic Poverty Research Center (CPRC) Working Paper 13, (2001)

iii. “Chronic Poverty in Rural India, An Analysis using Panel Data: Issues and Findings” by Shashanka Bhide and Aasha Kapur Mehta, presented at “The International Conference on Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy”, (April 2003)

iv. “Poverty and Inequality in India, A re-Examination” by Angus Deaton and Jean Dreze, Economic and Political Weekly, (September 7, 2002)

v. “ Assessment Practices in selected developing countries (India Case Study)” by I.V. Subba Rao presented at the LAP 2nd Experts Meeting, UNESCO, (March 2002)

2. History of Engagement: Expedience vs. Morality i. “Affirming Structure: The Amen Category” Chapter 7, The Saving

Lie by FG.Bailey, (2003) ii. “Gandhian Economic Method and the Challenge of Expediency”

by Narendra Pani, Chapter 8, Creative Social Research by Ananta Kumar Giri

iii. The Micro Politics of Development : An anatomy of change in two Villages – Ajay S. Mehta, presented at the “Asha Conference”, (2003)

3. External Symbolic systems and literacy have led to prosperity in the west i. “The Growth of Memory Palaces” by Merlin Donald, Queen’s

Quarterly 108/4, (2001) ii. “The Making of the Literate Mind” Chapter 12, “The world on

paper” by David R. Olson (1994) iii. “Some psychodynamics of orality” Chapter 3, Orality and

Literacy by Walter Ong (1982) iv. “Oral memory, the story line and characterization” Chapter 6,

Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong, (1982) v. “An Action Research Study of Literacy and Empowerment in the

mountains of Lesotho” by Gillian Attwood from “The Cyril O. Houle Scholars in Adult and Continuing Education Program Global Research Perspectives: Volume III” by Ronald M. Cervero Bradley C. Courtenay and M. Timothy Hixson (May 2003)

4. Oral/Visual communication and literacy can be a basis for advancing/accelerating prosperity for the chronically poor

i. “Progress in participatory development: opening up the possibility of knowledge through progressive participation” by Eleanor Sanderson and Sara Kindon, Progress in Development Studies 4,2 (2004)

ii. “Participatory video in geographic research: a feminist practice of looking?” by Sara Kindon, Area 35.2, (2003)

iii. “Alternative paths to knowledge in oral and literate cultures” Chapter 7, “The interface between the written and the oral” by Jack Goody, (1987)

iv. “REFLECT: The Power of Communication” by Ann Simpson for The Caledon Institute of Social Policy, (January 2004)

v. “Crucial Points in the Transmission and Learning of Intangible Heritage” by Prof. Christoph Wulf, presented at the Regional Meeting on the Promotion of the Convention for the Safeguarding

of the Intangible Cultural heritage for countries of Europe and North America, (December 2004)

vi. “Back to the Oral Tradition through Skywriting at the Speed of Thought” by Stevan Harnad, presented at “Centre Jacques Cartier Conference: The Future of Web-Publishing”, (January, 2003)

II. Preparation This section starts with papers which highlight the urgency needed for a project of this nature. They reason that poverty is a violation of human rights and that it our moral obligation to redeem the situation of those living in those conditions. It also contains papers which show that it is possible to compress time taken to accomplish such tasks. A paper on diffusion of ideas and how they spread through a community is also included. This is how we hope our project will propagate not only within a community but from one community to others. The section then goes on to include papers which support the use of visual literacy tools and why is now, the right time to initiate a project of this nature. The section then continues to delve a little into Moore’s law and how it has made the technology available and feasible to take Visual Literacy tools to them.

The section then moves on to the question of sustainability. The aim of this project is to make the project a self sustaining initiative for the communities who invite us to collaborate with them. A collection of papers is presented rationalizing this idea and showing why this is possibly the safest way for success. It also deals with the question of all parties involved in this project being “Co-Equals”. This project is in the spirit of learning for all concerned. Every participant is equal, and stands to learn and benefit from others. This point is argued from point of view in Anthropology, about how “Objects” and “Subjects” are chosen in this field. These papers are all theoretical in nature and are foundations for the methods which are being developed to implement the project. 1. Convergence of technologies enabling the development of communication

within oral tradition which will enable the acceleration of indigenous systems/ approaches for accelerating the process of creation of prosperity through introduction of visual narrative literacy.

i. “The Kozmetsky Effect” by George Kozmetsky in “The Economic Transformation of the United States, 1950-2000- Volume One: Economic Growth of the United States y,” by George Kozmetsky and Piyu Yue, 2003

ii. “Severe Poverty as a Violation of Human Rights” by Thomas W. Pogge, (2004)

iii. “Gandhi, the Philosopher” by Akeel Bilgrami, Unpublished Manuscript, (June 2001)

2. Timing for Visual Narrative Literacy has arrived i. “Orality and the Problem of Memory” Chapter 1, Information

Ages by Michael E. Hobart and Zachary S. Schiffman, (2000)

ii. “The Law of Accelerating Returns” by Ray Kurzweil, KurzweilAI.net, (March 7, 2001)

iii. “The Visual Literacy White Paper” by Dr Anne Bamford for Adobe Systems Pty Ltd

iv. “Technology White Paper, Community meets entertainment: Community Television” by ALCATEL, Alcatel Telecommunications Review, (1st Quarter, 2005)

3. How to do it ensuring sustainability i. “Transformative and Restorative Learning: A Vital Dialectic for

Sustainable Societies” by Elizabeth A. Lange, Adult Education Quarterly, Vol.54, No. 2, (February 2004)

ii. “Collective Identity and Social Movements” by Francesca Poletta and James M. Jasper, Annual Review Sociology Vol. 27, (2001)

iii. “Contending Stories: Narrative in Social Movements” by Francesca Poletta, Qualitative Sociology Vol. 21, No.4, (1998)

iv. “Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning” Chapter 7, “The Pursuit of Organizational Intelligence” by James March (1997)

v. “Reflections and Mobilizations, Dialogues with Movements and Voluntary Organizations” by Ananta Kumar Giri, (2005)

vi. “Self-Development, Inclusion of the Other and Planetary Realizations” by Ananta Kumar Giri available at http://www.ihis.aau.dk/%7Eakg/

vii. “Creative Social Research: Rethinking Theories and Methods and the Calling of an Ontological Epistemology of Participation” by Ananta Kumar Giri available at http://www.ihis.aau.dk/%7Eakg/

viii. “The Other and the Eye: Time and the Rhetoric of Vision” Chapter 4, Time and the Other; How Anthropology makes its object, by Johannes Fabian (2002)

III. Ideas framing the research: This section presents papers which have shaped the research questions. The section starts with a paper which suggests a possible hypothesis for this subject, and a possible question which can be verified. A collection of papers highlighting the knowledge existing in Indigenous communities is included next. These papers highlight the Local Knowledge in a Global setting. These also question whether blindly following the West is the right way to go when helping marginalized communities. The papers which follow take a closer look at Beliefs and culture and how they influence identities. Papers have been selected to look at culture and beliefs from points of view of cognition and narratives an even religion. The papers on Institutions start with the definitions of the subject and then build up towards looking at them from a narrative and a cognition perspective. One paper also deals with development of indigenous institutions which is a fundamental question in this project.

Finally the papers on narratives and identity complete the research elements. These papers are selected to cover questions on narratives from perspectives of cognition, mimesis, and empowerment and of course overlap with identity. Papers on Identity have also been selected in a similar fashion. The papers were selected to explain the role that Culture, Institutions and Cognition play in shaping of Identities and how these are reflected in the Narratives. This sets the stage for the hypothesis that identities are shaped by beliefs, institutions and knowledge and that a change in these parameters will effect a change in identity. This change in turn can be observed through the narratives. 1. Overview:

i. “Learning, Institutions, and Economic Performance” by C. Mantzavinos, Douglass C. North, Syed Shariq, Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 2, No. 1,(2004)

2. Knowledge: i. “Does Modernization Require Westernization?” by Deepak Lal,

The Independent Review, v.V, n.1, (Summer 2000) ii. “Learning in Villages Today: Remainders or Reminders?” by

Anuradha Joshi, Chapter 7, Unfolding Learning Societies: Deepening the Dialogues, “Vimukt Shiksha” Special Issue, (2001)

iii. “Finding and Forgetting the Way” by Damon, Salesa, presented at The Princeton Workshop in the History of Science

iv. “Inuit Indigenous Knowledge and Science in the Arctic” by Ellen Bielawski; Chapter 12, “Naked Science, Anthropological Inquiry into Boundaries, Power and Knowledge” by Laura Nader (1996)

v. “Global Truths and Local Realities: Traditional Institutions in a Modern World” by Anirudh Krishna, Working Paper Series SAN01-02, (July 2001)

3. Beliefs: i. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies” by Ann Swidler

American Sociological Review. 51, (1986) ii. “Cultural Beliefs and the Organization of Society: A Historical and

Theoretical Reflection on Collectivist and Individualist Societies” by Avner Grief, The journal of Political Economy, Volume 102, Issue 5, (Oct., 1994)

iii. “Cognitive and Emotional Processes in Cultural Transmission of Natural and Nonnatural Beliefs” by Ara Norenzayan and Scot Atran, The Psychological Foundations of Culture

iv. “Myths, Legends, and Lessons” Chapter 8, “Sovereign Nations or Reservations?” by Terry L. Anderson (1995)

v. “Religion’s evolutionary Landscape: Counter intuition, commitment, compassion, communion” by Scott Atran an Ara Norenzayan, “Behavioral and Brain Sciences” Vol. 27, (2004)

vi. “Cultural Variation is Part of Human Nature: Literary Universals, Context-Sensitivity, and Shakespeare in the Bush” by Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2003)

4. Institutions: i. “The new Institutional Economics and Development” by Douglass

C. North (2001) ii. “Understanding Underdevelopment: Challenges for Institutional

Economics from the point of view of Poor Countries” by Pranab Bardhan, UCB (August 1999)

iii. “An Outline of the Process of Economic Change” Chapter 1 “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North. (2005)

iv. “The Cognitive Foundations of Institutional Knowledge” by Merlin Donald “Working paper for the Second KNEXUS Research Symposium” (2000)

v. “Solidarity Norms and Institutions in Agrarian Societies: Static and Dynamic Considerations” by, Jean-Phillipe Platteau, Handbook on Gift-Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, (October 2002)

vi. “The Cultural Foundations of Indigenous Entrepreneurship”, Chapter 3, “The Cultural Foundations of Economic Development, Urban Female Entrepreneurship in Ghana” by Emily Chamlee-Wright, 1997

5. Narratives and Identity: i. “Why study People’s Stories? The Dialogical Ethics of Narrative

Analysis: by Arthur. W. Frank, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1, Article 6, (2002)

ii. “Narrative of Space, Time and Life” by Barbara Tversky, Mind & Language, Volume 19, No.4, (September 2004)

iii. “Performance and Narrative, Bodies and Movement in the Construction of Places and Objects, Spaces and Knowledges- The Case of Maltese Megaliths” by David Turnbull, Theory, Culture & Society, Volume 19(5/6) (2002)

iv. “Narrative and Coherence” by Gregory Currie and Jon Jureidini, Mind and Language Volume 19, Issue 4, (2004)

v. “Imitating the Parables: Allegory, Narrative and the Role of Mimesis” by David p. Parris? Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Volume 25 (2000)

vi. “Mimesis, Narrative and Subjectivity in the Work of Girard and Ricoeur” by Gavin Flood, Cultural Values, Volume 4, No. 2, (April 2000)

vii. “Empowerment Meets Narrative: Listening to Stories and Creating Settings” by Julian Rappaport, American Journal of Community Psychology, 23 (1995)

viii. “Identity, Tribesman, and Development” Chapter 6, Identity and the Oral Life, by Mrinal Miri

ix. “Conceptual Self as Normatively Oriented: The Suitability of Past Personal Narrative for the Study of Cultural Identity” by Joseph P. Gone, Peggy J. Miller and Julian Rappaport, Culture and Psychology, Volume 5(4), (1999)

x. “Narrative and Identity: The Double Arrow of Time” by Elliot G. Mishler, Department of Psychiatry. Harvard Medical School

xi. “Empowering social action through narratives of identity and culture” by Lewis Williams, Ronald Labonte and Mike O’Brien, Health promotion International, Volume 18, No.1, (2003)

6. Resonance: i. “Facial Expression Patterns in Common and Psychotherapeutic

Situations” by Jorg Merten and Frank Schwab, The Hidden Structure of Interaction: From Neurons to Culture Patterns

ii. “When Familiarity Breeds Accuracy: Cultural Exposure and Facila Emotion Recognition” by Hillary Anger Elfenbein and Nalini Ambady, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 85, Number 2, (2003)

iii. “The Sources of Authenticity” and “The Inescapable Horizons” Chapters III and IV from “The Ethics of Authenticity” by Charles Taylor (1991)

IV. Ideas supporting the Method This section discusses some ways in

which the project may be implemented and the theories that support the chosen methods. The initial set of papers takes a closer look at the methods that exist in social sciences today. They raise significant questions about the very nature methods applied in the social sciences. This set is followed by papers dealing with “The Theory of Positive Deviance”. These papers explain in some detail what this theory is and how we may look and learn from it. The next set of theory papers deal with the issue of “Experience with Aspiration” Following this are case studies on Collaborative Research. These show the actual implementation of some of the theories discussed previously (Section III.3).These papers show that researches have previously thought about working together with the communities as opposed to being of service in the capacity of persons with superior knowledge. By virtue of being case studies, these papers also summarize the challenges they faced, some solutions and an over all assessment of the methods they used. These papers serve as a place to begin our own initiatives and we may then identify our point of departure. Following these are papers which delve deeper into new forms of literacy. These are theoretical in nature but are closely followed by 8 different case studies on the use of visual media for community development. None of these papers are alike although most are similar. They all send out the same message, that, visual media is very powerful and offers potential for catalyzing transformational social change in communities. These papers thus

serve as very good examples for us to learn from and model, albeit by knowing the points of departure. The final section takes a closer look at tools which are being considered for actual implementation.

1. Overview:

i. “Theory for development: reflecting forwards” by Robert Chambers, IDS Working Paper 238, Institute for Development Studies, November (2004)

2. Methods in Social Sciences i. “The Extended Case Method” by Michael Burawoy in

“Sociological Theory” (1998) ii. “Swimming against the mainstream: the early years from chilly

tributary to transformative mainstream” by Albert Bandura, Behavior and Research Therapy 42 (2002)

iii. “Is the Social Scientific concept of Structure a Myth? A critical Response to Harre” by Piet Strydom, European Journal of Social Theory 5(1), (2002)

iv. “The Action Turn Toward a Transformational Social Science” by Peter Reason and William R. Torbert Concepts and Transformation, September 2001, vol. 6, no. 1, (1978)

v. “Social Science Methodology Today: Diversity or Anarchy?” by Martyn Hammersley

vi. “Gadamer and Foucault, Ankersmit vs. Zagorin: Modernism and Postmodernism, Historical Texts and Interpretation” by Robert Martinez, presented at “The 20 years after Foucault, Graduate Students Conference”, (2002-2003)

3. Theory of Positive Deviants: i. “A New Typology of Deviance: Integrating Normative and

Reactionist definitions of Deviance” by Alex Heckert and Druann Maria Heckert, Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23, (2002)

ii. “Learning from Samples of One or Fewer” by James March with Lee S. Sproull and Michal Tamuz, The Pursuit of Organizational Intelligence, (1999)

iii. “Economic Man in Cross Cultural Perspective: Behavioral Experiments in 15-Small-Scale Societies” by Joseph Henrich, Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr, Herbert Gintis, Richard McElreath, Michael Alvard, Abigail Barr, Jean Ensminger, Kim Hill, Francisco Gil-White, Michael Gurven, Frank Marlowe, John Q. Patton, Natalie Smith, and David Tracer

4. Experience with Aspiration: i. “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and Terms of Recognition” by

Arjun Appadurai; Chapter 3 “Culture and Public Action” by Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton (2004)

ii. “Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama, Carnival, Film and Spectacle in Cultural Performance” Chapter 2, “The Anthropology of Performance” by Victor Turner (1988)

iii. “Aspirations, Poverty and Economic Change” by Debraj Ray, “Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) Policy paper”, April 2004

iv. “Reimagining Community” by Dia Mohan in “Journal of Contemporary Ethnography” (2004)

5. Collaborative research: i. “Researchers in Dialogue with Local Knowledge Systems-

Reflections on Mutual Learning and Empowerment” by Ruedi Baumgartner, Gurdip S. Aurora, Gopal K. Karanth, and V. Ramaswamy

ii. “Partnerships with Aboriginal Reserachers: Hidden Pitfalls and Cultural Pressures” by Dr. Douglas Durst in “The Scholar Series, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy”, (2004)

iii. “Community-Based and Driven Development: A Critical review” by Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao, World Bank Policy Research Paper 3209, (February 2004)

iv. “Responding to the Imperartives of an Indigenous Agenda: A Case Study of the Maori” Chapter 9, “Towards Developing Indigenous Methodologies” Chapter10, “Decolonizing Methodologies - Research and Indigenous People” by Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999)

6. New forms of Literacy: i. “The New Literacies of Digital Age” by Caroline M. Stern

ii. “Thoughts on Visual Literacy” by Philip Yenawine, Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual Arts, (1997)

7. Use of Visual Methods for Qualitative Research: i. “We’ve been framed: visualizing methodology” by Ruth Holliday,

The Sociological Review, (2000) ii. “More visualizing, more methodologies: on video, reflexivity and

qualitative research” by Sarah Pink, The Sociological Review, (2001)

8. Case Studies: Use of mimetic/Visual methods for change in society i. “Swadhyaya: A Movement Experience” by R.K.Srivastava

ii. “The REFLECT process at an international level” by David Archer, PLA Notes, issue 32, (1998)

iii. “Digital Storytelling for Reflective Practice in Communities of Learners” by Natasha Freidus and Michelle Hlubinka, ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin Volume 23 , Issue 2 (August 2002)

iv. “Youth Research on video self-productions, Reflections on a social-aesthetic approach” by Horst Niesyto, Visual Sociology Vol. 15, (2000)

v. “Communities meet policy makers through video supported analysis: rural energy issues in Malawi” by Su Braden and Valerie Nelson, PLA Notes, Issue 34, (1999)

vi. “Women’s Theatre and the Redefinitions of Public, Private and Politics in North India” by Richa Nagar

vii. “Theatre and Empowerment: Community Drama on the World Stage” by Richard Boon and Jane Plastow, (2004)

viii. “Beyond Ethnographic Hypermedia” by John Maxwell, EDUC 510, (April 2000)

9. Tools and guidelines: i. “EthnoNotes: An Internet based Field Note Management Tool” by

Eli Lieber, Thomas S. Weisner and Matthew Presley, Field Methods, Vol. 15, No.4 (November 2003)

ii. Training Manual for Volunteers (TBD) iii. Training Manual for use of equipment (hardware and software)

(TBD) iv. Manual for selection of Villages (TBD) v. Manual for selection of Volunteers (TBD)

V. Supporting Documents

i. “Cooperation, Mimesis an Local Interaction” by Ilan Eshel,

Dorothea Herreiner, Larry Samuelson, Emilia Sansone, Avner Shaked, (July, 1998)

ii. “Eloquent Chaos in the Oral Discourse of Killing Fields Survivors: An Exploration of Atrocity and Narrativization” by Edwina S. Uehara, Martha Farris, Paula T. Morelli and Anthony Ishisaka, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 25, (2001)

iii. “Experience and its Moral Modes: Culture, Human Conditions and Disorder” by Arthur Kleinman, The Tanner Lecture on Human Values, delivered at Stanford University, (April 1998)

iv. “Narrative Therapy: A Brief History and Discussion” dissertation by Stephanie Sieberhagen, University of Johannesburg, (2002)

Appendix B

Criteria for Selecting Co-DiViNE

Student-Interns

139

Student Intern Selection Criteria (Co-DiViNE)

1. Academic qualifications: Completed Master’s Degree in Rural Development

2. Language skills: Proficiency in the local language and dialect, and English

3. Technical skills: Familiarity with use of a computer to send e-mail messages

4. Other necessary skills:

a. Be willing and able to work as part of a team

b. Be comfortable working in a mixed-gender environment

c. Be compassionate

Appendix C

List of Research Publications read

by Co-DiViNE Student-Interns

141

1. W. Ong, “Some Psychodynamics of Orality”, Chapter 3, Orality and Literacy, Methuen

and Co. Ltd, 1982

2. M. Hobart and Z. Schiffman, “Orality and the Problem of Memory”, Chapter 1, Information Ages, John Hopkins University Press, 2000

3. C. Mantzavino, D. North and S. Shariq, “Learning, Institution and Economic

Performance”, Perspectives on Politics, Vol.2, No. 1, 2004

4. A. Joshi, “Learning in Villages Today: Remainders or Reminders”, Chapter 7, Unfolding Learning Societies: Deepening the Dialogues, ‘Vimukt Shiksha’ Special Issue, 2001

5. A. Swindler, “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies”, American Sociological

Review, 5, 1986

6. D. North, The New Institutional Economics, 2001

7. A. Frank, “Why Study People’s Stories? The Dialogical Ethics of Narrative Analysis”, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1, Article 6, 2002

8. J. Rappaport, “Empowerment Meets Narrative”, American Journal of Community

Psychology, 23, 1995

9. L. Williams, R. Labonte and M. O’Brien, “Empowering Social Action through Narrative of Identity and Culture”, Health promotion International, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2003

10. A. Appadurai, “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and Terms of Recognition”, Culture and

Public Action, (Editors V. Rao and M. Walton), Stanford University Press, 2004

11. R. Baumgartner, G. Aurora, G. K. Karanth and V. Ramaswamy, “Researchers in Dialogue with Local Knowledge Systems – Reflections on Mutual Learning and Empowerment”, Flury, Manuel., Urs Geiser (eds.) Local Environmental Management in a North-South Perspective: Issues of Participation and Knowledge Management, 2002

12. D. Archer, “The REFLECT Process at an International Level”, PLA Notes, Issue 32, 1998

Appendix D

Timeline of Research Project

Design Cycles

143

Overall Schedule Timeline and Tasks for Video Creation 8/17/11

Updated Timeline V1.xls

24 8 10 22 31

17 24

12 14 26 4 23 14 28 10 17

21 28

Vid

eo

Ana

lysi

s

Vid

eo

Ana

lysi

s

Key:

Work in India6 Work at SU

Video AnalysisPostage SentPostage ReceivedPhone calls Dr. Reddy and students

First feedback videoSecond Feedback Video Completed

August September October November

First Prototyping Cycle Completed on

July 23Cultural

orientationBhavna away from work due to

injury

Complete Project

Second Prototyping Cycle Completed on

Aug 26Final Prototyping Cycle Completed

on Nov 15

Final Feedback

December

Summer break for Undergraduate

Students

Mech Dissection

and Reassembly

First Video

April May June

Bhavna away from work due to injury

July

Design Workshop

On site (India) Schedule Timeline and Tasks for Video Creation 8/17/11

Mail

Work in India

Months

Mail

Mail

Work in India

Months

Mail

Video Details:Work in India Video 1: Need Finding

Video 2: Feedback on 1st prototypeMonths Video 3: Feedback on 2nd prototype

Video 4: Feedback on final prototype

August September October

May June July

First India Cycle (June 22 to July 10,

2009)

Video 2 Completed and Mailed


Final India Cycle (Dec 5 to Dec 31, 2009)

November

Second India Cycle (Aug 1 to Aug 14,

2009)

Third India Cycle (Sep 9 to Sep 25,

2009)

Video 4 Completed and

Mailed

December


April

Appendix E

Research Project Budget

146

Attachment C Budget V1 .xls Proposal for Discussion 8/17/11

1

Deliverables

Videos: Video Length will between 45 and 90 minutes

Prototype received in India (SU to India)

Video received at Stanford (India to

SUTime in between

videosNo. of calls in the 25 days

1. Mech Dissection NA 15-May 25 days 2 to 32. First feedback 1-Jul 25-Jul 25 days 2 to 33. Second Feedback 1-Sep 25-Sep 25 days 2 to 34. Final Feedback 1-Dec 25-Dec 25 days 2 to 3

Assumption for time estimates for each video

1. Dr. Reddy will be making the videos. (We are assuming this since the last video received was made by Dr. Reddy himself)

2. Dr. Reddy's time: 1 day in the village plus 1 work day (8hrs) on phone calls with SU about content of videos.

3. Weaver's time: 2 Weavers 1 full day each.

Estimated Costs

Estimates Total/videoNumber of

videos Grand TotalCompensation to Weavers for their time/person/day $10.00 2 days $20.00 5 $100.00Compensation to Dr. Reddy/person/day $40.00 2 days $80.00 5 $400.00Material Costs $20.00 $20.00 5 $100.00Travel costs $25.00 $25.00 5 $125.00Postage costs $25.00 $25.00 5 $125.00

Total $170.00 $850.00

Appendix F

Questionnaire for Selection of

Student Practitioners

148

Thanks for your interest in this project. Please help us know more about you by filling out the following form. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes

1. Name:

2. Contact Information: a. Email b. Phone

3. Major: a. ME b. PD c. Other

4. Year in college:

a. Freshman b. Sophomore c. Junior d. Senior

5. Basic Courses: Have you taken the following courses?

a. ME 101 b. ME 203 c. ME 80 d. ME 112 e. ME113 f. ME 115 (PD) g. Other:

6. Skills:

a. Any experience with weaving b. CAD software? c. Fabrication? d. Work with video related software?

7. Time commitment (in addition to full time in Summer Quarter)

a. Independent Study in Spring 2008-09 for 2 credits b. Independent Study in Fall 2009-10 for 2 credits

8. Citizenship:

a. US b. Other (Please Specify): c. Do u have a valid passport?

9. “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come here

because you see that your liberation is tied to mine, come let us work together” –Lila Watson

Appendix G

List of Research Publications read

by the Student Practitioners and

Reflection Guide

150

Reading List

A. Appadurai, “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and Terms of

Recognition”, Culture and Public Action, (Editors V. Rao and M.

Walton), Stanford University Press, 2004

S. Sheppard, “Mechanical Dissection: An Experience in How

Things Work”, (1992), Proceedings of the 1992 Proceedings of the

Engineering Education: Curriculum Innovation & Integration

T. Pogge, “Severe Poverty as a Violation of Human Rights”,

(2004)

S. Kindon, “Participatory video in geographic research: a feminist

practice of looking?”, Area 35.2, (2003)

B. Hariharan, S. Shariq, S. Sheppard, “When Understanding

Follows “Experiencing”: A Report from Research in the Field”,

International Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 24, No. 2,

2008

Reflection Guide

1. Were there any terms that were unclear or poorly defined? If there are,

were they commonly used terms in that academic discipline? How did you

make meaning of the term?

2. Are there any concepts or ideas from the paper that you feel are relevant

and applicable to the [Co-Design] Project?

3. What did you like/dislike about the ideas and methods in the paper? Were

you able to relate it to some experience or paper you have read before?

Did it inspire any new ideas?

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