thesis

I've been trying to figure out my thesis, but I wasn't quite sure where to start. So I decided that it was best to just try to get thoughts down and simply start.

First iteration. Not so clear. So I tried to expand upon it.

I tried to narrow down the area that my thesis will focus on -- kinetic sculptures as a way to enable the learning of mechanical and structural design. Maybe this is still too vague? Maybe it would be more clear to say "interactive kinetic sculptures as a way to enable the learning of mechanical and structural design as examined by a short study of several groups of Scottish children using wire/found object construction kits"? heh.

But what it really comes down to after that is that I have definite questions to answer. What am I doing. Why would I or anyone, for that matter, want to do this? And how would one go about this.

So I tried to answer and flesh out those questions.

I don't know how successfull that is. I hate to say it, but that's really how I think. Maybe the arrows are a bit confusing for some, but I find them useful for thought flow. I'll try to talk through the last one.

What?
+Kinetic Sculptures
..... -Wire
..... -Found Objects
..... -Interactive
..... -Ganson
..... -Calder
+Education
..... -Mechanical Design
..... -Structural Design
..... -Hands-on/Project-based
..... -Art as a safe play/exploration space
..... -My experiences with being taught design
......... *007
......... *009
......... *thesis

Why?
+Constructionism/Constructivism/Hands-on learning
..... -"Hard fun"
..... -Experiential knowledge
..... -Future of learning
+Intuition
..... -Experiential Knowledge
......... *tacit knowledge
......... *build intuition
......... *rilke/aristotle/bauhaus
..... -Mechanical Design
..... -Structural Design
..... -A feel for materials
+Different approach for a different type of learner
..... -Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
..... -Gender imbalance in high levels of mechanical design
......... *due to way it's taught?
......... *due to lack of confidence in a traditionally "masculine" field
..... -Build confidence in working with materials
......... *Costa Rican workshop -- some teachers not used to working with hands
..... -Infuse design community with new thoughts/people (eventually)

How?
+Workshops
..... -One vs. repeated
......... *build up experience/intuition
......... *increased mechanical complexity
......... *Dewey (deep/structured thought. Reflection)
..... -Age range?
..... -Kit to start with
......... *materials in kit
......... *directions in kit?
..... -Start with overall idea for a project or simply one mechanism?
......... *(gut feeling: focus on one mechanism to start)
......... *limitations to enable a clear direction to start
..... -Projects as "hard fun"
......... *kids don't think of as learning?
......... *art as play


maybe that's a lot to bite off. but that's maybe a start of a direction. it's always easier to prune than to expand? this is somewhat of an outline :

Intro: What? and a bit of Why?
Background: Why?
Experiment: How?