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

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

The Changes in Team Cognition and Cognitive Artifact Use During Agile Software Development Project Management

This study examines changing team cognition and cognitive artifact use as agile software development iterations progress to better understand team member interactions. The four case studies conducted observed the distributed cognition on the team changing from planning, managing, developing, and concluding tasks in iterations to deliver working functionality. Cognitive artifacts used throughout the iteration also changed. This study provides a clearer understanding of how and when team cognition and artifact use change as agile software development teams use artifacts to manage projects. Interactions between team members and artifacts move from individual to social interactions as the iteration progresses with frequent, short, continuous communication and interactions.

Value and Usage of a Workaround Artifact: A Cognitive Work Analysis of “Brains” Use by Hospital Nurses

We identify the value and usage of a cognitive artifact used by hospital nurses. By analyzing the value and usage of workaround artifacts, unmet needs using intended systems can be uncovered. A descriptive study employed direct observations of registered nurses at two hospitals using a paper workaround (“brains”) and the Electronic Health Record. Field notes and photographs were taken; the format, size, layout, permanence, and content of the artifact were analyzed. Thirty-nine observations, spanning 156 hr, were conducted with 20 nurses across four clinical units. A total of 322 photographs of paper-based artifacts for 161 patients were collected. All participants used and updated “brains” during report, and throughout the shift, most were self-generated. These artifacts contained patient identifiers in a header with room number, last name, age, code status, and physician; clinical data were recorded in the body with historical chronic issues, detailed assessment information, and planned activities for the shift. Updates continuously made during the shift highlighted important information, updated values, and tracked the completion of activities. The primary functional uses of “brains” are to support nurses’ needs for clinical immediacy through personally generated snapshot overviews for clinical summaries and updates to the status of planned activities.

The Spiral Discovery Network as an Automated General-Purpose Optimization Tool

The Spiral Discovery Method (SDM) was originally proposed as a cognitive artifact for dealing with black-box models that are dependent on multiple inputs with nonlinear and/or multiplicative interaction effects. Besides directly helping to identify functional patterns in such systems, SDM also simplifies their control through its characteristic spiral structure. In this paper, a neural network-based formulation of SDM is proposed together with a set of automatic update rules that makes it suitable for both semiautomated and automated forms of optimization. The behavior of the generalized SDM model, referred to as the Spiral Discovery Network (SDN), and its applicability to nondifferentiable nonconvex optimization problems are elucidated through simulation. Based on the simulation, the case is made that its applicability would be worth investigating in all areas where the default approach of gradient-based backpropagation is used today.

From ‘ontological metaphor’ to semiotic make-believe: giving shape and substance to fictive objects of conception with the ‘globe gesture’

Speakers are moving cognizers who engage in bodily acts of conceptualization. The “globe gesture” is among the most spectacular forms of “manual thinking” (Streeck 2009) used in formal talk. A characterization of the kinesic action typical of the “globe gesture” is first provided that shows how “the image of a bounded, supportable object” is created (McNeill 1992) and set up in gesture space. As conceptual objects are created and masses of semantic substance fashioned, visible shape is given to shapeless mental representations. A powerful semiotic trick is performed with a simple cognitive artifact. Interestingly, a willing suspension of disbelief is required of speakers and listeners who must temporarily give up their rational conceptions of visibility, materiality and palpability to watch the symbolic manipulation of invisible objects. The basic expressive properties of the “globe gesture” are next characterized: outlining and isolating objects of conception; neutralizing semantic specification; establishing a joint focus of attention and imagination; shaping, displaying and unifying content; creating a sense of reality and existence through physical presence. Iconic modifications of the standard metaphoric hand configuration, virtuosic elaborations and creative blends are finally examined before reporting the results of an experimental study of the globe gesture’s heuristic properties in a controlled environment. 14 students attending a multimodal “kineflective” seminar used the hand configuration to engage in “choreographic thinking” (Forsythe 2009) and develop a haptic understanding of derivation, nominalization, substantivation, conceptual reification. The globe gesture acted as a facilitator so long as a high degree of generality was maintained but was promptly discarded when words with a strong emotional appeal were introduced (e.g. sadness, madness). Emblems and iconic gestures were spontaneously performed instead.

Ad hoc signage in a new hospital- a useful social tool and cognitive artifact

Introduction: High-stakes industries, such as healthcare, are complex systems prone to influence by various constraining factors. Expert practitioners in these domains work at the “sharp end” of these constraints and must reconcile limitations in the context of operations. When a major constraining factor is changed abruptly, it can induce a rapid sequence of adaptations. We observed the cognitive artifacts of post hoc signage, posted inside the space of the operating rooms of a new hospital facility, to help identify the way clinicians adapt to a new physical plant. Methods: In the first six months of operation of a new hospital facility, a clinician (MN) photographed signage posted on the operatory floor of the hospital. The photographs were classified into general categories to uncover the sorts of adaptive behaviors they represented. Results: We identified 28 signs that fit into four categories: way finding (7); appropriation and item localization (6); equipment activation, instruction and upkeep (9); and malfunction or breakage (6). Way finding and equipment activation, instruction and upkeep signs appeared earlier, and malfunction signs appeared later over the course of observation. Discussion: The physical layout of a building is a concrete example of operational constraints influencing clinical behavior (“sharp end”). Clinicians adapt to several needs when faced with a new workspace. Way finding and operational instructions are important components of this adaptation, but so too is resource appropriation. Physical failings of equipment become evident during operations, and the signage suggests that communicating these failures visually is important. The signs show the way clinicians adapt to constraints, effectively documenting the deficiencies in the interface between the physical structure and the people who work there. They are useful to direct research into new, helpful signage and also to signal the “brittle” aspects of the workplace. They should be celebrated as opportunities for improvement.

Interfaces de hipermídia, educação e ferramentas on-line

O presente artigo busca levantar aspectos da interface de hipermídia a partir de seu conteúdo, isto é, a partir das mídias que as compõe. Para tanto, procurou-se examinar o estado da arte da convergência dessas mídias para o ambiente digital e a sua utilização como artefato cognitivo buscando avaliar as probabilidades da hipermídia em cumprir o seu potencial didático, utilizando a lógica educativa. Com base numa revisão da literatura, discutem-se estes aspectos e apresentam-se as ferramentas online e de autoria disponíveis na web 2.0 organizadas a partir de abordagens cognitivas e potencialidades de aprendizagem desenvolvidas. Constando também de um levantamento sobre novos espaços e ferramentas de comunicação e sua possível apropriação pela Educação. Abstract A present article seek to raise expressions of interface of hypermedia for start of this contents, e.g, for start of medias that compose her a therefore, search itself to examine the condition of art and convergence. From that medias for environment digital and for your utilization since cognitive artifact seeking estimate the likelihood of hypermedia in to carry out your didatics potential, utilizing the logics educative. With basis in a review of literature, discuss itself this expressions and present this tools on-line and of authorship available in web 2.0 organized for start of cognitive to broach and potentiality of understanding developing. Ascertaining also of a raising about new spaces and tools of communication and this possible appropriation by education.