Open AccessKnowledge structures in engineering design: integrating multiple ‘ways of knowing’
Author(s) -
Nicky Wolmarans
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
proceedings of the ... ceea conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-5243
DOI - 10.24908/pceea.v0i0.12972
Subject(s) - computer science , focus (optics) , inference , engineering design process , design knowledge , modalities , knowledge engineering , management science , artificial intelligence , cognitive science , engineering , sociology , psychology , mechanical engineering , social science , physics , optics , bottleneck , embedded system
In this paper I discuss the different‘knowledges’ needed to design, and their implications onthe nature of reasoning in design. Donald Schön andHerbert Simon offer useful models of design thatprivilege different knowledge types, both needed to design.Schön describes a form of case-based reasoning built onmaterial examples. Simon’s focus is on abstract reasoning,defined within academic disciplines by formal rationalrelations between theoretical concepts. Andrew Abbott’smodalities of diagnosis, treatment, and inference helpto show what underpins the different ways of knowing, buthis modalities fail to account explicitly for translationbetween the various knowledge structures.A focus on knowledge shows challenges studentsmay face transitioning from sciences to design. It suggestsways that design project briefs constrain the way in whichstudents work with, and between, different knowledgestructures. It also potentially offers ways to think aboutintroducing design reasoning into engineering sciencecourse