Interdisciplinary Higher Education

El Seminario En_clave Inter es un foro de discusión
e intercambio sobre las múltiples aristas y especificidades
de la interdisciplina, las metodologías y el conocimiento
científico, y busca potenciar la comunicación
entre grupos de trabajo. Este seminario es parte fundamental
de las actividades que desarrolla el Espacio
Interdisciplinario (EI) de la Universidad de la República
(Udelar) con el objetivo de promover vínculos entre los
grupos que trabajan interdisciplinariamente en nuestra
casa de estudios.
En su sexta edición, el Seminario En_clave Inter
2014 abordó la temática “Educación superior e interdisciplina”
con base en tres ejes: el currículo, las políticas
educativas y el vínculo enseñanza-aprendizaje.
Hablar de educación a nivel universitario implica pensar
en carreras, contenidos, oportunidades de perfeccionamiento
y especialización y en cómo estos se llevan
a la práctica, se transforman y se fortalecen. Además,
discutir estos temas en la Universidad de la República
conlleva reflexionar sobre una idea de país, sobre sus
posibilidades de crecimiento y desarrollo en distintos
niveles, sus prioridades y los elementos con los que se
cuenta para la toma de decisiones.

For some time employers have identified that one of the most sought after graduate attributes is the ability to function as an effective member of a team. In the creative and performing arts disciplines, which are often individually oriented in nature, the development and implementation of curricula that enable students to attain high-level teamwork skills suitable for participation in multi-disciplinary collaboration is not only necessary but it can be challenging for both educators and students. Indeed the ability to evidence where and how students develop teamwork or collaborative skills will become increasingly critical, as a result of the impending standards framework that is soon to be implemented by the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA). This paper overviews the ways in which Creative Exchange, a multi-disciplinary teaching and learning capstone subject offered by the School of Creative Arts at James Cook University since 2009, provides direct evidence of the ways in which students develop strong teamwork skills and attributes. In addition to teamwork skills, students also continue to develop discipline-specific knowledge as well as insights into industry and community settings, given the work-integrated learning orientation of the projects themselves. Data obtained from creative and performing arts students and alumni who previously participated in Creative Exchange are analysed, in order to report on the extent to which they had achieved appropriate standards required for industry. In addition, ongoing benchmarking of the Creative Exchange model via consultations with national and international industry practitioners is presented to further contextualise the findings. The paper concludes by discussing future applications of the framework as well as a range of additional research directions and opportunities.

Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writings since 1993, when she founded Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) Email Writing Project. The project started as an Email exchange with 80 students at Helsinki University of Technology, each Finnish student writing to students in two other classes in The USA, Canada and Japan. It involved 240 students and 9 teachers. From 1994 onwards, the project included not only Email, but also many other activities on the Internet. Very soon, students at twelve universities in four continents, both in the East and in the West, were working together. In this article we describe some of these Internet activities, the benefits to the students, as well as the difficulties encountered.
We will also tell how these projects have led to various interactive and
interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT.

This opening commentary presents the framework, rationale and discussion at the 2014 annual ECCSSA conference on new frontiers and models—providing continuity in dialogue from prior conferences and building on the prior year’s conference theme on ushering in the renaissance. Discussion focuses on a broad set of issues confronting the American society and the world. Further, the commentary delineates the issues, innovations and bold new ideas on the horizon from research, current and proposed models. These ideas come from across disciplines and reflect on the role of all disciplines, education and the social and behavioral sciences in higher education.

Keywords: Models, Redesign, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Futuristic Thinking, Interdisciplinary, Higher Education, Transformational Change, Leadership Development, New Paradigms.

Design methods and processes are now commonly used across disciplines as an approach to gain deeper and more connected understanding within complex or wicked problems. However, little research exists on the use of Design to facilitate and grow interdisciplinary research culture within higher education institutes. This paper discusses how and why Design methods were used to create an interdisciplinary research culture in a newly emergent and rapidly evolving higher education environment. It uses a case study of a teaching orientated higher education institute, now moving towards Technological University status, and seeking to create an Interdisciplinary research culture. It discusses the process of using Design to create a unifying research identity, Design methods in mapping and framing of research landscapes, designing dissemination platforms, and Co-designing future research policy for the institute.

Durch die unterschiedlichen Fachsprachen, Methoden und Lehr-Lern-Philosophien der Einzelwissenschaften ist ein interdisziplinäres Team Teaching sehr konfliktanfällig. Der Beitrag präsentiert sieben Empfehlungen um diesen Konflikten präventiv entgegenzuwirken und somit ein erfolgreiches interdisziplinäres Team Teaching durchzuführen. Sowohl das Kennenlernen, die Lehrplanung als auch die Reflektion des Mehraufwandes, der gemeinsamen Arbeit und der Rolle als Modell betrifft eine inhaltliche, operative und persönliche Ebene. Die inhaltliche Ebene betrifft das jeweilige des Faches bzw. die Disziplinzugehörigkeit und den damit verbundenen Zugang zum gemeinsamen Gegenstand. Die operative Ebene betrifft die gemeinsame Lehre in Form von Lehrplanung und Durchführung. Die persönliche Ebene betrifft die Lehrenden selbst, die mit gewissen Vorstellungen und eigenen Interessen in das interdisziplinäre Team Teaching gehen.

Synonyms - Introduction - History of the Concept - Aims and Limits of Disciplinary Research - Innovations: Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries - Interdisciplinary Epistemology: The Need for ID Models - Organizing Interdisciplinary Research Teams - Evaluating Interdisciplinary Research - Conclusion and Future Directions - Cross-References - References

"An anthology of peer-reviewed work resulting from faculty-student collaboration in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University\

This is an edited volume highlighting collaborative research achievements among faculty and students at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University in Toronto, Canada. The book is organized in three sections:

Section 1: In our backyard: Toronto and its environs’
Section 2: Beyond our backyard - North America
Section 3: Our Global Community

A pdf of the introduction "Change Your World(view): A Setting for Interdisciplinary Research and Action" by Femida Handy and Martin Bunch can be downloaded from this site.

For a copy of this book contact:

Steve Glassman
Director, Bookstore, Printing & Mailing Services
York University Bookstore
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON, Canada
M3J 1P3
tel: (416) 736-2100 x 33018
fax:(416) 736-5733"

신자유주의 시장 경제 논리가 대학 및 전문 연구 기관의 활동을 지배하기
시작한지 오래다. 전통적 아카데미 문화로 향유되었던 지적 탐구와 논의는, 직간접적인 경제 가치 창출을 강조하는 추세로 대체되었다. 대학에서는 학생들의 졸업 후 진로와 취업의 정도가 학과 생존의 중요한 기준이 되고 있다. 학자들의 연구물도 양적 측정에 따라 성과가 규정된다. 유럽의 학계도 이에 자유롭지 못하다. 최근 북유럽의 몇몇 대학들은 정부의 교육 재정 축소에 따라 교수 및 행정직원들에 대한 대규모 구조 조정을 단행하는 추세가 휩쓸고 있다. 공교육 차원에서 국가 재정으로 운영되는 대부분 유럽의 고등교육과 전문 연구 기관들이 효율성 논리에 밀리고 있는 현실이다. 본 에세이는 변화하는 유럽의 교육지형에서 한국학의 현재적 상황을 살펴봄과 함께 불확실성속의 향후 전망을 검토하고자 한다.

Interdisciplinary competence is important in academia for both employability and sustainable development. However, to date, there are no specific interdisciplinary education models and, naturally, no empirical studies to assess them. Since problem- based learning (PBL) and project-based learning (PjBL) are learning approaches that emphasize students’ collaboration, both pedagogies seem suitable to enhance students’ interdisciplinary competence. Based on the principle of constructive alignment and four instructional principles on interdisciplinary learning, this paper proposes that students profit more from interdisciplinary PBL (iPBL) than interdisciplinary PjBL (iPjBL). A pre-post study was conducted with a sample of 95 students participating in iPBL and 183 students participating in iPjBL. As expected, multilevel models on students’ development in (a) interdisciplinary skills, (b) reflective behavior, and (c) recognizing disciplinary perspectives show that iPBL enhances students’ interdisciplinary competence more than iPjBL.

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.

İnovasyonun On Tipi kitabı ile inovasyon yapmak isteyenlere reçete veriliyor. Adım adım ve yalın bir şekilde inovasyonun nasıl geliştirilebileceği konusunda önemli sırlar ortaya koyuluyor. Bu kitap, özellikle teknoloji odaklı inovasyon yapmak isteyenlere yapılan hataları da göstererek uygulama ortamı oluşturuyor. Yenilik ilkelerini verirken startupların ve hatta büyük kuruluşların anlamlı ve sürdürülebilir büyüme konusundaki donanımını artırıyor. 2000'den fazla başarılı yeniliğin ortaya çıkışında önemli içgörüler sağlıyor.
Bu kitabın anlatım tarzında özel bir algoritma uygulanarak anlamlı gruplar belirlendi. İnovasyon fırsatlarını belirlemek için firmaların iç ve dış büyüme parametreleri ve performans değerleri, rakiplerini de devreye alarak şekillendirildi. İnovasyon odaklı performansın artırılabilmesi, önemli değerlendirmeler yapılabilmesi için özel ve hazır yol haritaları sunuldu. Endüstriler için de inovasyon modellerini teşhis edip yeni bir anlayış ve yöntem geliştirme imkânı sunuluyor.
Çevrimsel araştırmanın altyapısını vererek farklı ve anlamlı değişim ve dönüşümü düşündürüp kalıcı ve kullanışlı yollar uygulatarak kitabın ne kadar değerli olduğunu kanıtlıyor. Eğer kurumunuzda anlamlı ve sürdürülebilir büyümeyi inovasyon odaklı gerçekleştirmek isterseniz yenilik ilkelerinin detaylı olarak anlatıldığı İnovasyonun On Tipi kitabını okuyun.
Bu kitabın yazarlarından Larry Keeley'in tecrübelerinden yararlanmak büyük bir fırsat. Kendisi BusinessWeek tarafından inovasyon alanındaki dünya görüşünü ve paradigmaları değiştiren, yedi yenilik gurusundan biri olarak seçilmiş olup Doblin firmasının kurucusudur. Diğer yazarlar ile birlikte inovasyonun tasarlanması ve sürdürülebilir kılınması konusunda dünya çapında pek çok girişimciyi, yöneticiyi, şirketleri ve startupları etkilemiştir.

Phronetic organizational research is an approach to the study of management and organizations focusing on ethics and power. It is based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, usually as ‘prudence’. Phronesis is the ability to think and act in relation to values, to deliberate about ‘things that are good or bad for humans’ in the words of Aristotle (1976:1140a24–b12). Phronetic organizational research effectively provides answers to the following four value-rational questions, for specific problematics in management and organization studies: 1. Where are we going with this specific management problematic? 2. Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? 3. Is this development desirable? 4. What, if anything, should we do about it?

Can academia be a place where engage our creativity and experience the joy of inquiry?
I reflect on my educational experiences as a starting point for an exploration of the way that education can be a joyful process if framed as an opportunity for what I call "creative inquiry." I outline some dimensions of an attitude of creative inquiry, focusing on Wonder, Passion, Hope, and Conviviality. I then explore a number of different metaphors for inquiry and the way they can frame our attitude and evoke different moods.

Transdisciplinarity is an important new development in the social sciences. While a lot is being written on its roots and theoretical dimensions there is considerably less on how to actually engage in transdisciplinary inquiry. In this short article I present 5 dimensions of applied transdisciplinarity.

Interdisciplinary teaching, learning, and research are often heralded as necessary responses to the many pressures facing contemporary higher education. Defined as the integration of knowledge from two or more disciplines, interdisciplinary work requires a change in the boundaries and norms that have long defined the academy. Through examples from a range of disciplines and institutional types, this volume considers how successful interdisciplinary engagement necessitates a focus on the structure and rewards of academic behavior.
This change is an intensely social process, involving dialogue and interation among diverse ideas, individuals, learning environments, and bodies of knowledge. It is this diversity that enables the rich potential of interdisciplinary engagement but also presents the greatest challenges for institutions. This volume considers the obstacles and opportunities inherent in interdisciplinary initiatives.

Academic administrators, faculty, and graduate students interested in understanding the disciplinary norms of higher education and cultivating interdisciplinary engagement will benefit from this volume. The author provides theoretical perspectives and practical applications for advancing interdisciplinarity in the classroom, the research laboratory, across the university campus, and outside institutional boundaries. Such endeavors entail not only interaction between scholars and professionals from normally distinct disciplines but also articulation of shared problems or topics that underscore the integration of disciplinary bodies of knowledge.

This is the second issue in the 35th volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

There has been a visible increase in academic productivity in the field of inter- and transdisciplinarity (ITD) over the past decade. Does this greater visibility mean that ITD has entered a ‘golden age’ crowned with universal success, or does this new approach still face difficulties of an institutional, individual, epistemological or methodological nature? Does the researcher who situates himself between or beyond disciplines represent a new scientific profile that is transforming traditional disciplinary identities? Finally, is ITD a simple recombination of existing disciplines with varying degrees of originality, or does it embody a new thought style that calls for the dedisciplinarization of academic structures and the full recognition of its transgressive status? In this paper I shall attempt to answer these programmatic questions and shed light upon the following elements: the inter- and transdisciplinary approach is underway and still – beyond its potentialities and success – faces some obstacles; interdisciplinary research is often promoted or claimed, but it is sometimes not recognized as a form of research in its own right; and taking seriously the issues of ITD involves rethinking disciplinary identities. It represents a new thought style and a promising future for education and research.

The Aalborg Project may be interpreted as a metaphor of modern politics, modern administration and planning, and of modernity itself. The basic idea of the project was comprehensive, coherent, and innovative, and it was based on rational and democratic argument. During implementation, however, when idea met reality, the play of Machiavellian princes, Nietzschean will to power, and Foucauldian rationality-as-rationalization resulted in the fragmentation of the project.

Compared to the few public higher education institutions in the prewar era, postwar Somalia boasts a large number of academic institutions at the tertiary level, mainly as privately owned universities. Although these community-initiated academic establishments are making tremendous contributions to the higher education sector, particularly in the absence of an effective national government, one can argue that much still remains at stake in terms of evaluation and quality assurance, key elements necessary for institutional accreditation and acceptance of credentials by other educational establishments issuing the same level of certificates. In this essay we aim to provide an overview discussion of the trends of higher education in Somalia and the way forward for newly emerged institutions, which have taken the bold initiative of changing the landscape of Somalia’s higher education.

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

In this paper, the author's first and foremost objective is to render the answer to the following question: Why is spirituality marginalized in the academy? The author searches for the answer to this question in the terrain of knowledge production and worldviews that permeate the Western academy. The author examines the landscape of the neo-colonial academy and delineates the conditions that restrict the spaces for spirituality. The author's second objective is to explore possible answers to the following question: How would centering spirituality transform our ways of knowing? The author attempts to answer this question by providing some preliminary ideas on the question of epistemology, methodology and methods in a spiritually based inquiry. The author concludes that this journey is endless and this paper is just a stepping stone to the discussion revolving around the integration and centering of spirituality within the academy.

In 1999, the European Bologna Process reinforced quality assurance (QA) in higher education (HE). While Cameroon is a signatory non-member state of the Bologna Process, many unresolved quality concerns in its HE system still exist because the Bologna Process has been adopted on an a-la-cartebasis whereby some action lines have been adopted while others have not-for instance QA. In Cameroonian HE,QA is a neglected pillar of the Bologna Process. This article examines some undisclosed quality concerns regarding Cameroonian HE in the advent of the Bologna Process. The study employs a qualitative research design using interviews and focus group discussions. Findings present quality concerns regarding: the lack of adequate educational resources; periodic monitoring, follow up/mentoring; student admission; and university ranking. The paper suggests a reconsideration of the Bologna Process in Cameroonian HE as a process and not an event with more action lines adopted such as QA; and the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles as workable strategies used in solving quality concerns in HE.

This is a project to explore whether skills in motion graphics might be a useful acquisition for journalists in the digital age. The making of a motion graphics piece should hopefully demonstrate whether or not learning these skills is a practical, do-able proposition for a journalist – and whether this is a practice that could fit within an environment of tight deadlines and professional- and budget-constrained priorities, particularly in Ireland.

Dans notre société de communication, de connaissances mobiles et d’incertitude, la production et la diffusion des savoirs scientifiques connaissent une accélération particulièrement marquée. Les savoirs s’entrecroisent en dépassant les frontières entre les disciplines des sciences humaines et sociales et des sciences naturelles, de la vie et des technologies. Comment des concepts, des théories ou des méthodes circulent, s’échangent, s’empruntent, se transfèrent et se transforment dans le passage d’une discipline à l’autre ? En quoi cette pratique interdisciplinaire est-elle une plus-value créative dans la production de connaissances nouvelles pour comprendre des problèmes impossibles à résoudre à partir d’un seul regard discipliné ? Ce livre est un appel au dépassement des frontières arbitraires entre les communautés disciplinaires, un appel à la créativité scientifique sous contrainte de rigueur et une heureuse contribution à un nouveau style de pensée interdisciplinaire.

With the continued development of sustainability science as an academic endeavor, witnessed in both the establishment of new programs and the maturing of established programs, comes increasing pressure to define key competencies to guide curricula and measure student achievement. A comprehensive literature review on sustainability competencies, performed in the summer of 2009, revealed an overarching competence of sustainability research and problem solving composed of five competencies considered ‘key’ for sustainability education. The need still exists, however, to define the pragmatic content of these competencies.  This thesis defines the core pragmatic content of Anticipatory Competence, one of the five key competencies, and the contribution of that content to a students’ ability to solve sustainability problems.  The results of this literature review and synthesis indicate that Anticipatory Competence in sustainability enables students to conceptualize, construct and communicate the fundamental features of the phenomenological structure of the future.  Anticipatory Competence was chosen as the focus of this thesis because of both its prominence in founding sustainability literature and its under-representation in the literature on sustainability competencies. By defining what students need to learn to achieve Anticipatory Competence and why, this thesis is another in a series of important steps toward operationalizing sustainability education and enabling the transformation of students into change-agents during their time at university.

In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jürgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

This study concerns itself with examining the degree to which Live Projects can deliver learning experiences that enable architecture students to gain specific professional practice-ready skills and capabilities currently perceived to be lacking within the existing school curriculum - (1) collaborative
interaction within and between inter-disciplinary teams, (2) participatory engagement with clients & civic concerns and the (3) capability to manage emergent ambiguities in risk exposure & decision-making – and as a consequence examine (4) how embryonic Live Project assessment rudiments might contribute
to this acquisition?
Architects are under increased pressure to demonstrate the value of their contribution within the process of building design and construction. They are tasked with working effectively in teams, collaborating effectively with clients and end users and to cope with growing levels of risk and liability, uncertainty and ambiguity, often requiring greater creative leadership and commercial risk-taking in order to succeed. The need for architects to acquire three skillsets to cope with these conditions imposes changing expectations around the architect's role in practice and places increased pressure
upon schools of Architecture to ensure their students are equipped with gaining these skillsets.
The question emerges as to whether a less-established teaching model – Live Projects - might be able to deliver skills that will not only respond to, but also endure the ongoing changes within professional practice? And if so, in relation to what skillsets?
In contrast to other research enquiries concerning Live Projects and literature concerning architectural education in general, this thesis gathered evidence from a highly diverse range of sources – including data on emergent economic and industrial trends outside of the construction sector - as a means to define what the most valuable skillsets might be.
For schools of architecture, the specific challenge is to not only to work out how to teach these skillsets but to design and then assess learning activities that facilitate and reward their acquisition. Subsequently, this thesis also examines whether tentative assessment rudiments can play an enabling
role in this respect. Within a broader learning theory context, this enquiry supports a wider body of emergent evidence that
Live Projects offer learning experiences consistent with much of the literature regarding effective pedagogy - one that involves authentic and active engagement with real situations being more effective at enabling learning more relevant to the nascent demands of wider industry. Subsequently, the main question being considered – as reflected in the title - is:
To what extent do Live Projects enable the acquisition and application of three ‘practice-ready’ skillsets? This question is then operationalised by examining this efficacy in relation to four sub-questions. 1. To what extent can Live Projects enable students to acquire inter-disciplinary teamwork capabilities?
2. To what extent can Live Projects enable students to acquire client collaboration & civic engagement capabilities?
3. To what extent can Live Projects enable students to acquire ambiguity tolerance & risk management capabilities?
4. To what extent might Live Project assessment rudiments assist in the acquisition of the three skillsets?

In order to answer these questions, the enquiry employed qualitative as well as quantitative data collection methods. The qualitative evidence largely utilised grounded theory methods and analysis as a means to examine the perceptions of educators, architects and students. This involved the discovery of theory through the analysis of data and real world research, which focuses upon problem solving with a view to creating meaningful change. The mixed methods approach relied upon triangulation as a means to cross-examine evidence from the different data sets and to strengthen validity. The themes
relating to the missing skillsets were then inter-related to highlight any interdependencies and to ensure a rigorous level of analysis and abstraction. Findings in relation to each skillset were isolated within focused chapters.
Mixed method or ‘multi-method’ analysis - involving a series of matrices - was used to compare both quantitative and (selected sections of) qualitative data. In line with practice-based research
methodology, an extended and iterative period of data gathering and analysis allowed the researcher to consolidate observations regarding the acquisition of specific skills in both an academic as well as a practice context to consolidate into a concise set of learning concepts. The thesis subsequently used
these learning concepts to define tentative assessment rudiments. The samples chosen for this study were situated in two distinctly different contexts; in practice and in education: encompassing architects, trainee architects, students and educators both with and without Live Project experience, to enable a clear set of variables for comparative analysis. The samples were also drawn from both the US and UK
– a useful consequence of research funding in terms of providing quantitative data and comparable cohorts. These insights were then used to tentatively explore practical ways the acquisition of these skillsets could be assessed. The conclusions of this study identify that Live Projects can enable students to acquire the three skillsets due to their ability to offer experiences that more closely align with professional practice.
However it also pinpoints specific contingencies such as ensuring Live Project success is measured in terms of processes and not just outcomes - and - that keeping Live Projects as non-compulsory, extra curricula options or adjuncts to more established teaching models allows them to retain their inherently flexible, adaptive and responsive nature. Whilst there is general view that a lack of formal acknowledgement of Live Projects within the curricula-validating infrastructure of RIBA & NAAB has contributed to a collective sense that Live Projects are undervalued, the evidence suggests that the opposite is true – that Live Projects do have the ability to meet the criteria for validation extensively and effectively and can make the validation criterion more accessible and meaningful to students – and - because Live Projects encompass a hugely diverse range of projects by their nature of being holistically responsive to a set of site and community specific circumstances – assessment rudiments (rather than a design brief) might be the only unifying criteria. Given the current crisis in underemployment and the rise of the unpaid internship, these capabilities are of increasing relevance and value. Furthermore, it is transposable skills – which all three of the skillsets are – as opposed to those that are exclusive and unique to architecture – that are most
likely to best serve students in future, whether or not they choose to become professional architects. Traditional subject specific skills are undeniably important, but transposable skills deserve greater emphasis and investment given the economic reality of finite resources and demands for greater user participation. Finally, for architectural educators already engaged in or initiating Live Projects, this thesis provides theoretical as well as an applied-knowledge framework to draw from, encompassing a practical as well as passionate advocacy for their wider implementation.

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/7504258d-d3e9-4ee5-8350-ff0028035e3a/1/