Children’s Misinterpretation of Today’s Designs: A Case Study of How Children Interpret Registered Safety Signs

Kin Wai Michael Siu,Yi Lin Wong,Mei Seung Lam,Annie W Y Ng 대한사고개발학회 2014 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.24 No.2

Safety signs are currently created by adult designers through a designer-centered process. It is questionable whether children are able to interpret and understand these signs correctly, even if they are exposed to the signs in locations designated for children, such as playgrounds and schools. Children may be unable to understand pictograms designed by adults, as discrepancies exist between children’s and adults’ cognitive abilities, developmental levels and information needs. Consequently, a study was conducted to understand how children interpret ― understand and misunderstand ― safety sign designs created by adult designers. Sixty-five primary school children from P-2 to P-6 in three Hong Kong schools were asked to interpret 12 safety signs. The children were not able to understand some of the signs and interpreted them incorrectly. Based on the children’s responses, this paper advocates that participatory design with children is important for adult designers to develop better designs.

Relay Thinking : Inspiration From a Relay Race

Siu Kin Wai Michael 대한사고개발학회 1998 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.8 No.1

As is often the case, individuals working alone produce more and a wider range of ideas than when they are working together in a group (de Bone, 1992). However, a relay running race provides an analogy and suggestion that working in group, in an organized manner, sometimes provides benefits in solving problems. The success of a relay race does not imply that co-operation must give advantages in thinking, but it suggests that a "smooth" transition in idea transmission is crucial for success. While nowadays working to tackle problems in a group is quite common in industry, when and how different ideas should be linked is worthwhile to consider. In two tertiary institutes, design and technology students have often been requested to work in groups. This kind of activity is different from the ways of group working/thinking normally used, as students are encouraged to develop their ideas like running in a relay race- relay thinking. This paper will present the basic philosophy and the ways in which relay thinking process has been used. This paper will also discuss the difficulties and the advantages in conducting this kind of thinking process in a design setting.

저주파수 진동에서 딥러닝을 이용한 골절 판단 시스템

김동윤(Dong-Yoon Kim),윤길호(Gil-Ho Yoon),우연준(Yeon-Jun Woo),심성규(Seong-Gyu Sim),황세진(Sea-Jin Hwang) 대한기계학회 2020 대한기계학회 춘추학술대회 Vol.2020 No.12

Relay Thinking in Action: A Hong Kong Case Study

Kin Wai Michael Siu 대한사고개발학회 1998 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.8 No.2

A comparative study of "relay thinking" was conducted with design students in secondary school and university in 1997. As well as finding significant differences in the performances of the two types of students, some suggestions were made at that time for future studies in relay thinking, regarding: (a) the environment, (b) the time arrangement, (c) the sequence of team members, and (d) the possibility of adding a group discussion component at the end of the relay thinking task. In January 1998, five groups of secondary school Design and Technology students were asked to use relay thinking to solve an assigned problem under different settings and arrangements. The objective of the study was to explore the suggestions above in order to improve the structure of relay thinking. The results of this study indicate that modifications to the initial structures of relay thinking have resulted in significant differences in the students' performances, and, to a certain degree, in the final solutions.

Problem Solving: A User-Oriented Approach in Public Affairs

Kin Wai Michael Siu 대한사고개발학회 2009 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.19 No.1

To solve problems related to public affairs, or matters concerning the public's interests and benefits, different governments, policymakers, professionals and the general public may put emphasis on different particular levels, areas or aspects. Some emphasise on policy and plan, some emphasise on creative invention, design and implementation, while some emphasise on the management and maintenance matters. Some may try to take a more comprehensive and inclusive way to consider all of these levels, areas and aspects. However, most of the time the results of these so-called comprehensive and inclusive ways is not so satisfactory since there is a lack of centre — core, hub, focus — to link different emphases together. Borrowing case studies in public toilets, this paper urges a balanced consideration on three different levels: plan, implementation, and management. Taking "users" as the centre to link these three levels of considerations together, the paper initiates a new user-oriented model for planning, implementing and managing public affairs.

Developing Creative Thinking among Design Students: A Case Study of Hong Kong

Kin Wai Michael Siu,Yi Lin Wong 대한사고개발학회 2013 사고개발 Vol.9 No.2

In today’s information explosion era, the creation and manipulation of knowledge have become more favoured than its memorisation, especially when learning reaches a higher level. It has become more important for design students, who are supposed to perform higher order thinking and possess creative ability, to generate new ideas. However, not all design students can access their creativity on the first day of their design study. How best to nurture creativity among design students thus becomes an important issue. The aim of the paper is to provide direction for teachers and researchers in facilitating creativity and developing students’ creative thinking. The limitations of current creative thinking development are identified through a case study of Hong Kong. It is found that the limitations include teachers’ high expectations about the appropriateness, novelty and accomplishment of the artefacts made by students. Teachers’ perceptions on the illumination approach of achieving creativity, the innate ability of creativity and the teacher-initiated classroom for cultivating creativity also affect creativity cultivation. A framework which is constituted by six necessary shifts is then proposed to address these limitations so that creativity and its thought processes can be nurtured and developed among students.

Collective and Democratic Creativity: Participatory Research and Design

Kin Wai Michael Siu,Jackie Yan Chi Kwok 대한사고개발학회 2004 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.14 No.1

Developing Creative Thinking among Design Students

Kin Wai Michael Siu,Yi Lin Wong 대한사고개발학회 2015 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.25 No.1

In today’s information explosion era, the creation and manipulation of knowledge have become more favoured than its memorisation, especially when learning reaches a higher level. It has become more important for design students, who are supposed to perform higher order thinking and possess creative ability, to generate new ideas. However, not all design students can access their creativity on the first day of their design study. How best to nurture creativity among design students thus becomes an important issue. In this paper, the limitations of current creative thinking development are identified through a case study of Hong Kong, and a framework is proposed to address these limitations so that creativity and its thought processes can be nurtured and developed among students. It is hoped that the findings and discussions in the paper will provide direction for teachers and researchers in facilitating creativity and developing students’ creative thinking.

Is there creativity in design? From a perspective of school design and technology in Hong Kong

Yi Lin Wong,Kin Wai Michael Siu 서울대학교 교육연구소 2012 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.13 No.3

As creativity is likely to become a crucial aspect of living in the future, it is important for educators to teach students to think creatively when solving constantly evolving and increasingly complex problems. Supported by the idea that creativity can be taught and learnt, elements of creativity are now embedded in secondary school education. Among all school subjects, design and technology (D&T) is one of the best examples for fostering and cultivating students' creativity, as the subject offers creative activities that enable students to realize their ideas in the context of the real world. This paper analyzes the creative elements in the D&T curriculum in Hong Kong as seen in the exemplar projects on the Education Bureau website. Some problems and difficulties encountered in fostering creativity in the context of Hong Kong are identified, based on the current teaching environment. The paper also draws attention to East Asian beliefs and implicit theories, which greatly influence teachers' underlying assumptions about learning and teaching, and at the same time notes that these beliefs may be detrimental to the development of creativity among students. The paper then identifies the problems and inadequacies in fostering creativity in design at the secondary school level and expects to raise awareness of the importance of creativity in D&T.