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International Journal of Technology and Design Education

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28-07-2015

What is the function of a figurine? Can the repertory grid technique tell?

Author: Helena Isakssson Persson

Published in: International Journal of Technology and Design Education | Issue 4/2016

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Abstract

Teaching design and product development at upper secondary school level in Sweden is a matter of interdisciplinary considerations. Education in product development, at this level, prepares students for further studies and career in engineering or industrial design. Knowledge of artefacts is an important element in the education. In coherence with the visual and rhetorical strategies characterising the knowledge field, students learn how to develop an idea to a final product. In this study twelve engineers and industrial designers, professionals representing the knowledge field of product development are studied regarding their interpretations of eight pre-selected artefacts. Data is collected and analysed using repertory grid technique. The aim of the study is to examine whether/what we can learn from the informants’ experiences and knowledge that is relevant to education in design and product development at upper secondary school level. Findings show that four of the artefacts appear to be carriers of attributes that reveal the interviewees’ definitions of the artefacts’ functional nature. From these findings it is shown that the interviewees’ definitions of concepts concerning aesthetics/decoration and function can be seen as cultural expressions. How the repertory grid technique is used in this particular study is thoroughly described and the results relevance for education is discussed.

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Title: What is the function of a figurine? Can the repertory grid technique tell?
Author: Helena Isakssson Persson
Publication date: 28-07-2015
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: International Journal of Technology and Design Education / Issue 4/2016
Print ISSN: 0957-7572
Electronic ISSN: 1573-1804
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-015-9323-2

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