Martina Keitsch

Interactions Between Caregivers and Young Children: Exploring Pedagogical Tact in Nebulizer Treatment

Although research in health care suggests that one of the most important factors for efficient medical delivery is the child’s willingness to cooperate, little is known about how caregivers facilitate cooperation with young children during medical treatment. In this article, we explore interactions between parents, nurses, and young children during pediatric nebulizer treatment in terms of tact as a pedagogical concept. Based on our analysis, which followed a hermeneutic approach and included video observations of five hospitalized children aged between 15 and 30 months, we present four themes related to pedagogical tact of caregivers and children’s willingness to cooperate, and discuss the role that medical products can play in this cooperation. The results benefit pediatric health personnel, as well as product designers.

Changing technology perceptions

Industrial Ecology (IE) offers a systems approach to the analysis of materials and energy flows, based upon an analogy of ecological and industrial systems. The goal is to transfer the principles of natural ecological systems into an industrial context. What seemed straightforward in the beginning implies, however, an ambivalence that culminates in the question whether IE is a natural science and technology-determined concept, or if it implies a normative potential and thus has to be coupled with social sciences and political decision-making. This paper explores connections between both views within an analytical framework based upon Aristotelian philosophy. The framework consists of a constellation of activities – theoria (knowledge), praxis (action) and poesis (production), it shows changes of the importance of activities in different time spans and indicates phenomena of these changes. The objective of this analysis is to document IEs capability to connect different subsystems and to show how an interdisciplinary epistemology could advance the concept.

Commentary: industrial ecology – seen from a philosophical point of view. Its break with the Baconian programme

Sustainable Development (SD), sometimes called a metafix, (Lele, 1991) signifies technology innovation as well as social progress and provides a framework for Industrial Ecology (IE). IE is a rather new approach with a modest theoretical tradition. Therefore, the following contribution presents some conceptual premises and the idea-historical background of IE. We argue that IE differs from the old Baconian programme, one of the starting points for the industrial revolution, e.g., in the principle that technology has its limitations and can not replace the biosphere. In practice this means, among others, to minimise the use of resources by closing materials cycles and to minimise harmful impact to the environment through proper Design for the Environment. IE provides an opportunity for sustainable ways of production and consumption. The concept should, however, not be limited to physical and technological phenomena, but it must comprise an ethical approach to nature. The following paper attempts to illustrate this possibility as well.

The clothesline approach to notions in participatory design

We invite researchers and practitioners to bring a plurality of perspectives and expertise related to the use of problematic notions in participatory design. How could a change of notions affect our perspective on participation and design? The aim of the full day workshop is to apply a clothesline approach in order to identify and sort, wash and tumble, some of the notions used in the community, and air them for better alternatives. We will do this by 1) critically identifying why certain notions are or have been problematic, 2) elaborating on them to raise awareness of their possible interpretations and implications in order to find alternatives that are usable across different Participatory Design (PD) settings. The outcome of the workshop is to contribute to elucidate how notions and their connotations frame participatory design practice, hopefully in a joint workshop publication.

The Clothesline Approach to Notions Concerning the H in HCI

We invite researchers and practitioners to bring a plurality of perspectives related to the use of notions in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). How could a change of notions affect our perspective on designing technology for people? The aim of the full day workshop is to apply a clothesline approach in order to identify and sort, wash and tumble, some of the notions used in the community, and air them for better alternatives. We will do this by 1) identifying why certain notions are or have been problematic, 2) elaborating them to raise awareness of their possible interpretations and implications in order to find alternatives that are usable across different HCI settings. The outcome of the workshop is to elucidate how notions and their connotations frame the HCI practice.