My action research project has been shaped by the circumstances of my role at UAL. I work as a digital fabrication technician at, what was, CCW Foundation but which is now The UAL School of Pre Degree. I have since moved sites from Camberwell to Lime Grove, in Shepherds Bush. To say this has uprooted my working pattern would be an understatement. For example, we were initially supposed to be in the building in August to get the space ready for students in September (which isn’t enough time) but actually weren’t allowed in our space until the beginning of October with a revised timeframe of getting the students in the space for part 2 of their course in November.
Initially I thought my project would be about tackling the complexity and nuances of technical language and how to simplify them for students and staff. After undertaking the PGCert something that stood out to me was the often inaccessibility of academic language, which I at times find a struggle. This made me think of the similarities of technical language, something that comes more naturally to me and how to simplify it for students to discuss technical ideas more comfortably and also help staff members understand what happens in a digital fabrication space.
However because I won’t be interacting with students much for the duration of the ARP I thought it would be beneficial to focus on what was right in front of me and that’s setting up a technical workshop, as essentially that’s what my role has become for the past couple of months. However because of the limited time frame of getting ready for students it’s more like setting up a temporary technical workshop. I want to focus on how to make an ethical/inclusive workshop environment, one that’s open to everyone. For the inclusive practices unit I focused on making an inclusive induction video to the space, but I want to expand that general idea to the physical space itself.
Because of my limited interaction with students I will focus on getting DATA from members of staff, colleagues I work closely with at Lime Grove and other technicians across UAL. In terms of gathering DATA I would send out a question via email to technicians across UAL with questions regarding the thoughts on their spaces and how, if they started from the ground up, they would improve them. I initially thought I’d only send them to other digital fabrication technicians but it might be interesting to gather data from a wider variety of technicians across UAL. ‘An exploratory study should take investigators out beyond their own academic or industrial subculture, to new “experts”—ones with differing counsel if at all possible.’ (Jean, M. 2011)I also think it would be beneficial to record conversations with colleagues about thoughts on the space, potentially doing a walk around to get a feel and sense of movement/flow of the space. I would also like to observe other technical sites across UAL and take field notes.
Bibliography
Converse, J., & Presser, S. (2011) ‘The Tools at Hand In: Survey Questions,’ SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks