ADAD9114 Research Foundations in Art and Design

Research is a balance between thoughtful reflexive practice and methodical searching, to see new things, or existing things in new ways, but in ways that also allow other people to see those things too. A fundamental skill in researching is therefore observing, documenting and analysing what you have observed. Researcherly observing can be challenging because we must learn to do what we do every day in new, and more careful ways.

You will organise and present prose descriptions of the context, conduct and analysis of your observational research, a field note sample, and a visual essay, comprising a series of annotated and captioned images that clearly communicate new, significant aspects of your selected issue that emerge from your observation and analysis.

The observational research report will be supplemented by a list of 5 precedents and 5 peer-reviewed papers from your field of practice that are directly related to your selected issue. Your choice of precedents and papers contextualise what you have observed about the issue with the observations of others in your field of practice in design, curatorial and cultural leadership, or animation and visual effects. This task introduces skills in identifying and observing an issue, locating other researchers in your field who have observed something similar, and reporting on what you have found to transform everyday looking into researcherly observing.

This assessment requires you to write a first draft of the answer yourself in English.

You are then permitted to use generative AI software to improve your answer in the following ways:

Any output of generative AI software that is used within your assessment must be attributed with the following acknowledgement on the first page of your assessment task with full referencing using Harvard or APA throughout.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by [Name of AI tool] which offered editorial suggestions. Some examples of prompts I used include [list prompts here].

If the outputs of generative AI software form part of your submission and is not acknowledged or appropriately attributed, your marker will determine whether the omission is significant. If so, you may be asked to explain your understanding of your submission. If you are unable to satisfactorily demonstrate your understanding of your submission you may be referred to UNSW Conduct & Integrity Office for investigation for academic misconduct and possible penalties.2

Identify an issue that you have observed in your field of practice that needs updating and/or you want to do something about. Select the site of your observational research, such as a museum, heritage site or park, or context discussed with your tutor, that is pertinent to the issue, that you will observe at regular times during the week and visually document what happens in that space. Choose a setting where people are doing things that are related to your identified issue and connected to your field of practice, such as how waste is collected by the local council if your issue is related to environmental sustainability/climate action and connected to your field of practice in design, or how someone uses an electronic device if your issue is related to accessibility and your practice is connected to HCI, or someone navigates a site with wayfinding signage if your issue is related to audience engagement and your practice is connected to design or cultural events, or how people use public parks for exercise if your issue to related to health and wellbeing and your practice is connected to design, or how people interpret complex data in a public space if your issue is related to big data and your practice is connected to animation and visual effects. The purpose of the observations is to practice noticing and documenting what you notice.

– Observe the same practices on different days or at different times of the day at the selected site/s

– Try to observe different kinds of people doing the same practice at the selected site/s

– Observe individuals and groups, if possible (see NOTE ON RESEARCH ETHICS BELOW)

Formulate a hypothesis based on your observations that states a claim, provide evidence for that claim from your observations and provide a warrant from existing research on the issue in your field, your observations should focus on:

– Noticing interactions between the environment, living inhabitants, and things or technologies related to your identified issue (e.g.: environment-human, human-human, human-living inhabitant, human-thing and human-technology interactions)

– Patterns in these interactions

– Distinct versions of the practice that do not follow the usual patterns

– Difficulties people are having with the practice

In general, you are looking for interactions that are odd or surprising to you. Your task is to choose the patterns and/or anomalies in the practice interactions you observed that are significant (for understanding environments, people, or practices in new ways or for redirecting those practices in new ways) and then to communicate their significance in relation to the issue, and to whom (what group of people) it is significant.

Once you have confirmed your insights, create a visual essay about your observations that tells the story of the site observed, what you noticed about patterns and anomalies, and the significance of this new knowledge for greater understanding of the identified issue. Based on your visual essay, develop a hypothesis that includes a claim, evidence for the claim and a warrant, that reflects your analysis of what you observed. This will include words and images and should explain the steps in your analysis of the documented observations, and how you reached your conclusion. 3

– Ensure that the environment you are in allows you to document what people are doing, such as taking photographs

– Anonymize your observational notes so that people are not identifiable by what you document

– If taking pictures of people without them knowing, only ever photograph them from behind or without their face in view so they are de-identified.

– When explaining what you are doing, be honest about learning to do observational research. Indicate that the outcomes will be seen only by yourself and your teacher.

OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH REPORT SUBMISSION (There is no class presentation):

Save all of the above as a single pdf and upload it to Moodle by 11.59pm Friday Week 5

Students will receive formative assessment feedback in tutorials and summative assessment feedback within two weeks of submission.

Plagiarism

The work submitted for this Assessment Task must be your original work and made specifically for this Course. For

Please note: Strict penalties apply for late submission as indicated in the course outline. Please see over for Assessment Rubric.