Embodied Making and Learning

why making matters: developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning

Marte S. Gulliksen 

University College of Southeast Norway 

marte.gulliksen@hit.no

Keywords: embodied making; learning; interdisciplinarity; neuroscience

Abstract

This paper presents an ongoing project to develop a future study of embodied making, particularly when carving green wood. Making activities such as woodcarving have been studied using phenomenological, experiential, observational, analytical, and reflective methodologies, among others. These studies have documented many aspects of embodied making and its consequences for the person, product, and process. Neuroscientific methods have recently generated knowledge on the anatomical and functional aspects of embodied making. The project is built on the assumption that it is possible to develop an interdisciplinary study combining these different methods, with the potential to confirm and expand current knowledge on both the phenomenon of embodied making itself and learning in and through such making. The project aims to provide a coherent description of some relevant neurobiological knowledge as a starting point for developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning. 

This paper is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence.

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Cite this paper: Gulliksen, M.S. (2016). Why making matters: Developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning. Proceedings of DRS 2016, Design Research Society 50th Anniversary Conference. Brighton, UK, 27–30 June 2016.

This paper will be presented at DRS2016, find it in the conference programme


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