Creative thinking is a popular and ambiguous ability but so far we have limited knowledge about how creativity work within history education. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate how individual creativity and a historical thinking with a focus on continuity and change relate to each other within history education. Data was collected with the help of an authentic history assignment and analyzed with qualitative content analysis and statistical correlations. A constructivist framework with a specific focus on the The Geneplore Model of Creativity and Historical thinking was chosen to guide the analysis. Results point to several similarities between creativity and historical thinking on continuity and change, with both concepts focusing on constructing new and meaningful knowledge. Here, the strongest correlation was found between creative thinking and reflections about change through history. The analysis also pointed to cognitive processes with a particularly promising potential to develop both creative and historical thinking, namely divergent thinking with the purpose to generate several alternative answers, and janusian thinking with the purpose to generate contradictory perspectives. Further, the analysis also revealed some differences between creativity and historical thinking on continuity and change. Here, thinking creatively with help of distant analogical thinking was particularly difficult since those conclusions seldom were rooted in historical facts. In fact, many of the creative conclusion identified in this study showed a potential to develop students understanding of the past, but were still in an undeveloped stage. These results indicate a need for a continued critical exploration of creative answers after initially being generated. In sum, the identified similarities and differences between creative and historical thinking on continuity and change demonstrate that creativity could play a role in the development of students historical understanding and points to a promising direction for future research interested in creative comparisons over time.

<p><i>The Duke of Uncertainty - Aspects of Professional Skill</i>is a dissertation whose title is a literary metaphor designedto draw attention to encounters with unforeseen problems anddilemmas at work.</p><p>The first part of the dissertation presents the skill andtechnology tradition that has developed over the last twentyyears through explorative case studies. These have covered theskills of various occupational groups, such as processoperators in the paper-and-pulp and chemicals industries,managers and systems engineers working on real timeapplications in specialized knowledge intensive firms as wellas doctors and nurses.</p><p>The theoretical perspective is the epistemology of skillfocusing on the phenomenon of tacit knowledge. This has itsroots in Wittgenstein's philosophy of language as developed bythe philosophers Allan Janik and Kjell S. Johannessen.</p><p>The methodological framework develops indirect analogicalthinking which is a prerequisite for knowledge based onexperience, through exemplification.</p><p>The empirical part of the work shows knowledge offamiliarity among members of an occupational group with lowformal training but extensive practical experience, namelyassistant nurses. A comparative analysis is undertaken inrelation to previous case studies in the field of skill andtechnology aimed at occupational groups with high formaleducational qualifications.</p><p>A particular aspect to which attention is drawn is therhythm in work that unites occupational groups regardless ofeducational background. Occupational skill is treated as acapacity developed to find rhythm in action when confrontedwith situations that are hard to handle. The dissertationconsiders aspects that can be tried out in other occupationalarenas and paves the way for identifying phenomena in workinglife that hinder the development of rhythm in work.</p><p>The dissertation contributes to the setting-up ofundergraduate-level training for groups of people who have notpreviously had access to higher education, and aims tointroduce new aspects into the development of analoguethinking.</p><p><b>Key words</b>: practical versus theoretical knowledge, skillof epistemology, tacit knowledge, comparative case study,literary metaphor, analogical thinking, indirect method,occupational training.</p>

The Duke of Uncertainty - Aspects of Professional Skillis a dissertation whose title is a literary metaphor designedto draw attention to encounters with unforeseen problems anddilemmas at work. The first part of the dissertation presents the skill andtechnology tradition that has developed over the last twentyyears through explorative case studies. These have covered theskills of various occupational groups, such as processoperators in the paper-and-pulp and chemicals industries,managers and systems engineers working on real timeapplications in specialized knowledge intensive firms as wellas doctors and nurses. The theoretical perspective is the epistemology of skillfocusing on the phenomenon of tacit knowledge. This has itsroots in Wittgenstein's philosophy of language as developed bythe philosophers Allan Janik and Kjell S. Johannessen. The methodological framework develops indirect analogicalthinking which is a prerequisite for knowledge based onexperience, through exemplification. The empirical part of the work shows knowledge offamiliarity among members of an occupational group with lowformal training but extensive practical experience, namelyassistant nurses. A comparative analysis is undertaken inrelation to previous case studies in the field of skill andtechnology aimed at occupational groups with high formaleducational qualifications. A particular aspect to which attention is drawn is therhythm in work that unites occupational groups regardless ofeducational background. Occupational skill is treated as acapacity developed to find rhythm in action when confrontedwith situations that are hard to handle. The dissertationconsiders aspects that can be tried out in other occupationalarenas and paves the way for identifying phenomena in workinglife that hinder the development of rhythm in work. The dissertation contributes to the setting-up ofundergraduate-level training for groups of people who have notpreviously had access to higher education, and aims tointroduce new aspects into the development of analoguethinking. Key words: practical versus theoretical knowledge, skillof epistemology, tacit knowledge, comparative case study,literary metaphor, analogical thinking, indirect method,occupational training. / <p>NR 20140805</p>

Like many industries, the nuclear power industry in Sweden is currently facing the challenges of a major generational change. To meet these challenges, alongside the demands for a high level of security, the industry has attempted to standardise its mode of operations as far as possible. Apart from various technological fixes and safety devices, manuals and instructions have been modelled for every conceivable situation, or course of events; documentations and formal systems of co-ordination that become larger and larger, and more and more detailed. In high-risk industries there is a tendency to equate learning with changes in external patterns of behaviour, as against fixed standards, typically among operating staff. The acquisition  of professional skill, on the other hand, is the result of participation in practice. From this point of view, rather, learning is the outcome of reflection, upon actual events and experiences. Recurrent training can be used to promote formalisation, but also to explore and reinforce the experience based knowledge of skilled operators; between these approaches, the former prevails. Accidents and incidents incessantly put in question what is commonly referred to as the safety culture of various power plants, and subsequent to the misfortunes at Forsmark 1 in 2006, the accident was described as the culmination of a longterm decline in safety culture. The strong requirement for security and control is a cause of formalisation, whereas the need to support reflection as formation of professional skill tends to be omitted. Even so, experience based skill and knowledge remains a substantial consituent of what could be regarded as a dependable safety culture. Codified knowledge must be interpreted and applied in practice. Furthermore, experienced professionals, from encountering a great variety of situations, seem to develop what can be described as the skill of anticipation, and, as shown in connection with the incident at Forsmark 1, an ability to handle the unexpected. The urge for formalisation raises certain concerns: that of the primacy of defining the containments of professional skill, the impact and resilience of local knowledge and diversity, and the hollowing out of ability and skill within work-life organisations. The “human factor”, that is the operating staff, is commonly made responsible for established accidents and incidents. Even so, experienced personnel are able to manage a variety of unforeseen events and disturbances, that sometimes occur in high-risk technology industries. At times, on the contrary, the human factor saves technology, instead of the other way around. This study explores the concept of safety culture within the nuclear power industry from an epistemological perspective. It discusses the use of recurrent training, and the role of experience based skill and knowledge in the operating of Swedish power plants. What methods can be employed to support experience based knowledge as an essential complement to standardised work processes, codified knowledge, or benchmark strategies? Principles of formalisation need to be supplemented with a more thorough exploration of professional skill, in which a distinction between behaviour and responsibility can be made. / QC 20110906

La triade de Vitruve revisitée à travers l’exemple de l’architecture d’Hervé Tordjman. La place de l’art et de la technique dans le processus de conception. Aujourd’hui, la conception de l’architecture demeure comme à son origine, dépendante de l’interaction des trois qualités indissociables de Vitruve : firmitas, utilitas et venustas, considérées autrefois indispensables à l’acte de concevoir. L’incarnation de cette triade dans le processus créatif des concepteurs contemporains que nous avons étudiés dans le cadre de cette thèse, qu’ils soient architectes-ingénieurs-artistes, architectes-artistes ou architectes-ingénieurs, est assujettie d’une part, aux mécanismes cognitifs : le modèle et la pensée analogique ; et d’autre part aux compétences et postures de chacun.Toutefois, en dépit de ce caractère personnel du processus conceptuel, ces trois qualités qui jadis devaient être articulées par une seule personne (l’architecte), se trouvent aujourd’hui menées à l’unisson selon un processus collectif.En effet, grâce aux nouvelles technologies numériques actuelles, l’architecte et les ingénieurs sont mobilisés dans un processus dit collaboratif abolissant ainsi les frontières entre « parti » architectural et « idée constructive », architecture et construction. A travers l’analyse de l’œuvre de l’architecte parisien Hervé Tordjman (1975), il faut souligner l’importance qu’acquiert la « firmitas » dans le processus de création en s’intégrant harmonieusement avec les autres composantes (utilitas et venustas). Ainsi, le point de vue de l’auteur et de chaque acteur de la chaine de conception devient partie intégrante dans le processus. Une telle articulation collective de la trinité vitruvienne dans la pratique contemporaine du projet marque une évolution dans la façon de concevoir l’acte architectural et non une rupture. / Vitruvian triad revisited through the example of the architecture of Hervé Tordjman. The place of art and technique in the design process. Today, the design of architecture remains as to its origin, dependent on the interaction of three inseparable qualities stated by Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas and venustas, once considered essential to the act of conceiving. The embodiment of this triad in the creative process of contemporary designers that is the concern of this thesis, both artists-architects-engineers, architects or artists-architects-engineers, is subject on the one hand, to cognitive mechanisms: the model and analogical thinking; and secondly to individual skills and postures.However, despite this personal character of the design process, these three qualities which once had to be articulated by one person (i.e. the architect), are now conducted in unison as a collective process.Indeed, thanks to new existing digital technologies, the architect and engineers are mobilized in a process said collaborative that abolishes the boundaries between the architectural part and the constructive system that is architecture and construction. Through the analysis of the work of the Parisian architect Hervé Tordjman (1975), we must emphasize the importance acquired by the "firmitas" in the creation process by being harmoniously integrated with other components (utilitas and venustas). Thus, the author’s view as well as that of each player in the design chain becomes part in the process. Such a collective articulation of the Vitruvian trinity in the contemporary practice project marks an evolution in how to design the architectural act, not a rupture.

No description available.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om facilitatorns roll och yrkeskunnande. En roll som är relativt ny och för de flesta fortfarande helt obekant. Facilitatorn anlitas för att underlätta för grupper att föra samtal och dialog, men också för att gemensamt reflektera. Viktiga förutsättningar för att hitta formerna för fruktbara samarbeten, vilket står högt på många organisationers agendor idag.   I uppsatsen redogör jag inledningsvis för den möteskultur som råder inom organisationer idag. En kultur där medarbetare och chefer avsätter mycket tid i möten som vare sig ger dem själva, organisationen eller samhället något av värde. Det är många gånger envägskommunikation eller förmedling av information. I en tidsanda som ställer höga krav på rationaliseringar och effektivseringar har det dessvärre också blivit så, att tiden för samtal och genuina dialoger succesivt har reducerats till förmån för ökad kommunikation i olika digitala kanaler, inte misnt e-mail och sociala medier. Jag vill hävda att vi människor behöver träffas och samtala för att nå en gemensam och fördjupad förståelse för varandra och våra olika sakfrågor. Vad händer på sikt om vi inte ges möjlighet till gemensam reflektion? Hur ska vi kunna samarbeta om vi inte lär känna varandra och de förutsättningar som råder?   I inledningen redogör jag även för delar av den kunskapsteori som finns kopplat till ämnesområdet yrkeskunnande och teknologi, men också för min mission – att återerövra samtalet som en viktig arbetsmetod. Uppsatsen är skriven i essäistisk stil och det empiriska materialet kommer från de texter jag själv har författat under masterutbildnignens två år då dialogseminariemetoden tillämpats, men också från den dialogseminarieserie som jag själv har genomfört med sex andra facilitatorskollegor. Tillsammans har vi börjat utforska vår gemensamma profession och det yrkeskunnande som vi representerar.   Facilitatorns yrkeskunnande är mångfacetterat och svårfångat, men handlar i mångt och mycket om att vara öppen för människors olikheter. Se dem som berikande. Vara krockfrämjande. Bejaka olika perspektiv och infallsvinklar på saker och ting. Inte vara rädd för att konfrontera. Facilitatorn jobbar med olika tempoväxlingar och har en mängd olika metoder och tekniker till sitt förfogande för att möta olika problemställningar. Planerat eller improviserat. Det finns tydliga analogier med teatern, men också med läkar- och läraryrket. Det handlar om att skapa spänningar och väcka känslor hos deltagarna. Och sedan ta hand om och förvalta de känslor som väckts. Som facilitator blir man aldrig fullärd. Alla grupper är olika och varje ny mötessituation bjuder på nya utmaningar.   För mig känns det som att resan mot bättre vetande precis har börjat. I mina texter kan jag skönja en utveckling över tid, men det finns otaliga gator kvar att utforska. Jag är fortsatt nyfiken och jag vet bestämt att jag vil fortsätta att fördjupa mina kunskaper om facilitatorns yrkeskunnande och gärna då med dialogseminariet som fortsatt forskningsmetod. / This thesis explores the role and skills of a professional facilitator. A facilitator is hired to facilitate meetings and other group processes trough dialogue, conversations and active participation, with the purpose of makig reflection and collaboration within and between organisations possible.