Theme 3 Reflection

Theme 3: Research and theory

             During this week we have a little bit different task compared to the previous theme. In this task, we have to select 1 paper from a journal and analyze this paper based on our knowledge. Before that, we must read 2 articles about the theory itself, and correlate with the previous theme, then we must analyze the selected paper. In this reflection, I will write a resume what I get from the lecture and the seminar and try to improve my previous assignment based on that.

          During the lecture, Mr. Leif Dahlberg gives a great explanation about theory and research. In the beginning, when we receive a new knowledge about something, it can be a practical knowledge (about how we can “use” it) or theoretical knowledge (about how we can “understand” it). In this lecture, Leif’s give several terms of theory, and in the end, I can conclude that theory is a set of proportional that aim to identify with using scientific method and their relation, furthermore some of them try to give prediction in the future. Theory of an object can be varied between each other depends on the faculty that they belong, for example theory of a man, a Greek philosopher defined man as a social and political animal, a medical say it as biological machine and religious see it as a divine creature create by God.

           Based on the subject and facts, theory can be distinguished between scientific theory (natural science) and philosophical theory. Philosophical theory is a theory whose the subject is not real like metaphysics, and the scientific theory is theory to make an explanation of nature using scientific method and can be falsifiable to verify it is right or wrong. Karl Popper also mentions that the most important thing when formulate the theories is not to prove it right, but to make a stand that this theory cannot prove that it wrong. In the end, no theory is completely correct, but if not falsifiable, it can accept as a general truth.

            The next topic is about the research, Leif’s explain that there are 3 kinds of research, scientific research, applied research and artistic research. In KTH, almost all research is grouped at applied research. This is because almost all the research in KTH is trying to solve practical problems that occurs in the real world. There is not many artistic research for the engineer, because usually the researcher in this field is an inventor, not an engineer. In this research, they create this new object and do some research about this new object.

         During the seminar, we still discuss about theory, hypothesis and research. But in this session we divided into separate group and then try to give a resume about the paper to somebody else in the group. In this resume, we explain about theory and hypothesis that used in the paper. After that, we explain this paper to the lecturer to get some feedback. In this session, I get a new insight about theory itself. Theories are needed to produce hypothesis, in order to get a strong paper, we need to gather the theory and plan the strategies how to implement it. Because a good paper is if it cannot falsify by any means. Also in the seminar, Leif’s answer that theory cannot immediately change after proven that the theory is wrong. It needs a regeneration phase to make the paradigm shift to the new one. Furthermore, a new theory maybe can be ignored for several case.

Theme 4 Pre

Theme 4: Quantitative research

 

Select a media technology research paper that you argue is using quantitative methods in a good way.

            The journal I choose was “Computers in Human Behavior”, with an impact factor of 2.273. The title of the article I interest is “A case study of Augmented Reality simulation system application in a chemistry course” by Su Cai, Xu Wang and Feng-Kuang Chiang and published on 10 May 2014.

            This paper focusses on how to help student to learn abstract concepts while learning chemistry, and proposes the augmented reality (AR) tools to help learning chemistry. The experiment design they propose is consisting pre-test, grouping and learning using AR tools, post-Test, questionnaire surveys and interview. Through some experiment and data analysis, this paper concludes that the AR tools can be introduce to the student as computer-assisted learning tool, because it give an improvement result to the student to understand  chemistry.

 

1.    Which quantitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?

This paper use mixed research method to get the result, it means in this paper they use both methods (qualitative and quantitative) to analyze the result.

They use quantitative method to measure the data obtained from the quiz and the questionnaire, and they calculated descriptive statistics of each item and each construct as a whole, including the average score, standard deviation, and maximum and minimum values.

They use qualitative method to examine the video-recorded and picture during the AR class and recorded interview.

With mixed method, we can get positive value in both quantitative and qualitative view of human behavior. Mixed researcher intends to use both methods to understand the word more fully, because with this method they can focusing on causal factor and examining human choice and behavior. The limitation is the researcher must know the important to understand both the subjective (individual), inter-subjective (language-based, discursive, cultural), and objective (material and causal) realities in our world.

 

2.    What did you learn about quantitative methods from reading the paper?

In this paper, when using quantitative method, they use various method to analyze the data statistics. The statistical method that I see in this paper are Cronbach’s Alpha to check validity of the questionnaire, p-value (two tailed) to compare the test result before and after the introduction of AR tools, also some basic statistic.

I think in order to use quantitative method, we need to understand the statistics method and make sure the plan for the experiment is already prepared.

 

3.    Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the quantitative method or methods have been improved?

The main methodological problem in this paper is the limited number of participants in the experiment, they only gather 29 people from 1 school. Also, when they conduct the interview, they only interview 5 people. Based on this condition, I think they need to add more participant from different school. However, with using this quantitative method, they tend to be objective to the result.

Read the following paper written by Olle Bälter and colleagues. Reflect on the key points and what you learnt by reading the text.

            The paper written by Olle Bälter and colleagues discuss about correlation between physical activity and stress factor towards Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI). Their method to collect the data is based on using a web questionnaire and email as a reminder. In the subject and method, they stated the rule that they used to select the participant and established all variable, segmentation, assumption and analysis method. In the part Result and Discussion, the writer give all the result as statistic tables and give analysis base on the data. In the end, the conclusion part gives us the answer that people with moderate to high total physical activity had a lower risk of URTI.

 

1.    Which are the benefits and limitations of using quantitative methods?

Benefit of quantitative method:

·         Operate under the assumption of objectivity or fact.

·         The result usually neutral based on data and the statistic.

Limitation of quantitative method:

·         Need a lot of data to make it more comprehensive.

·         The focus is on only one or a few causal factors at the same time.

 

2.    Which are the benefits and limitations of using qualitative methods?

Benefit of qualitative method:

·         The research usually wide- and deep-angle lens, examining human choice and behavior as it occurs naturally in all of its detail.

·         The research tries to understand multiple dimensions and layers of reality, such as cultural and social condition.

Limitation of qualitative method:

·         The result is sometimes subjective based on the researcher concept.

·         Takes a great deal of time studying the many aspects to come up with an analysis.

Theme 2 Reflection

Theme 2: Critical media studies

                After attending the lecture and seminar in the critical media studies, I gain a new perspective about philosophy. In the previous theme we get a knowledge about what is the knowledge itself and how it can be obtained. This week we have progressed a bit further about the enlightenment which is give a liberation of human though to advance in order to gain freedom to get rid of fear of superstitious things and instead install them as masters of their own fears and thoughts. But in the end it gives us many casualties to the humankind. In this theme, we assigned to read 2 articles. The first article is written by Walter Benjamin and the second is written by Adorno and Horkheimer’s.

                In the lecturer session, Mr. Henrik Åhman told us that in order to understand these essay, we need to know the background history when they create these essay. So in this lecture, he gives us some background story when philosophy began. Start in early 16^th / 17^th century, people gain an enlightenment and obtain an advance progress on technology since that era. Furthermore, with this enlightenment, people begin to create a utopian object around the world, for the example is France and Russian revolution. Also in the art and construction, they built many skyscrapers and lead to invention in media technology. Nevertheless, in several years later the utopian is coming to the end, because industries have a lot of bad consequences, such as pollution and war for resources. In the end, the enlightenment will dehumanize people and they are starting to question about enlightenment because they caused the crisis.

                Walter Benjamin, when he write the essay about “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” live in the era of Nazi, when they still not declare a war to the world. In this essay, he shows how fascism do with culture and handle the culture to support fascism. In this essay, he state that culture and politics are related. Furthermore, fascism introduces aesthetic into political life. For example, in Italian fascism, they attempt to aestheticize politics. In order to get support from his people, they revive the glory of the Roman Empire and they believe people need other stuff than just rational and argument.  Also in German, they used a different approach, it is to politicize aesthetics. German develop massive structure or art to give an enormous influence emotional to the people and because of that they will accept all political messages from some political party. In this era, they also use media technology to deceive people to follow their will.

                Adorno and Hokheimer’s write the essay to answer the essay by Walter Benjamin, in this essay they critique about the media technology is being misused and abused by others to gain support in politics. Based on Adorno and Hokheimer’s, enlightenment is trying to demystify the world and give freedom to people to think freely, but in the end instead to give freedom, they deceive us into a big society that force to believe a certain paradigm with using media technology. They also emphasize that nominalism will lead to preservation of oppressive societal culture, because if we only focus on the material world and describe as it is, then we are never going to change. The lecturer gives an excellent example about the nominalism by using Plato story about “man in cave”. He shows that there is dichotomy reality about is it true that shadow is real things (nominalism)? Or we should turn around to look the concept itself.

                 

Theme 3 Pre

Theme 3: Research and theory

Select a research journal that you believe is relevant for media technology research.

The journal I choose was “Computer & Education”, with an impact factor of 2.63 and 5-year impact factor of 3.242. This journal focuses on computing and communication technology to heighten the influence towards cognition, education and training from the instructor to the applicant in the growing open and distance learning environment.

Select a research paper that is of high quality and relevant for media technology research.

            The title of the article I interest is “Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers” by Faria Sana, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda. This paper discusses whether the usage of laptop during a lecture will distract the student and make their learning capability become worst comparing to the student without laptop interference.

            At first, the writer gives some hypothesis and theory that human have limited resources to attend to, process, encode and store information as their knowledge. The multitasking process will limit human to perceive the information, it means the quality and efficiency at which multiple task are processed will be compromised.

            In this journal, the writer using quantitative method to collect the data and conduct 2 experiments. The first experiment is to measure the performance of participant when using multitasking laptop while attending the course, and the second one is to measure the negative impact by distraction when someone using a laptop during a course. The gathered data are compared in each experiment and processed to get the result.

            The first result of these experiments indicate that participants’ comprehension was impaired when they performed multiple tasks during learning. Second, comprehension was impaired for participants who were seated in view of peers engaged in multitasking. These results show that multitasking impaired both simple factual learning and complex application to the same degree.

            One thing that I need to comment regarding this article is the unknown factor about the attention of the participant base on the object in the lecture. Because, if some participant do not interest on this subject, it can deviate the result.

1.    Briefly explain to a first year university student what theory is, and what theory is not.

A theory is an abstract entities that aim to describe, explain and enhance understanding about the world, and in some cases the theory will provide a prediction of what will happen in the future and to give a basis for intervention and action. In the theory, the writer must answer to queries of “why”, because theory is about the connection among phenomena, a story about why act, events, structure and though occur. Furthermore, theory emphasizes the nature of causal relationships, identifying what comes first as well as  the timing of such event.

We can say that journal does not have a theory if the journal lack of consensus to describe and explain about what and why theory is may explain. Furthermore, this is part of an article that are not theory:

·         Reference, authors need to explicate which concepts and causal arguments are adopted from cited sources and how they are linked to the theory being developed or tested.

·         Data describe which empirical patterns were observed and theory explains why empirical patterns were observed or are expected to be observed.

·         Lists of Variables or Constructs, a theory must also explain why variables or constructs come about or why they are connected.

·         Diagrams or figures can be a valuable part of a research paper but also, by themselves, rarely constitute theory.

·         Hypotheses are concise statements about what is expected to occur, not why it is expected to occur.

2.    Describe the major theory or theories that are used in your selected paper. Which theory type (see Table 2 in Gregor) can the theory or theories be characterized as?

I think the article will match with theory type 4 (explanation and prediction), because the author give description about why multitasking can impact student in a course and give a prediction about the decrease of student performance in learning if this problem is not considered seriously. Also in this article, the writer give 3 suggestions about how should laptop use during a lecture.

3.    Which are the benefits and limitations of using the selected theory or theories?

The benefit using theory type 4 is, the reader will get a comprehension information regarding selected topic that writer choose, because the reader will acknowledge about why this topic occur in this article and what the impact in the future will happen based by experiment in this article. The limitation on this type 4 theory is usually the scope of the topic is narrow to certain point, because the author will attempt to focus in certain area and tries to give more result to support the prediction.

           

Theme 1 Refrection

Theme 1: Theory of knowledge and theory of science

In the first week of the course, we got a nice start to study about philosophy. At first, I think this course is a rather difficult for me to begin with, because I have no experience when reading about philosophy. The first reading is the book created by Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason), this book is hard to understand and takes more time to acknowledge it. The second reading is the dialog between Socrates and Teaetethus, and this is easier to understand, although there are many parts that not necessarily belong there.

Kant lived in the 17^th Century when the scientific revolution begins. In that they divided by an idealist and realist, and Kant try to avoid both of them and propose a transcendental idealism that he describes in his book of Critique of Pure Reason. In this book, Kant distinguishes propositions in 3 types:

1. Analytic Judgment: Do not have investigate the word to seek the truth (A Priori). For example: Body have an extension. (The definition of “body” must have extensions).
2. Synthetic Judgment: Need to investigate to seek the truth (A Posteriori). For example: Somebody is thick. (Thick is not inherent with body, so need to examine further)
3. Synthetic a priori. For example: Geometric, Math, and Metaphysics.

In the point 3, Kant proposes a new thing to philosophy to answer the problem in metaphysics study, because Kant think at that time there is just a lot of opinion regarding the metaphysic study and nobody can prove the truth, and all is just some gibberish facts.

       "How is a synthetic judgment possible a priory?” To answer this question, Kant takes an example about the Copernican Revolution and make a deduction that lets we assumed that all our cognition must not conform to objects, but the objects must conform to our cognition. This is the basic perspective on Kant investigation, to assume that the object must conform our fact of knowledge and must fulfill 2 forms of intuition:

1. Knowledge of the world is structured and organized according to Time and Space.
2. Meet the requirement of 12 different categories of understanding (Unity, Plurality, Totality, Reality, Negation, Limitation, Possibility, Existence, Necessity, Substance, Causality and Community)

These 2 points in the basic of the transcendental condition of knowledge of the word base of Kantian Philosophy. In the different book (Trigonometry of Metaphysic), in the end, Kant says that perception without conception is blind, and conception without perception is empty.

     In the dialog between Socrates and Teaetethus, they said the knowledge is perception, and Socrates argues that we do not see and hear "with" the eyes and the ears, but "through" the eyes and the ears. Within this statement, Kant sees that eyes and ears only see only with certain framework, and we cannot get a whole picture of the object because we ignore all other senses. Therefore, to get the knowledge we must get a whole picture and see it through our soul to get the general truth about the knowledge.

       In the seminar, Mr. Johan Eriksson gives us an excellent example about philosophy in Immanuel Kant perspective. He says “The Matrix” movie have a close relationship with Kant philosophy. It shows us there is certain reality that we can accept as it is (Take It for Granted) or we can criticize this new fact as it is real truth or only an imagination. It is like Neo when decide to take red pill or blue pill.

Theme 2 Pre

Theme 2: Critical media studies

1.    Dialectic of Enlightenment

a.     According to the author, the enlightenment can be described as liberation of human thought to advance in order to gain freedom to get rid of fear of superstitious things and instead install them as masters of their own fears and thoughts. In addition, enlightenment also seeks an answer for anything in logical point of view, because anything which cannot be resolved into number can be grouped as illusion.

b.    The dialectic is discourse between two or more problem about things that having different points of view about a subject, and try to establish the truth of the matter guided by reasoned arguments.

The author tries to distinguish between the myth and the knowledge. This is important, because a world in the Middle Ages where myths and religion decides what is right and what is wrong does not encourage curiosity, progression or scientific development. With this dialectic, people begin to change and control their fear, because they now know knowledge about nature and process.

c.     Base on Wikipedia, nominalism is rejecting the existence of abstract object or entities such as myth, and accepting the existence of concrete object or entities. The importance of nominalism in the text is to make a separation between the myth and the reality in this world by analyzing anything with science. It is no matter when people use rationalist or empiricist method do verify this matter, because the goal has always the same, to gain new knowledge.  

d.    A myth is the completely different thing with enlightenment, Adorno and Horkheimer’s state that “Hence, for both mythical and enlightened justice, guilt and atonement, happiness and misfortune, are seen as the two sides of an equation”. The myth tries to explain about the event that occurs at certain times, which cannot explained by existing knowledge, but in the reality this judgments only hides the real truth to the people.

For the example in the old Greek mythology, they believe lightning is created by their God (Zeus). In that time people acknowledge Zeus as supreme God and fear about his abilities. However, with science we can prove that this is the wrong idea and only a myth, lightning created by discharge of electrical energy that has built up inside a thundercloud.

2.    "The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproductivity"

a.     Substructure is base of society, it consists of the economic-political system, and the superstructure is builds upon the base, it is like activity that people do, for example: social, culture and ideology. In the Marxist point of view, it describes that substructures changes more quickly than the superstructure, for the example the government might change from one regime to another, but people’s way of life remains more constant. Nevertheless, Benjamin argued about this perspective, because at present superstructure no longer left behind the substructure, therefore we cannot ignore creativity and genius, eternal value and mystery.

b.    Yes, the culture can become revolutionary potentials. For example, within the reproduction of film and photography, it is easier to publish and reach a lot of people. Because of this, it is possible to influence them about art, news and ideology. In the end with these technologies, the culture will be change slightly and in some extend it can make a revolution on its own. The perspective is rather different between those two, Benjamin think that with the reproduction it will demolish the aura of the art, however Adorno and Horkheimer embraces to use this method to spread art easier.

c.     Naturally perception is the perception that people have after receiving through his sense, this perception may differ between them since people will react independently from the experience they have. Historically perception is the perception that affected by condition at that time, like the political and social environment at that time. For this reason, the experience will be differ from time to time according to the history. For example, the perception of an ancient statue of Venus between the Greeks and cleric of Middle Ages.

d.    Aura is the uniqueness of the object that emanates to the observer and give them a certain feel about the object.

Aura in natural object is the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. For example, when seeing mountain range you can feel the enormous feeling about this mountain, this is what called aura that you receive from the mountain.

Aura in art objects will give unique temporal spatial existence to the object based on historical and physical properties that cannot copied by making a replica. Because it give unique temporal spatial, then this aura can interpret as different things in the history of mankind, for the example the interpretation a statue of Venus.

Theme 1 Pre

Theme 1: Theory of knowledge and theory of science

1.    In the preface to the second edition of "Critique of Pure Reason" (page B xvi) Kant says: "Thus far it has been assumed that all our cognition must conform to objects. On that presupposition, however, all our attempts to establish something about them a priori, by means of concepts through which our cognition would be expanded, have come to nothing. Let us, therefore, try to find out by experiment whether we shall not make better progress in the problems of metaphysics if we assume that objects must conform to our cognition." How are we to understand this?

In the time where Kant lives, the science must contain elements of a priori cognition, and this cognition must relate to its object. Therefore, the object must determine about how it established in the reality (Practical cognition of reason) and what we know about detailed fact and concept about the object (Theoretical cognition of reason). For example, in mathematics and physics, when Thales demonstrates the isosceles triangle. Kant points us to illustrate that a priori concept of the isosceles triangle is already thought by Thales inside his mind and present the isosceles triangle by constructing base on a priori concept.

On the other hand, this theory of science is distinguished in metaphysics. Kant defines metaphysics as “a wholly isolated speculative cognition of reason that elevates itself entirely above all instruction from experience”. Metaphysics is compromising only with mere conceptions, as a consequence, metaphysics cannot consider as science. Indeed, because of this limitation Kant assumed that if the knowledge must adhere to object, then some of the effort will be meaningless due to the nature of metaphysics which do not have an exact object in reality. In his own words, Kant thinks that "up to now the procedure of metaphysics has been a mere groping, and what is the worst, a groping among mere concepts”.

In order to adopt the metaphysics, Kant assumes the opposite way that objects must conform to our cognition. With this method, we can have a better understanding to set a goal or object to achieve before the real result presented to us. For example, it is like Copernicus when he tries to explain regarding the solar system. When he found any difficulty to make an explanation about solar movement to the spectator, he changes his point of view that the sun is the center and the spectator moving around it. Regarding this example, we can try a similar way to make an experiment with metaphysics, and make an alternative thinking like intuition. If this intuition resembles the nature of the object, then it could be a priori, but if reversed it could be a cognition.

2.    At the end of the discussion of the definition "Knowledge is perception", Socrates argues that we do not see and hear "with" the eyes and the ears, but "through" the eyes and the ears. How are we to understand this? And in what way is it correct to say that Soctrates argument is directed towards what we in modern terms call "empiricism"?

By using word “with” it means we are only using the eyes and the ears to perceive something with only these organs. When using these organs, the obtained information is only a small part that cannot be interpret as an actual knowledge. For example, we can only get information about color and shape when using eyes, the same as the ears to receive only sound around us.

However, when using word “through” it means that we use something from beginning until the end to achieve specific results. Hence, Socrates shows Theaetetus, that using “through”, he can perceive not only from the eyes and the ears, but he can perceive the information with all his organ and all his sense. This information than deliver to the mind and then interpreted as useful knowledge about many things in the world.

Wikipedia describes “Empiricism is a theory which states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensor experience”. Based on that, the empiricism will mainly underline experience and evidence of the object to define a knowledge. Furthermore, in empirism, sensory experience is the only source and secure in the certainty of knowledge. Without experience, the ratio does not have the ability to describe anything, if anything illustrates such a way, then it is merely an imaginary.

For this reason, we can assume that Socrates argument is same with empiricism. Because both of them show that sensory experience is base for the knowledge.