Bridging the theory/practice gap: A visual exploration

by | Wednesday, May 25, 2016

theory-practice.001

Theoretically there should a reciprocal relationship between Theory and Practice – but it is the gap that every academic bemoans. This posting is prompted not by any particular insight into these matters but rather to share a set of visuals (ambigrams, memes, whatever…) that I created over the past day or so. This was prompted by a conversation about this with Danah Henriksen – so some blame / credit should go to her. (I prefer her getting the blame and all the credit coming to me, but she, and you, may disagree.)

To start with up on top is the standard image – the arrows representing how practice ought to inform theory and vice versa. As Immanuel Kant never said (but should have), “Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.” So to celebrate this reciprocal, transactional relationship here is an ambigram for these two words, reading “research” one way and “practice” when rotated 180 degrees!practice-theorytheory-practice

This of course allows me to recreate the two-arrow diagram up above with a new image that can be read even when rotated 180 degrees!!

theory-practice.002

As Danah and I were discussing these ideas, we were also looking on the Internet for interesting quotes related to the Theory-Practice divide, and we found some good ones. That prompted me to start creating some posters/memes (I have no idea what to call them) to represent these ideas visually. (Please note, all the photographs used in the designs below have been taken by me, over the years. And you can click on the images to see higher resolution version of the designs.) So here we go!

theory-practice.003

To start out
Theory and Reality are only theoretically related.

• • •

theory-practice.005

For all the graduate students out there:
I really need to graduate. I’ve lost the ability
to discern theory from practice

• • •

theory-practice.007

Two unique designs from one Yogi Berra quote:
In theory there is no difference between theory and 
practice. In practice there is. 

• • • 

theory-practice.008

Maybe my favorite quote, from Frank Westphal (similar to the Berra quote above):
The difference between theory and practice is, in theory, somewhat smaller than in practice  

• • • 

theory-practice.004

And of course the last word, always goes to the pessimist!
Theory v.s. Practice
Theory: Everything is clear, but nothing works
Practice: Everything works, but nothing is clear
Sometimes theory meets practice… Nothing works and nothing is clear

• • •

 


A few randomly selected blog posts…

The School Design Game v 1.0

The School Design Game v 1.0

The journey  of design is complicated, filled with conundrums —some expected, others not so much. There are many possible strategies  to address them as we iterate our way to the finish line. The School Design Game seeks to explore some of these complexities...

3 pieces of wisdom, one muddled conclusion

Just came up with this in response to something Leigh had said on Facebook... thought it ought to be saved for the future: Great fools think that birds of a feather seldom differ together! I wonder what it means? Can you identify the three nuggets of wisdom that went...

Cyborgs are us!

Are we becoming cyborgs? William Saletan has a recent article in Slate titled Full Metal Socket about this issue. As he says: Cyborgs aren't studs from the future. They're old folks. As we age, our parts wear out. That used to mean immobility or death. Today, we can...

Cybernetics, design & creativity

Cybernetics, design & creativity

180 degree rotational ambigram for the word "cybernetic," ©punyamishra Here is the next article in our series Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century for the journal TechTrends featuring an interview with Dr. Paul...

MAET virtual help desk

Theresa Hamilton & Amy Gracik are two of our Technology Interns in Education. They are now part of a pilot project to offer software technology support to students in our MAET program. This help-desk available online at http://groups.google.com/group/maetsupport....

The process of design: A quote

The process of design: A quote

I have been a huge fan of Bill Atkinson, creator of MacPaint, one of the key players in developing the GUI for the original Macintosh including coming up with things as the double-click, the menu bar, marquee selection and lots of interface ideas we...

Value Laden: A new podcast about ethical leadership

Value Laden: A new podcast about ethical leadership

What is the role of values and principles in educational leadership? What can we learn from inspirational educational leaders? How did they develop their moral/ethical compass, and more importantly, how do they bring these perspectives to the work that they do? These...

Beauty in science

An evocative image from today's NYTimes about our improved understanding of the beautiful phenomena known as the northern lights. You can read the story here, but I would like to quote from the end of the article: The next time you see the northern lights, you’ll be...

The recurring cycle of hype and despair around ed tech

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana (1905, p. 284) The Atlantic has an article titled "Why tech still hasn't solved education's problems" focusing on the failed promise of MOOCs and asks the question Why has the promised...

3 Comments

  1. OllyGames

    Hi Punya, awesome read! I love the quote you had here: “in theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”

    Reply
  2. KristyBernales

    An insightful post… appreciate your creative style to define things.

    Reply
  3. Gaurish

    Nice photos and ambigram.

    Reply

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