Explain what you already know about your essential question. Explain why the topic is important to you, and what is motivating your inquiry.
I want to question the ‘standard’ for surfboard shapes. I want to challenge it and find new ways of surfing through passing the boundary of what makes a surfboard a surfboard.
What understandings and experiences are you bringing with you as you start this research process?
I know from my experience surfing that each board is a completely new feeling. Each shape and variance in measurements and contours effects the way that the boards feel under your feet. I know that certain boards fit better with certain types of waves.
How have any outside sources informed your understanding of your essential question?
Seeing funky boards being ridden has given me inspiration to try different things out and experiment.
What don’t you know?
Why is it important for you to find out more about this question. Tell what you want to know about your essential question?
In exploring this question and through experimentation, my surfboard design understanding will improve greatly. Through experimentation I want to be able to really translate a feeling I’m looking for (as in the type of surfing) into a physical board.
What are the areas of inquiry that you think need to be explored?
I want to analyze the performance of my boards and try to pin point what created this feeling. Was it the buoyancy, the length, the shape, etc. was it the way they worked together, and what did they create in being put together?
What are the other questions that are lurking just beneath the surface of your guiding essential question?
The effect of shape
The effect of rocker
The effect of thickness
The effect of length
The effect of combinations
The effect of fin type
The effect of fin placement
The effect of mid point
The effect of rail shape
The effect of asymmetry
etc.
One thought on “Critical Reflection #1 Luke”
Luke, some good framing questions here. Since the shaping of boards is a pretty labor intensive practice (i..e, the time to get from idea to finished board can be long) are there strategies for prototyping that you can employ to give you insights about how particular changes in design might perform in the water? Is there a particular kind of riding condition or board performance strengths for which you are designing? Framing the problem or use case for which you are designing may also be helpful in providing your design work with a clear focus/goal.
Luke, some good framing questions here. Since the shaping of boards is a pretty labor intensive practice (i..e, the time to get from idea to finished board can be long) are there strategies for prototyping that you can employ to give you insights about how particular changes in design might perform in the water? Is there a particular kind of riding condition or board performance strengths for which you are designing? Framing the problem or use case for which you are designing may also be helpful in providing your design work with a clear focus/goal.