WJ Clancey — Visualizing Practical Knowledge
“collecting data” includes much more than gathering particular rock and water samples.
Understanding the context in which samples are gathered is essential for understanding
their meaning.
Similar attention is paid to activities of other members of the expedition. For example,
when the robotic helicopter started flying, everyone else in the camp lined up on the
upper terrace to watch. This is one way of developing “social knowledge,” learning about
the competencies of other people in the group. On the International Space Station, such
awareness will be essential for safety—being tacitly aware of the dangers of nearby
activities.
Other activities sustain and reproduce the capability of the group over time. For example,
each time a person or group (a new “phase”) joins the expedition, the group leader
gathers people around for a kind of ceremony. People are introduced to each other and
the newcomers are introduced to the camp. As a side benefit, people may hear an
introduction they heard already (helping them remember someone’s background and
interests). Individuals also have the opportunity to reinvent themselves, to emphasize
some details in their history in a different way, finding a more fitting persona to fit the
group they are now coming to know.
Just as activities are specialized as “openings,” other activities are “closings.” Two
examples of closing activities during the expedition are “the final days of the expedition”
and “the departure activity.” The nature of the work changes, our concerns are different
now. We think about getting the last samples and photographs. We think about places we
wanted to see. We take out the ATVs for a final view from Tripod Hill at 11pm. We walk
down to the river to check out the stones and pick up a few more for our collection.
The departure activity is a classic organized group activity. We discuss the night before
what needs to be done, we seek volunteers, we agree who will work with whom at what
time. We identify needed materials (boxes, tape), we highlight safety issues (guns, food,
shelter). During the next day, informal assistance is solicited in taking down the tents, as
some people take pride in volunteering and others become scarce.
Many activities are organized in advance, but improvised throughout. The prime example
of an organized, but highly improvised group activity is a traverse, which I will
subsequently explain in more detail.