Phase I: Epistemography

How do urban planners learn to become urban planners?

During the fall of 2005, an ethnography of an urban planning capstone class was conducted. The April version of the Urban Science epistemic game will include many of the practices observed during the ethnography, specifically the critical component of stakeholder involvement and feedback.

A study comparing the ways in which expert and novice planners solve problems is currently underway.

A more extensive epistemography will be conducted to uncover the learning processes involved in becoming an urban planner. Observations and interviews at both local planning firms and in urban planning courses taught at the University of Wisconsin will largely inform the content of this epistemography.