Team dynamics and final project#

Challenge Question#

Comment adapter les espaces d’enseignement universitaires de manière utile, accessible et durable aux épisodes de forte chaleur ?

How can university teaching spaces be adapted in a useful, accessible, and sustainable way to cope with periods of extreme heat?

Definitions#

For Bruno Latour, a territory is not merely a bounded space; it is the living network of human and non-human relationships, dependencies, and attachments that make a collective way of life possible.

5.1 Group formation and brainstorming on extreme heat adaptations on campus (20/10/26 class)#

Goal of this unit#

Identify a campus territory where you feel concerned by the challenge question above, and join with others who share similar interests to form a project group of 3–4 students.

Before class#

  • Remember a specific moment when extreme heat on campus affected you and led you to change your behaviour.
  • Bring a symbolic object to class that represents this adaptation or movement. Your object will act as your “ambassador,” helping you share your experience and connect with others around common themes.

Class materials#

The assigment below is an adaptation of the instructions of Louise Culot that you can fin here.

Field Investigation Assignment#

  1. Individually, choose objects/drawings/situations that represent an adaptation to extreme temperature that you adopted on campus.

Briefly describe the object/drawing/situation you chose, describe your adaptive experience it represents, and why it matters to you. Post photos.

  1. Choose a territory

As a group, select a campus place to investigate (e.g. classroom, library, pathway, parking lot, courtyard, laboratory).

To select and understand your territory, draw on:

  • your own experience of the place;
  • insights shared by the guest speakers;
  • documents, archives, maps, or other available sources.
  1. Investigate the territory

Explore the territory through direct observation.

Look beyond its obvious function and pay attention to:

  • people, animals, plants;
  • objects, materials, sounds, smells;
  • behaviours and routines;
  • rules, norms, and infrastructures;
  • relationships and dependencies between these elements.

Throughout your investigation, keep the challenge question in mind, but do not let it limit what you observe or discover.

  1. Collect data

Even if you are part of a group, carry out individual observations between20 October and 3 November.

Possible methods:

  • observation;
  • conversations or interviews;
  • participant observation;
  • documentary or archival research.

Visit the site at different times if relevant.

  1. Keep traces

Record your observations using:

  • notes;
  • sketches;
  • photos;
  • audio recordings;
  • videos.

Keep everything, even incomplete or imperfect material.

  1. Organize your data

After each visit, update a simple research log:

  • Date and time
  • Duration
  • Method(s)
  • Observations
  • Data collected
  • Keywords/themes
  • Reflections and questions
  1. Archive your material

Store and label all files systematically in a GitLab folder and add a brief description on the Module Team dynamics and final project of your GitLab portfolio.

Rule of thumb: for every hour spent in the field, plan about one hour to organize, archive, and document your data on your GitLab space.

  1. Document your process

As an individual contribution to the group project, briefly document your investigation process in Module Team dynamics and final project of your portfolio.

Include:

the territory investigated; the methods you used; the types of data collected; key observations or discoveries; questions that emerged during the investigation.

5.2 Group dynamics (3/11/26 class)#

Goal of this unit#

Using the observations gathered during the previous class, you will learn how to sort, organize, and classify your data. Working in groups, you will identify a shared issue or challenge that emerges from your findings and formulate it as a problem statement to be explored using Latour’s Compass.