VIEW FROM
THE CHAIR
Surgical Education at Imperial
College London, recently
complained that students have less
dexterity than they used to have,
making it more diffi cult for them to
learn the delicate skills that are
needed for surgery.
I have noticed for many years that a growing
number of students do not hold pens and pencils in a way that
gives them full control for drawing and writing. Prof Kneebone blames the use
of touch screens and other devices, and the reduction in craft skill
requirements in schools.
I think it goes back much further – to a reluctance in teaching practice to
‘constrain’ children to a particular writing
technique from the 1970s, allowing them to fi nd
a way that suited them. I know from my sports
coaching experience that a bad technique
learned in the early stages becomes more
diffi cult to correct as time goes on.
All design-related courses require students to
do some drawing, as well as writing. Sketching
is an important life skill, even if we no longer
use drawing boards to generate the drawings,
which tell the manufacturers what to make.
The write stuff
Students seem to have lost much of the dexterity they
used to have, affecting their ability to write, draw and
perform for surgery. Colin Ledsome CEng FIED offers a
way forward
Historically, the Victorian engineers and inventors used to carry ‘day books’,
in which they made sketches of site surveys and the things to be built, kept
notes of meetings and their expenses, to be claimed later. These records
show who was responsible for which decisions and actions, and so were often
a basis for formal contracts.
Workshop skills often depend on dexterity. One of our fundamental
attributes is the opposable thumb. This allows us to make a ‘precision grip’
between fi ngers and thumb, as well as the ‘power grip’ of the grasping hand.
Without this, we would not have been able to thread needles, tie knots, make
watches, play musical instruments or produce much of the technical world we
live in. Kneebone suggests teaching students to do conjuring tricks, using
sleight of hand, thus improving their dexterity.
I believe that dexterity should be taught in schools. If it hasn’t been, it is
important to make it a specifi c aim of all courses that require design or
manufacturing skills to correct the omission.
Get Involved
R oger Kneebone, Professor of
If you would like to contribute to any discussions, write to:
Colin Ledsome
BEng MEng CEng FIMechE FIED MCMI FBIS MDS, Chair, at:
The Institution of Engineering Designers,
Courtleigh, Westbury Leigh, Westbury, Wiltshire BA13 3TA.
Or email: chair@ied.org.uk
4 www.ied.org.uk
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