computer science

Landscape of practice

Landscape of practice is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Landscape of practice rather than just read about it. In short: A landscape of practice (LoP) is a social sciences concept introduced by Etienne Wenger-Trayner and Beverly Wenger-Trayner in a 2014 book. The concept is related to networks of practice (often abbreviated as NoP), originated by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid.

Key takeaways

Landscape of practice belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Landscape of practice to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Landscape of practice from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A landscape of practice (LoP) is a social sciences concept introduced by Etienne Wenger-Trayner and Beverly Wenger-Trayner in a 2014 book. The concept is related to networks of practice (often abbreviated as NoP), originated by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. This concept, related to the work on communities of practice by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, refers to a number of related communities working on a body of knowledge (BoK). Participation in a LoP involves members of related CoPs developing competence in their area of interest and keeping up to date with knowledgeability relevant to the LoP.

See also Body of knowledge (BoK) Community of practice (CoP) Knowledge management Network of practice (NoP) Organizational learning Virtual community of practice

References

Further reading Büscher, Monika; Gill, Satinder; Mogensen, Preben; Shapiro, Dan (2001). "Landscapes of practice: Bricolage as a method for situated design". Computer Supported Cooperative Work. 10 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1023/A:1011293210539. S2CID 14982967. Wenger-Trayner, Etienne; Fenton-O'Creevy, Mark; Hutchinson, Steven; Kubiak, Chris; Wenger-Trayner, Beverly, eds. (2014). Learning in Landscapes of Practice: Boundaries, Identity, and Knowledgeability in Practice-based Learning. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138022195.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Landscape of practice

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Landscape of practice claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Landscape of practice before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Landscape of practice ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Landscape of practice

In research: Landscape of practice appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Landscape of practice in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Landscape of practice is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 introductions, Bodies of knowledge, Collaboration, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Landscape of practice outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Landscape of practice in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Landscape of practice means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Landscape of practice out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Landscape of practice in simple terms?

Why does Landscape of practice matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Landscape of practice?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Landscape of practice.