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New technology is common, new thinking is rare.”
Source: http://mofetinternational.macam.ac.il/seminars/Pages/TT-ICT-March2012.aspx
Introduction
With the technology curriculum’s recent shift in focus from primarily teaching practical skills to teaching knowledge and learning skills as well, we are required to identify deeper levels of knowledge or learning. (Nicholas & Lockley, 2009). One way of gaining an understanding of these knowledge interactions is to identify the following types of knowledge and their role in technological practice.
Declarative Knowledge in Technological Practice.
Declarative knowledge refers to facts and information that a person knows, if a teacher simply gives a student declarative knowledge but the information is not regularly used, as is often the case in schools, then it will be easily forgotten. To avoid this pitfall we can allow students to obtain this knowledge through experimentation in areas such as materials testing. Information that the students have proved correct, for themselves, will often remain embedded far longer than facts given through traditional methods. Examples of declarative knowledge in technology could be information on materials, ergonomics and processes.
(Nickols, F. (2000). The Knowledge in Knowledge Management (KM)
Declarative Knowledge
Declarative knowledge involves knowing THAT something is the case - for example we know that London is the capital of England. In other words; declarative knowledge is theoretical, found in books and can be verbally
transferred. It refers to facts and information that a person knows and covers all aspects of a person’s knowledge and may not at first glance be relevant to a specific problem. Knowledge starts out as declarative information. Nickols (2000) shows in the following diagram that initial knowledge of "Facts and Things" can lead to procedural knowledge when the already existing declarative knowledge is analysed through reasoning, reflection and logic thinking. Declarative knowledge however, is not necessarily a predecessor of all procedural knowledge.
(Knowledge of formal language or symbolic representations/ Knowledge of rules, algorithms, and procedures)
Tacit/Technical Knowledge
The term; tacit, was coined by Michael Polanyi, whom described it as:
"We know more than we can tell."
(Polanyi, 1966)
Technical knowledge can be defined as the knowledge of doing. It may be considered as personal skill or practical knowledge of tools and machines (Nicholas & Lockley, 2009), it requires physical skills obtained through practice and repetition.
- Tacit knowledge cannot be articulated.
- "knowing how" is seen as "tacit knowledge of technology"
(McCormick, 1997, p 142)
- Tacit knowledge emerge as a capability to do a task or recognise
something.
The ability of how this is done is hard to explain verbally. For once a
person starts to break down the whole of this process into chronological
steps the essence is lost.
Tacit / Technical Knowledge in Technological Practice.
Technical knowledge is the practical use of technology and has been a long term focus for many schools who see technology as a lead-in to trade skills. Although still a valid assumption for many students this approach can no longer standalone within the new technology curriculum.
De Vries and Tamir (1997) explain that the need for teaching technology for technological literacy in education must be more than the teaching and learning of handicraft skills which is often the case in classroom practice. Practical skills are still important in technology and they need to be taught in the classroom and through experience. However, this type of knowledge is only a small part of the subject. There needs to be a stronger emphasis on design. This will also aid in the understanding of what can be done practically and push these skills further through creative designing. The need for more theoretical understanding although unpopular with many students and teachers is required if we are to effectively teach the concepts of technology as well as the skills.
Declarative Knowledge leading to Procedural Knowledge
The Contents of Long Term Memory
Abellersen. (2012, October 28). Contents of long term memory [Pixton Comic Strip] Retrieved from http://www.pixton.com/comic/bosyfn6e
Christiaans, H., & Venselaar, K. (2005). Creativity in Design Engineering anf the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 15, 217-236.
De Vries, M. & Tamir, A. (1997). Shaping Concepts of Technology of Technology of: What Concepts and How to Shape Them. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 7, 3 10.
Hedesstrom, T & Whitley, E.A. (n.d.) What is meant by tacit knowledge? Towards a better understanding of the shape of actions. Retrieved from: http://is2.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20000021.pdf
McCormick, R. (1997). Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge. International Journal of Design and Technology Education, 7, 141 -159.
McCormick, R. (2004) Issues of Learning and Knowledge in Technoloy Education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 14, 21 -44.
Nicholas, M., & Lockley, J. (2009). The Nature of Technology: Teachers understanding of design and knowledge in empowering technological practice in education. Proceedings: Napier war memorial Conference Centre 6-8 October 2009. Presented at the TENZ 2009, Napier: Technology Education New Zealand.
Nickols, F.(2000). The Knowledge in Knowledge Management . Retrieved from: http://repository.binus.ac.id/2009-1/content/F0542/F054234253.pdf
Polanyi, M, (1966). The logic of Tacit Inference Philosophy 41 (1): p. 1-18.
References
Procedural Knowledge in Technological Practice.
Procedural knowledge gives students the knowledge and understanding needed for problem solving by understanding how this process evolves. Christiaans and Venselaar (2005) state that, “if learners are to become competent designers they need to gain an understanding of how various stages of design fit together in the design process”. It is this procedural understanding that allows students to show creativity within the design process and gives them freedom in design that a rigid design process would not allow. Teachers need to provide flexibility within a design brief and allow students to choose areas of interest and avoid traditional rote learning. Design should be taught as a skill that can have many fluid parts working to achieve the same goal.
So for me procedural knowledge is the knowledge used to be able to do a certain task. It can follow on declarative knowledge when that specific
declarative knowledge was put into action and changed to procedural knowledge while doing a task.
Procedural knowledge is simply described as knowing HOW to do something - for example to ride a bike, drive a car or playing tennis. (After a period of time this can turn tacit when knowledge comes automatically to the player) It can be described as putting declarative knowledge into action. It is a knowledge that draws from all other forms of knowledge to solve problems and answer the “How should I?” question. It is used to make valued judgements. It allows you to apply other knowledge in real life situations.
- "Problem solving is a high order procedural knowledge" (McCormick,
1997, p.145) that "is the most important
procedural knowledge that occurs in technology (McCormick, 2004,
p.25) together with "design,planning,
systems analysis, optimisation, modelling and strategic thinking"
(McCormick, 2004, p.24)
Many frameworks have been prepared during the last century to describe knowledge outcomes; though McCormick (2004, p.24) name the two basic types of technological knowledge as : Procedural knowledge and Conceptual knowledge.
Procedural knowledge
Source: http://Pixton.com/ic:bosyfn6e
(Click to enlarge)
Conceptual knowledge
Conceptual knowledge refers to an ability to represent the major concepts in a system. It is used to be creative and is important in new situations. It is required for a person to know why they are doing something and is often drawn from other subjects such as science (McCormick, 1997).
It can be described as displaying an understanding and knowledge of concepts; being able to recognise the relationship of concepts to the task at hand. Ability to put concepts together and correctly execute/solve tasks.
"Conceptual Knowledge is an essential component in technological design and problem solving processes" (De Vries & Tamir,1997 -p.7)
According to Ryle (1949,cited in McCormick - 1997,p.142)the general understanding of the key differences between the two terms are that of "knowing how" and "knowing that".
Christiaan & Dorst (1992 as cited in De Vries & Tamir, 1997) declares that studies have shown that knowledge about concepts (declarative knowledge) and process knowledge (procedural, situational and strategic knowledge) are combined in design processes.
Conceptual Knowledge in Technological Practice.
There are many examples of conceptual knowledge in science. A student may be able to work out the circumference and area of a circle using the supplied equations but without understanding how pi is calculated will never truly understand the procedure without the reasoning behind it. They need have conceptual understanding which cannot be achieved with rote learning.
Conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge are closely linked and it can be argued that conceptual knowledge often comes from experience with procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge is knowing what to do and conceptual knowledge allows us to understand why we are doing it that way. McCormick (1997) states that conceptual knowledge is concerned with relationships among items of knowledge, so when students identify these links we talk of them having conceptual understanding. McCormack goes on to use students research into gearing as an example stating ‘we hope that students will see the relationship among direction of rotation, change of speed and torque.
Christiaans and Venselaar (2005) explain this area well, stating, “The student has to learn to reflect on what he is doing whilst solving a design problem and to understand the process and strategies underlying the most effective way of reaching that solution.”
Summary
Technological knowledge is irrevocably linked to activity and by its nature will be multi-dimensional and require understanding from many points of view and knowledge from many different sources. (McCormack, 1997) In order to identify deeper levels of knowledge or learning we have described four types of knowledge that are widely accepted within the technology domain. We have however shown only a small portion of the true nature of technological knowledge because technology is a system of thought that requires all a person’s combined knowledge and experience to satisfy a need or opportunity. We focus on design and problem solving and both have educational merit, but we often struggle, in the limited classroom time available to teach students the art of knowing and doing, commonly known as know-how or "the knack".
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