Types of knowledges

Last blog post, I discussed how the absence of learning theories can affect how students construct understanding in science. In a nutshell: Students can't understand the overall concept of a science idea, or apply these concepts, if the student doesn't assimilate/accommodate new information being given to them.


For this blog post, I'll be discussing how different types of knowledge are needed for science understandings to be integrated and meaningful.


After browsing the web, and skimming a couple of text books, the types of knowledge a student should possess aren't set in stone. I found a variation of these types, based on the content areas in which they were referring too. This chart, which I feel best illustrates these types of knowledge, gives a helpful insight of how they can be broken down. The two main categories are: declarative and procedural . "Declarative knowledge is defined as the factual information stored in memory and known to be static in nature and procedural knowledge is the knowledge of how to perform, or how to operate" (Uluogol, 2001).


Declarative knowledge actually describes how things/ideas/events/processes are (Uluogol, 2001). This could be a physical description, the relationship to other objects/idea, or details. Procedural knowledge refers to the process or operation of something (Uluogol, 2001). This type of knowledge helps to engage students and develop inquiries. Students use questions, experiments and background information to collect evidence and draw a valid conclusion for an inquiry (Berger, 2003).


Declarative knowledge is helpful in supporting procedural knowledge, by providing the details of which you base your procedural inquiries off of. Declarative knowledge helps you ask questions and design experiments aimed at certain idea. This concept, types of knowledge, fully supports learning theories that say the schema should be accessed and modified if learning should take place. The application of science ideas, or any ideas can not take place without the proper background knowledge. The more background knowledge that a student assimilates/accommodates, the more meaningful questions they can investigate during an experiment.


References:


Berger, C.  F.,  &  Czerniak, C.  M.,  &  Krajcik, J.  K. (2003). Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms: A Project-Based Approach. New York, New York: Mc-Graw Hill.


Uluogol, B. (2001). Declarative / Procedural Knowledge. Retrieved from: http://www.designophy.com/designpedia/design-term-1000000001-declarative-.-procedural-knowledge.htm