Title: Accommodating ways of human knowing in the design of information and instruction

Authors: David Jonassen

Addresses: Learning Technologies and Educational Psychology, University of Missouri, 221C Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA

Abstract: The ways that we organise and represent knowledge in curricula, learning environments, and information and knowledge management systems are known as ontologies. Ontologies are meant to reflect the types of knowledge being represented in the system. The most commonly used ontologies reflect ontological knowledge types (declarative, structural, and conceptual knowledge) in hierarchical lists of subject matter topics. Ontologies may also reflect epistemological knowledge types (procedural, situational, and strategic knowledge) based on how processes are performed or phenomenological knowledge types (tacit, compiled, socio-cultural and experiential knowledge) based on human experiences. Ontological representations describe knowing that, while epistemological representations describe knowing how. Phenomenological (experiential) knowledge representations in the form of stories are the most natural, comprehensible, and memorable representations of knowledge. Why is the least meaningful form of knowledge representation the most commonly used to design knowledge-based systems?

Keywords: knowledge representation; ontology; epistemology; knowledge structures; ontologies; learning environments; information management; knowledge management; instruction; knowledge-based systems; KBS design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKL.2006.010991

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2006 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.181 - 190

Published online: 26 Sep 2006 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article