Understanding Knowledge Issues Questions

When will I use them? Every day. You already have been using them every day….this is what takes you outside of the classroom and gives you a way to think about what you know and how you know it in the real world. Presentation (practice this year, final next year) Prescribed Essay (outline maybe this year; FD does one next year)

Preview of things to come… May 2016 prescribed titles Rubrics (old and new) for presentation

Understanding Knowledge Questions This term is central to the Theory of Knowledge course and its assessments. Students who can effectively identify and address knowledge questions will be at a significant advantage in assessment tasks.

Knowledge questions are questions about knowledge. They can apply to any aspect of knowledge and may refer to the acquisition, production, shaping, classification, status, and acceptance or rejection of knowledge. Knowledge questions range from the extremely general (“Can a fact exist without a context?”, “What constitutes good evidence?”) to the specific (“How can we distinguish between valid and invalid deductive arguments?”, “What should the role of emotion be in the justification of ethical decisions?”). Both extremes are appropriate focuses for TOK discussions and both can and should be explored in a TOK course. However, not all knowledge questions are equally appropriate for assessment purposes.

Divide up into pairs. Pick up a set of five cards. Sort the cards so that they are in the following order: Good knowledge issue (at the top of the column) Intermediate knowledge issue Poor knowledge issue Not a knowledge issue Real-life situation (at the bottom of the column)

Put these in the correct order: My uncle went to an acupuncturist Does acupuncture work? What is it about a scientific explanation that makes it convincing or unconvincing? Traditional medicine How can we decide if acupuncture works or not?

Put these in the correct order: Stopping teenagers smoking Will predictions on teenage smoking turn out to be correct? A new government policy How can we use models to predict crime waves? To what extent can the human sciences use matehatmcial techniques to make accurate predictions?

Put these in the correct order: Article on science and religion How can reason be used to justify religious belief? How do religious people come to their beliefs? Physics and God Are religious beliefs reasonable?

Put these in the correct order: An optical illusion What can we learn from optical illusions? Why do optical illusions happen? Optical Illusions What, if anything, can optical illusions tell us about sense perception and truth?

Put these in the correct order: A book: The Execution of Saddam Hussein The execution of Saddam Hussein Capital punishment; why should or shouldn’t we adopt it? How can we know if capital punishment is right or wrong? What role should intuition play in justifying capital punishment?

Phrases to use to generate knowledge questions if you get stuck: Phrases to use to generate knowledge questions if you get stuck: ***Avoid “To what extent” if possible*** What is the relationship between… In what ways X How do we know that X How does knowledge from [AOK] help explain X? What role do/does X? How can X… Are there any ways in which… …and on what grounds… CONSIDER ADDING to avoid overly descriptive KQs: …and what effect does it have on the construction of knowledge in [AOK(s)]

Knowledge Questions Open-ended questions about knowledge “Knowledge Questions are rigorous inquiry questions about knowledge itself.  They are carefully formulated to assess the validity of a Second Order Knowledge Claims.  A good Knowledge Question is crafted deliberately to be open and contentious. A good quality Knowledge Question will always merit discussion and evaluation rather than a single, definitive response. Example—Can a mathematical model provide knowledge even if it does not yield accurate predictions?” http://tokresource.org/tok_classes/knowers/knowledge%20questions/index.htm

1. First order claims are made about the world 1. First order claims are made about the world.  The tools of TOK can be used to examine the basis of first order claims. Example—For any right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. 2. Second order claims are made about knowledge itself.   Example—Mathematical knowledge is certain

KNOWLEDGE CLAIM: A knowledge claim is the assertion that “I/we know X” or “I/we know how to Y”, or a statement about knowledge. A belief that what someone beliefs is justified and true. FIRST ORDER CLAIMS: Claims that are made within particular areas of knowledge or by individual knowers about the world. It is the job of TOK to examine the basis for these first-order claims. SECOND ORDER CLAIMS: Claims that are made about knowledge. These are the second-order claims made in TOK that are justified using the tools of TOK which usually involve an examination of the nature of knowledge. “Mathematical knowledge is certain.” This is a second-order knowledge claim because it is about mathematical knowledge. We establish this by examining the methods of mathematics themselves using the tools of TOK.

Sample first-order (subject-specific questions, often that you can find an answer to) First order—using vocabulary specific to an Area of Knowledge. Was the siege of Stalingrad the turning point of the Second World War? In economics, how do supply and demand determine the price of a commodity? Why was the lock-and-key model for enzyme activity superceded by the induced-fit model? What metaphors in William Blake's Auguries of Innocence evoke the positive value of freedom?  http://tokresource.org/tok_classes/knowers/knowledge%20questions/index.htm

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim A force of attraction exists between any two material objects Possible Knowledge Question When should we believe a general scientific law when we have not tested every instance?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim Modern art is more meaningful than Renaissance representative art Possible Knowledge Question What are the criteria we can use to distinguish more meaningful art from less meaningful?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim My eyes tell me that this stick bends when it goes into the water Possible Knowledge Question How can we know when our senses are giving us accurate information about the world?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim There can be no knowledge without emotion….until we have felt the force of the knowledge, it is not ours Possible Knowledge Question What impact do our emotional states have on our gathering of knowledge, and on the knowledge we gather?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim Shakespeare tells us that Richard III was a cruel, ruthless man Possible Knowledge Question In what ways does literature tell the truth about historical events? Or about the way human beings are?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim Being educated means learning to see through the clichés of my society Possible Knowledge Question In what ways do common beliefs in a society help and hinder us in finding the truth?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim The choice of the phrase “all men are created equal” in stead of “all humans…” set back women’s rights 200 years Possible Knowledge Question To what extent does the choice of words to express ideas subconsciously alter our understanding of them?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim I saw a video last night that proves that global warming is a swindle Possible Knowledge Question What emotional techniques do documentary makers use to shape our judgments about experts’ claims to knowledge?

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim My homeopath says the contents of this bottle will cure me, but my doctor says they will do nothing at all Possible Knowledge Question How reliable are scientific methods when used to test apparently incompatible claims about how the world works? Real Life Situation Homeopathy

Possible Knowledge Question Knowledge Claim My mother says she she can show me how to cook cassava so it is not poisonous Possible Knowledge Question When should I believe folk knowledge that has not been scientifically tested? Real-Life Situations Traditional knowledge (about healing/nutrition) vs. scientific should we require people to take their children to traditional doctors?

Possible Knowledge Question Real Life Situation Same Sex Marriage Knowledge Claim People in country X jail homosexuals; people in country Y allow them to marry Possible Knowledge Question Does the fact that different societies have opposing moral views mean that there is no absolute moral truth?

Possible Knowledge Question Real-Life Situation Restrictions on internet usage for students Knowledge Claim Wikipedia says that Bangkok is in Thailand. Possible Knowledge Question How can I use reason to know whether information from an internet source is accurate and reliable?

OUR IDEAS:

Our ideas:

What real-life situations can we work with to develop knowledge questions? (Media portrayal of immigration? Expert opinion?)

Real Life Situation: Possible Knowledge Questions:

Phrases to use to generate knowledge questions if you get stuck: Phrases to use to generate knowledge questions if you get stuck: ***Avoid “To what extent” if possible*** What is the relationship between… In what ways X How do we know that X How does knowledge from [AOK] help explain X? What role do/does X? How can X… Are there any ways in which… …and on what grounds… CONSIDER ADDING to avoid overly descriptive KQs: …and what effect does it have on the construction of knowledge in [AOK(s)]

A LOT of sample KQs are listed in your Prescribed Essay Course Pack From IB Prepared, Theory of Knowledge and OCC’s Understanding Knowledge Questions