Knowledge Questions

Knowledge Question A knowledge question is an open question about knowledge. It must meet the following three criteria: The question is open in the sense that there are a number of possible answers to it. The question and/or response is contestable. The question is about knowledge. They are not questions of knowledge themselves but instead on the methods and mechanisms that produce knowledge. They focus on ways of knowing and are “second order questions.” The question should be written in general terms and not use vocabulary particular to an area of knowledge.

Knowledge questions usually explore or involve the concepts of: Evidence Faith Proof Induction Logic Experience Belief Memory Certainty Imagination Truth Culture

How To Get Knowledge Questions Right Common Misconceptions: * Knowledge Questions are not simply ‘debatable questions’. * ‘How do we know…’ is not enough. * Abstract concepts are not enough. * Asking how an AOK would approach the issue

What Makes A Good KQ? KQs should be about knowledge! Must have second-order questions! First-order question: within a discipline or AOK Second-order question: about the discipline or AOK. Analysis is focused on the approach the discipline or AOK takes, not the results of the analysis.

First-order Questions Second-order Questions What Makes A Good KQ? First-order Questions How important to Spanish culture is bullfighting? Are UFOs real? How many more fundamental elements will be found with new technology? Second-order Questions How does not living in a culture make it difficult to understand the importance of traditions within that culture? What sort of evidence is required for extraordinary claims? What role does technology play in developing new knowledge in the natural sciences?

Good Knowledge Questions may start with… What Makes A Good KQ? Good Knowledge Questions may start with…

What Makes A Good KQ? The knowledge framework is a great tool to use when trying to keep your questions about knowledge. Scope and application Concepts and language Methodology Historical development Links to personal knowledge

Scope and application The types of questions being asked by members of an AOK community The types of problems being solved Concepts and language The importance of certain concepts in an AOK How the meanings of certain concepts change across AOKs and how that impacts the knowledge within that AOK (truth, reliability, evidence, etc.) Methodology Investigate the rules and methods that someone working within an AOK must follow for their knowledge to be reliable or accepted by the community.

Historical development Explore how the nature, methods, concepts or content have changed over time in an AOK and what that says about the nature of knowledge in that community Explore how new technology has influenced the construction of knowledge in AOKs. Links to personal knowledge Explore how individuals and wider AOK communities interact. How personal influences (propaganda, bias, personal experience) impact the reliability or justifiability of the knowledge one produces in an AOK.

IBO Knowledge Question Video IBO KQ Video

The Knowledge, London’s Legendary Taxi-Driver Test, Puts Up a Fight in the Age of GPS The examination to become a London cabby is possibly the most difficult test in the world — demanding years of study to memorize the labyrinthine city’s 25,000 streets and any business or landmark on them. As GPS and Uber imperil this tradition, is there an argument for learning as an end in itself? London Cabbie Knowledge Test

Activity: A first-order knowledge question (not a KQ) Using the London Cabbie Knowledge Test as your Real Life Situation develop: A first-order knowledge question (not a KQ) A knowledge question A better knowledge question ** Think about the WOKs that are being used in the London Cabbie video**

After Activity Examples: KQ: How has modern technology changed the way we make decisions? KQ: To what extent does memorization and experience limit/guide decision making? KQ: What assumptions underlie the judgement that modern technology is more effective than personal experience? KQ: What is the difference between having knowledge and having information? KQ: How can we judge the value of human knowledge versus AI information? KQ: What assumptions underlie the role of memory and perception in the construction of knowledge?