Knowledge Questions An Introduction

What is a “Knowledge Question” Questions about knowledge. Apply to any aspect of knowledge  Acquisition  Production  Shaping  Classification  Status  Acceptance or rejection of knowledge

What is the point of this? KQs form the basis of your TOK mark Presentation- May Essay- December

Situation: My uncle visited an acupuncturist Not a K.Q. Traditional medicine Poor Does acupuncture work? Intermediate How can we decide if acupuncture works or not? Good What is it about a scientific explanation that makes it convincing or unconvincing?

Situation: Article on Science and Religion Not a K.Q. Physics and God Poor How do religious people come to their beliefs? Intermediate Are religious beliefs reasonable? Good How can reason be used to justify religious belief?

Situation: A new government policy Not a K.Q. Stopping teenagers smoking Poor Will predictions on teenage smoking turn out to be correct? Intermediate How can we use models to predict crime waves? Good To what extent can the human sciences use mathematical techniques to make accurate predictions?

Sort the Knowledge Questions Sort the following “KQs” into the categories of not a KQ, poor, intermediate, and good. Situation: An optical illusion  Why do optical illusions happen?  What, if anything, do optical illusions tell us about sense perception and truth?  Optical illusions  What can we learn from optical illusions?

One More Sort… Sort the following “KQs” into the categories of not a KQ, poor, intermediate, and good. Situation: An article on the fall of Saddam Hussein  Capital punishment: why should or shouldn’t we adopt it?  The execution of Saddam Hussein  What role should intuition play in justifying capital punishment?  How can we know if capital punishment is right or wrong?

Read the article and do the following… Identify a real life situation Create four “KQs”  Not a KQ  Poor  Intermediate  Good