Sunday, August 29, 2010
Big Idea Question #1 - Define Knowing and Understanding
Knowing and understanding are often terms used synonymously but do have different and distinct meanings. In respect to learning, knowing something is more of a command of facts, figures or skills. Knowing or knowledge does not require the mind to make judgments or to critique the information learned. Know-how, the ability to do something based on a learned process or set of steps, becomes almost rote in nature after repetition. Understanding is the act of taking knowledge to a deeper level as an individual applies personal perception, experiences, judgments and opinions to what they know. When considering learning and teaching, knowing information would fit more into the Behaviorism and Cognitivism paradigms. Knowing is important in the initial stages of learning and are essential to the building of understanding. Understanding involves more social engagement and personal interaction with the information and it brings relevance to the individual and their life as seen is the Constructivism and Humanism learning paradigms. As teachers, it is essential to incorporate both the acquisition of knowledge and the development of understanding as we design and carry out our lessons.
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Later we are going to talk about conceptualizations of learning, but in your case I am wishing it was now since you define knowledge/understanding in relation to learning. I don't want to give you my conceptualizing learning speech quite yet, :) It is interesting how you integrated the paradigms, in a way I hadn't really considered but definitely works. Here is a question that confuses me and may need elaboration - does knowing require the mind to make judgements and critique as you have stated? If know how becomes rote, should knowledge not require those practices? But understanding would? Or is it a typo?
ReplyDeleteMary Ann-
ReplyDeleteOops, I did make a typo!!! I meant to say Knowing does NOT require the mind to make judgements or to critique the information learned. I did not catch this in my editing! I will fix it now.
Tamra--You make some very interesting points in relation to the Learning Paradigms. I had not thought about it that way, but in considering it now I can see how Behaviorism and Cognitivism would be related to "knowing" and Constructivism and Humanism to "understanding." In the notes I took from Professor Harlan's podcast on Learning Paradigms, I had classified Behaviorism and Cognitivism as objective learning paradigms and Constructivism and Humanism as subjective learning paradigms, which fits perfectly with your description. In some ways, however, I want to classify Cognitivism as subjective, since the student in this model is incorporating new information into their own understanding of the world.
ReplyDeleteTamra,
ReplyDeleteYou have an interesting way of describing these terms that really brings out the concepts and relationships clearly. For example, stating that understanding involves “social engagement” and “personal interaction” with information is such a unique and clever way to get the point across and effectively brings to mind the intimacy with information that understanding requires.
I agree that Constructivism particularly relates to the process of turning knowledge into understanding, as the basis of the theory is that the learner is responsible for constructing their own understanding and that they do not simply regurgitate what they hear from their teachers or read in a textbook. I believe that true understanding cannot be taught, and that we really only learn when we as individuals find meaning and application in information. I am intrigued by your proposition that Behaviorism and Cognitivism relate more to knowledge acquisition than understanding. Are you suggesting that this is a limitation explicitly expressed by these learning theories, or a natural outcome of the practice of these theories?
A good, concise and interesting post - I enjoyed it!
This is an excellent way of showing the relationship between knowing and understanding. As you mentioned, “Understanding is the act of taking knowledge to a deeper level as an individual applies personal perception, experiences, judgments and opinions to what they know.” This is the reason why some individuals have heavy biases towards things and other people. Personal experiences sometimes force people into believing or understanding things differently. It is important for teachers to design and present material in a very neutral manner and provide reason as to why some may view it differently than others. (I am referring to younger learners such as children or young adults.)
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