The Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research project has been conducted worldwide by Microsoft together with SRI International. The following excerpts come from the coding manual which helps data coders to interpret the field research data.
As you read this summary, think about how knowledge building:
- aligns with the key elements of 21st century education;
- aligns with the characteristics of critical thinking;
- can be enhanced through technology when learners are connected with each other and with other people and resources.
Definition
Learning activities that are strong in knowledge building “require students to move beyond reproducing what they have learned to building knowledge.”
“Knowledge building happens when students combine new information with what they already know, to generate ideas and understandings that are new to them. Knowledge building does not occur when students are asked to simply reproduce information they have read or heard from lectures, textbooks, or exposure to the Internet or the media.
When they build knowledge, students engage in the processes of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.
- Interpretation means drawing inferences beyond the literal meaning of a text.
In science, it often means identifying patterns in a set of data.
In the humanities, it often involves drawing conclusions or making judgments about a set of facts; for example, students may be asked to infer and write about the reasons why a character in a novel behaved the way he or she did. - Analysis means identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to each other.
In science, analysis might require organizing data in order to find patterns.
In the humanities, analysis might require students to examine historical documents to determine what led up to a major event. - Synthesis means identifying the relationships between two or more ideas.
For example, students might be required to compare and contrast perspectives from multiple sources. - Evaluation means judging and assigning meaning, credibility, or importance to data, ideas, or events. Evaluation often requires judging the quality of the evidence that supports or refutes a claim, or judging the credibility of multiple sources of data.
Looking up facts, either in books or on the Internet, is sometimes but not always part of a knowledge building activity (interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation). If students are asked to find certain information on the Internet and then write about what they found, this is NOT considered knowledge building. If students are asked to find information on the Internet in order to perform a knowledge building task (such as analyzing multiple sources of information for common themes), the search for information IS part of a knowledge building process.”
Other kinds of activity that are dependent on knowledge building skills are decision making, design, problem solving; in each case you have to develop original responses using what you know and what you have discovered. Creativity is an expression of knowledge building because it is an original interpretation of what you know and feel.