Abstract
Prior knowledge is known to facilitate learning new information. Normally in studies confirming this outcome the relationship between prior knowledge and the topic to be learned is obvious: the information to be acquired is part of the domain or topic to which the prior knowledge belongs. This raises the question as to whether prior knowledge of various domains facilitates recalling information. In this study 79 eleventh-grade students completed a questionnaire on their prior knowledge of seven different domains related to the bioethical dilemma of prenatal diagnostics. The students read a text containing arguments for and arguments against prenatal diagnostics. After 1 week and again 12 weeks later they were asked to write down all the arguments they remembered. Prior knowledge helped them recall the arguments 1 week (r = 0.350) and 12 weeks (r = 0.316) later. Prior knowledge of three of the seven domains significantly helped them recall the arguments 1 week later (correlations between r = 0.194 and 0.394). Partial correlations with interest as a control item revealed that interest did not explain the relationship between prior knowledge and recall. Prior knowledge of different domains jointly supports the recall of arguments related to bioethical topics.
Highlights
Prior knowledge is defined as all the knowledge one has before learning about a particular topic
The central question in this study was whether recall of an ill-structured topic from social sciences is supported by prior knowledge
Because topics in social sciences sometimes cannot be allocated exclusively to one domain of prior knowledge, different domains of prior knowledge were investigated to determine whether they facilitated recall individually
Summary
Prior knowledge is defined as all the knowledge one has before learning about a particular topic. As Dochy et al (1999) point out, it facilitates learning new information They estimate between 30 and 60% of the variance in learning outcomes is explained by prior knowledge. Dochy (1992) considers broad concepts such as “world knowledge” and “background knowledge” as prior knowledge In his research he distinguishes between domain-specific knowledge and subject-oriented knowledge. Alexander et al (1994a) use this classification as well but refer to subject-oriented knowledge as topic-knowledge. Dochys examples of domains include psychology, economics and law, which can be divided into subdomains, for instance, economics can be divided into accounting and finance. This is where the distinction of topic knowledge becomes difficult. A topic in the domain of law might be constitutional law in general or one legal paragraph in particular
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