Different Kinds Of Knowledge Research Articles

The Dynamics of Military Skills: The Role of Experience-Based Knowledge in Challenging Situations

Based on narratives from Swedish officers’ experiences from challenging situations, the article investigates the role of experience-based knowledge in military practice. Officers must be prepared to act in situations in which they do not have full control, make decisions under uncertain circumstances, and master tasks with conflicting rules, objectives, and means. These conditions apply in an overseas warfare environment, and also back home. The officers’ ability to adequately interpret phenomena in a given situation includes a variety of inarticulable knowledge. The aim of this article is to examine two aspects of military practice: (I) what role experience plays when handling challenging situations, and (II) how different kinds of knowledge are active in forming a professional skill. Using a set of epistemological concepts (phronesis, knowledge of familiarity, skill acquisition model), the article presents an analytical framework that focuses on experience-based forms of knowledge. The results show that experience-based aspects of knowledge which are crucial in military practice run the risk of not being discussed, because established methods and research traditions are focusing on measurable forms of knowledge. Finally, the article discusses the risk of de-professionalization due to unilateral use of monitoring and evaluation methods that primarily focus on forms of knowledge that can be calculated and expressed explicitly.

Including \u2018seldom heard\u2019 views in research: opportunities, challenges and recommendations from focus groups with British South Asian people with type 2 diabetes

BackgroundThe inclusion of ‘seldom heard’ groups in health and social care research is increasingly seen as important on scientific, policy and ethical grounds. British South Asians, the largest minority ethnic group in the United Kingdom (UK), are under-represented in health research yet over-represented in the incidence of certain conditions such as type 2 diabetes. With the growing requirement of patient involvement in research and the inclusion of diverse populations, methodological guidance on how to include, engage and conduct research with UK South Asian populations is essential if services and interventions are to be relevant and impactful. However, such guidance for researchers is limited.MethodsThe aim of the paper is to reflect on our experiences of conducting focus groups with UK South Asian communities with type 2 diabetes, which involved experienced community partners and researchers working closely together. We discuss the factors that aided the successful delivery of the project, the challenges that we encountered, how we dealt with these, and recommendations.ResultsOur study suggests ways to involve and conduct focus groups with UK South Asian populations. Key considerations are categorised under four headings: co-working with community partners; linguistic competency; cultural competency and awareness; and reflexivity, power and acknowledgement. Having an experienced team of researchers and community experts – with the relevant linguistic and cultural competencies and different kinds of knowledge and skills – was key to the successful delivery of the study. Working collaboratively enabled us to recruit a diverse sample, to navigate the challenges of recruitment, to be present at every discussion which helped contribute to data richness, and to reflect on our own roles in the research process.ConclusionsFocus groups with UK South Asian communities can be a useful way of exploring new topics and involving seldom heard views. While a useful method, focus groups are only one way of exploring a research topic and provide an insight into context-specific attitudes and views. Future research should explore British South Asian participants’ views on how they would like to be involved in research, including new methods of collecting data and coproducing research.

Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap

The learning region tradition: a cultural reappraisal

PurposeThe learning region has over the years become popular as a concept to portray and analyse subnational geographic entities heading for future growth and well-being. Claiming analytic and political relevance, the concept nevertheless retains much unclarified ideological content.Design/methodology/approachThis study traces its roots to varieties of heterodox economic thinking where it has gained a prominent place.FindingsWhile being strong on the value of different kinds of knowledge to economic development, the concept has a much weaker grip on the cultural rationales for knowledge and learning.Originality/valueThus, the study concludes with a need for a cultural reorientation to take place if the concept is going to retain its significance in the future academically as politically.

Knowledge guardianship, custodianship and ethics: a Melanesian perspective

Across the world, knowledge communities categorise and attach conditions of guardianship to different kinds of knowledge. For private or secret knowledge, those responsible for its care have obligations for arranging and restricting transmission to ensure community survival. While an insider/outsider positionality is often used to navigate this knowledge area, a binary approach is unhelpful. Taking a more relational reading of positionality, we support a dynamic understanding of the transmission of restricted knowledge, using relevant principles of guardianship or custodianship. Based on a Melanesian Solomon Islands tribe, the study sketches a set of principles and shows how they operate in practice. Our intents are to honour the contribution that Melanesian thought makes to rethinking research dichotomies regarding secret knowledge, that readers appreciate the dynamic nature of knowledge guardianship, and that this case study enhances the discussion on ethical entitlement to, or restriction of, Indigenous knowledge in the Pacific region and beyond.

Knowledge recombination along the technology life cycle

This study sheds light on how recombination of different kinds of knowledge changes along the technology life cycle. From a theoretical point of view, the cyclical technology life cycle model is extended to account for the influence of recombination of different kinds of knowledge in the different life cycle phases. This model is empirically tested for the technological life cycle of wind power and photovoltaics in Germany for the period from 1970 until 2006. Patent forward citations are considered as recombinatorial success and inventors’ patenting experience proxy different kinds of knowledge. Negative binomial regressions as well as rolling-window regressions are used to estimate the relevance of different kinds of knowledge along the technology life cycle. Results reveal that different kinds of knowledge matter along the technology life cycle. In the era of ferment, knowledge from domains external to the technology is relevant, but for the dominant design and the era of incremental change, new and specialized knowledge is most important. However, there are technological differences and deviations from the model. Rolling-window regressions reveal nuanced changes in the life cycle phases. The results have several policy and management implications, especially for the timing of whom to fund or hire for inventive activity.

Based model: Using knowledge management to enhance information technology training outcomes among markets requirements

Background: The present research paper considers the use of knowledge management (KM) to enhance Information Technology training outcomes based on markets requirements, with particular focus on Gulf region. Method: Two key research questions would be answered in the paper, they are: what are the findings of the previous studies on role of knowledge management in supporting successful training outcomes, especially in Gulf region? What model, based on knowledge management concepts, can be used to enhance Information Technology training outcomes particularly in the Gulf region? Findings: To draw conclusions, a critical analysis was performed through comparing and contrasting the findings from observations of previous research and the scarce secondary data contained within the scientific sources. To ensure that KM is distributed in the Gulf countries rather than being centralized in certain organizations, a distributed model of knowledge management is proposed. This is based on a realization that different kinds of knowledge bear different KM implications. Improvements/Applications: The model encompasses best practices for knowledge creation, for knowledge sharing and for knowledge retrieval, which most of the reviewed studies identified as being important for enhancing Information Technology training outcomes in the Gulf region. Keywords: Knowledge management; Model; Information Technology; Training outcome; Gulf region

BIODIVERSIDADE DE PLANTAS ALIMENTÍCIAS NÃO CONVENCIONAIS EM UMA HORTA COMUNITÁRIA COM FINS EDUCATIVOS

As plantas alimentícias não convencionais (PANC) oferecem a oportunidade de superação de desafios que se impõem aos sistemas alimentares. Todavia, a escassez de dados sobre essas plantas e as lacunas encontradas na formação em Nutrição são gargalos que dificultam sua abordagem. Para abordar alguns desses limites, um projeto de horta comunitária foi desenvolvido em um curso de graduação em nutrição em uma universidade federal do nordeste do Brasil. Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar os resultados obtidos com esta iniciativa em seus primeiros doze meses com o uso do método Aprendizagem Baseada em Hortas (ABH). Durante 2018, oito plantas foram estudadas. Os dados coletados sobre PANC pelos alunos incluíram: família botânica, nomes populares, origem, bioma de ocorrência, usos alimentícios e indicadores nutricionais. O uso da ABH envolveu algumas estratégias, tais como definição de tema, elaboração de um produto de culminância e promoção da pesquisa em múltiplas bases de evidência. O método ABH mediou o processo educacional implicado com conceitos, práticas e atitudes. As plantas estudadas têm potencial para contribuir com a Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional, devido a alguns critérios, como adequação ao bioma do ambiente de estudo e variedade de nutrientes. Reconhecer plantas alimentícias nativas e adaptadas, resilientes à paisagem da Caatinga, é essencial para melhorar a saúde ambiental e humana neste bioma. Os dados resultantes da experiência de ensino serviram de base para ações de promoção de dietas sustentáveis junto à comunidade inserida no projeto, por meio de conversas e atividades práticas na horta e oficinas culinárias.DOI: 10.12957/demetra.2020.44037

The Myth of a Kantian Avicenna

The Myth of a Kantian Avicenna Dimitri Gutas (bio) In my Oriens article on Avicenna's empiricism (Oriens 40 [2012]: 391–436), I present what Avicenna calls the principles of syllogism, which are the different types of propositions that form the irreducible and axiomatic starting points of syllogisms and definitions. As Avicenna states both explicitly and implicitly in numerous passages that I cite, these are all based on experience. Two of these are the primary propositions (awwaliyyāt) and those with built-in syllogisms (muqaddamāt fiṭriyyat al-qiyās), literally, "premises of fiṭra syllogisms," fiṭra being the natural operation of the intellect—thus, "premises whose syllogisms are constructed by the natural operation of the intellect." In his "Note" on my article, Mohammad Saleh Zarepour disagrees with me and claims that, according to Avicenna, these two propositions are not based on experience but are a priori. To build his case, Zarepour engages in an extensive discussion of the notion of a priori, in particular that of Kant. This seems odd, for in the entire article I never discuss the concept, and the very few times that I use the term "a priori" it is never as the focus of the main argument; in particular I never use either the concept or the term in section V (pp. 404–410), where I deal with those propositions whose analysis Zarepour disputes. The reason I do not use it is because Avicenna himself never uses a term that could be so translated in his epistemological discussions: it does not appear in Avicenna, nor do I present it as appearing in Avicenna. The concepts of apriority and a-posteriority, if one were to insist, are treated by Avicenna in totally different terms through his description of the constitution of the [End Page 833] intellect—it is completely potential upon birth, and hence there are no innate ideas—and through his empiricism, by making "the senses," to quote him, "the means by which the human soul comes into possession of different kinds of knowledge" (L13 in the article). So whence Zarepour's preoccupation with a priori? I do use the term once at the very end of the Abstract at the beginning of the article (p. 392), in the statement that the intellect "has no innate or a priori contents," where it clearly has a meaning equivalent to "innate" (disjunctive "or" equating the terms on either side), which is the basic dictionary sense of the word: "existing in the mind prior to and independent of experience; contrasted with 'a posteriori' (empirical)."1 Beyond this, nowhere in the texts I present, but also elsewhere, does Avicenna indicate that there is a time or instance between birth and a child's first experiences or after his first experiences when the intellect would form, develop, or acquire any ideas independently of experience. Hence for Avicenna there are no innate ideas, and none, even after birth, independent of experience, and thus for Avicenna "a priori" in that sense, were he to use the expression, is tantamount to innate. Zarepour imputes this statement to me; he says, "[Gutas] thinks that the notion of a priority is identical to the notions of innateness and pre-givenness." But this is Avicenna's position, as it can be determined: if he says that the intellect upon birth is purely potential and that ideas are developed only on the basis of experience, we can only say, if we have to use "a priori" terminology, that a-priority is identical to innateness. However, "a priori" as used at the very end of my Abstract in that article is not the focus of attention or its subject, as is obvious to anyone who reads the whole passage and the article. But Zarepour picks on this passage, which he then splices into one half of a sentence in my footnote 41 to create an artificial thesis, foisted on me. He writes: "[Gutas] thinks that primary data and fiṭrīyāt… both… are non-a priori and 'analytic, in Kantian terms'." Apart from the fact that there is no such sentence by me and I never use the term non-a priori, the last...

Discovery and Instrumentation: How Surplus Knowledge Contributes to Progress in Science

An important fact about human labor is that it can result not just in reproduction of what it started with, but in something new, a surplus product. When the latter is a means of production, it makes possible a mechanism of change consisting of reproduction by means of the expanded means of production. Each iteration of the labor process can differ from the preceding one insofar as it incorporates the surplus generated previously. Over the long-term, this cyclical process can lead to the self-transformation of labor and, through it, of human societies and cultures. In this paper, I argue that this mechanism of change is also at work in the history of science. I argue that the form this mechanism takes in science is that of a feedback loop between discovery and instrument construction. This process requires the integration, and transformation into material form, of different kinds of knowledge. Based on this mechanism, I defend a concept of scientific progress as transcendence of the limitations of native human epistemic abilities. I also criticize narrowly biologistic approaches to the history of science for ignoring the role of surplus generation in transforming the labor process, and discuss some problems associated with viewing science as labor.

Coupling interaction impairs knowledge and green behavior diffusion in complex networks

Knowledge innovation, as a kind of green economic behavior, maximizes its benefits in the process of knowledge diffusion. In previous studies, the impairment or promotion of existing knowledge under different relationships on the diffusion of new knowledge and its mechanism has not been considered. On the basis of epidemic spreading model, knowledge diffusion in complex networks with interaction between two kinds of relevant knowledge is investigated in this article. Here we bridge this theoretical gap by dividing the interaction between two different kinds of knowledge into three types: interdependent, competitive and decoupled. A two-layer multiplex network is constructed to model the dynamic process. Here we assume one of the two kinds of knowledge has diffused to steady state already and pay attention to the impact from the steady knowledge on the diffusing knowledge. We derive the theoretical threshold and conduct numerical simulation of knowledge diffusion dynamic process in homogeneous network, heterogeneous network and a real citation network respectively. Theoretical results suggest that the interaction term from the steady layer is inversely proportional to the diffusion threshold in another layer. Numerical simulation shows that knowledge diffuses easier in heterogeneous networks and nodes with higher degrees. Furthermore, the final knower size of the steady knowledge impacts the diffusing knowledge positively when they are interdependent while interaction impairs both their diffusion compared with decoupled condition. According to the results, before the diffusion of innovative knowledge, the diffusion state of relevant knowledge and the influence of individual who releases innovative knowledge should be fully considered to minimize their suppression on green behavior.

Towards a Reflexive Framework for Fostering Co—Learning and Improvement of Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Scholars in sustainability science as well as research funders increasingly recognize that a shift from disciplinary and interdisciplinary science to transdisciplinary (TD) research is required to address ever more complex sustainability challenges. Evidence shows that addressing real-world societal problems can be best achieved through collaborative research where diverse actors contribute different kinds of knowledge. While the potential benefits of TD research are widely recognized, its implementation remains a challenge. In this article, we develop a framework that supports reflection and co-learning. Our approach fosters monitoring of the collaboration processes, helps to assess the progress made and encourages continuous reflection and improvement of the research processes. The TD co-learning framework has four dimensions and 44 criteria. It is based on a substantial literature review and was tested in a Horizon 2020-funded research project ROBUST, which is applying experimental governance techniques to improve rural-urban relations in eleven European regions. The results demonstrate that the framework covers the key facets of TD collaboration and that all four broad dimensions matter. Each research-practice team reflected on how their collaboration is going and what needs to be improved. Indeed, the coordination team was able to see how well TD collaboration is functioning at a project level. We believe the framework will be valuable for actors involved in the planning and implementation of any type of multi-actor, interactive, innovation, transformation and action-oriented research project.

Teaching Book and Paper Conservation at the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, Cologne

Abstract The interpretation and reflection of how teaching and learning can be performed according to rather modern approaches is described. The centre of education at the Technical University is strong and supports newly appointed teachers. It is all about competences which need to be promoted and encouraged. The writing and formulating learning outcomes are the basis of different kinds of knowledge and called taxonomy levels. A learning outcome for the Bachelor module leather, its history, tannage and conservation is presented. Learning activation is enabled by changing lecture styles with the help of videos, original material and daily life memory links. The voting system PINGO can be used as activation form as well as pre-assessment format. The range of assessment styles ranges from oral and written presentation to a novel form of capturing video sequences. The production of minute-videos enable a different view to a process, helps to understand the topic of the lecture und activates the students enormously.

Integrated care: a definition from the perspective of the four quality paradigms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to support the ongoing dialogue and shed light on the different views on integrated care. An overarching definition of integrated care is proposed combining the ways of thinking of the four quality paradigms the authors identify. The idea of epistemic fluency offers a way-out of ongoing discussions about “what integration is”.Design/methodology/approachFour paradigms of quality are presented and applied to healthcare. Epistemic fluency is proposed as the capacity to understand, switch between and combine different kinds of knowledge. The authors compare previously developed definitions of integrated care to the various combinations of paradigms.FindingsAll four paradigms of care quality are present in healthcare and in the most used definitions of integrated care. The Reflective Paradigm and the Emergence Paradigm receive least attention. Some definitions combine more than one paradigm. An overarching definition of integrated care is proposed.Research limitations/implicationsIn this paper, only the most prominent definitions of integration have been considered.Practical implicationsIntegration research and practice requires a widely accepted definition of integrated care, embracing all four paradigms of care quality. Our suggestion provides a common foundation that may prevent misunderstanding.Originality/valueThe use of quality management paradigms to frame the debate on defining integrated care is new and leads to new insights for teaching, research and practice.

Comparing Conflict-related Sexual Violence: Expertise, Politics and Documentation

ABSTRACTThis paper explores knowledge production about sexual violence and highlights the role that comparison, across contexts and between different kinds of knowledge, plays in shaping what we know. It explores the role of strategic knowledge in creating thematic areas of international expertise and draws attention to the roles quantitative evidence and narrative testimony evidence have played in this field of knowledge. The paper addresses the role that comparison plays in producing both quantitative and qualitative data about sexual violence in conflict and considers the functional similarities in the ways these data are deployed to support sexual violence campaigning and advocacy.

Cohousing Professionals as 'Middle-Agents': Perspectives from the UK, USA and the Netherlands

This article explores the role of cohousing professionals in three countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States) where the relevance of this form of collaborative dwelling has grown. Cohousing initiators everywhere have to hire technical consultants such as financial and legal advisers and traditional project managers. These 'experts' or 'professionals' may, however, be insufficiently equipped to deal with the development particularities of cohousing which require the ability to move between, and translate, knowledge of different kinds. In response to this, a new type of cohousing specialist such as group-facilitators, process-management and legal coop-specialists is emerging, but the specificity and implications of their roles has gone largely unstudied. Drawing on interviews and fieldwork across the three countries, we explore the roles and dynamics, as well as the paradoxes faced by this varied professional sector. We argue that professionals are 'middle agents' who must negotiate their way between niche and mainstream housing landscapes, and that cohousing professionalization is taking place in a way that can potentially transform both grassroots and mainstream housing provision. Based on this, the conclusions recommend a shift in higher education and specialist training.

ENEGRECENDO O CURRÍCULO ESCOLAR:

Construir um currículo escolar que abarque a pluralidade e riqueza cultural brasileira demanda reconhecer a potência que essa pluralidade possibilita na construção de novos saberes. Partindo da ideia de que o currículo consolidado na educação brasileira tem contribuído para a perpetuação de um modo de ser e se relacionar eurocêntrico, tencionamos ao longo deste trabalho apresentar por meio de um estudo de caso caminhos contra hegemônicos que possibilitem integrar o saber popular à prática cotidiana escolar, por meio da construção de uma horta coletiva de acordo com os costumes quilombolas. A atividade, envolvendo, docentes, técnicos e alunos de um campus do Instituto Federal de São Paulo, possibilitou um estreitamento de relações entre os saberes das comunidades tradicionais locais e os métodos de investigação científica que perpassam o currículo proposto nos cursos de ensino médio integrado ao técnico. Os resultados nos permitem avançar para uma compreensão mais crítica sobre diferentes tipos de saberes invisibilizados no currículo e suas possibilidades de entrelaçamento por meio de práticas que envolvem discussões acerca de aspectos identitários, culturais e sociais mais plurais e significativos.

The Value Problem of A Priori Knowledge

In recent years, there has been a “value turn” in epistemology. We intuitively think of knowledge as having a value, a value that mere true belief does not have, and it has been held to be a condition of adequacy on theories of knowledge that they be able to explain why. Unfortunately, for most theories their explanations suffer from the “swamping problem” because what has to be added to turn true belief into knowledge has value only instrumentally to truth; for example, we take being justified to be valuable, but only because being justified is our way of trying to believe what is true and only what is true, and it follows from this that for a belief already granted as true, no extra value is added by the fact that it is justified as well. So, the task is to solve the value problem while avoiding the swamping problem. I will argue that, in fact, the value turn leaves epistemological theorizing much as it was. My reasoning goes briefly as follows: on the usual interpretation of the value problem, the demand it places on theories of knowledge is internally incoherent and hence implausible as a condition of their adequacy. It is a condition of adequacy nonetheless that the theory avoid the swamping problem if we really do have the intuition supposed. I will then use a thought-experiment to consider different kinds of knowledge and argue that, with the exception of a priori knowledge, there is no such intuition. With this exception, there is no swamping problem either, and hence theories cannot be ruled inadmissible on the grounds that the knowledge-making features they propose fail to have a non-instrumental value. My conclusion is that it is only whatever has to be added to true a priori belief in order to turn it into knowledge that has to have a non-instrumental value, that is to say, only a priori knowledge that has a value problem. But this problem is easily solved.

Fostering innovation through collaborative action research on the creation of shared instructional products by university science instructors

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to profile four university science instructors who utilized action research as a means of learning how to develop and integrate a novel curriculum innovation – engineering design – in their science courses. Data included curriculum maps, lesson plans, notes from group meetings, and instructor reflections. Data analysis included document review and content analysis. Findings from this study suggest that action research effectively enabled the instructors to 1) establish shared ownership of the project goal – to improve preservice teachers’ learning of science through engineering design; 2) continuously test, revise, and recalibrate their shared instructional products; and 3) leverage multiple sources of innovation. Knowledge generated and used by the instructors represented different kinds of knowledge and distributed expertise resulting in products that were more useful and of higher quality than products created by individuals working alone. Consequently, this resulted in increased use of the products and increased instructor commitment to improve them over time. By simultaneously engaging in research and consequently taking specific action to inform their practice, science instructors in this study successfully created shared instructional products that both guided and enhanced their classroom teaching.

Learning to Theorize in a Complex and Changing World

To thrive in the modern world, people need to make sense of complex issues and deal with uncertainty. This requires a different kind of knowledge than schools are teaching. We argue that cultivating a theoretical turn-of-mind is critical for identifying causal relationships and patterns within any phenomenon and trend. In this paper, we introduce a course designed to engage students in an “intellectually honest” version of scientific theory building. We describe four theory-building competencies that students developed as a result of their participation in the course and highlight the features of instruction that may have played a key role in this development. We describe how a particular feature of the course - the theory-building discussion - helped students refine their thinking and we outline the moves the teacher used to facilitate the refinement process. We conclude that learning to construct theories is beneficial even for students who are not tending towards careers in science, as it helps to refine everyday thinking, and, in a broader sense, build human capacities to develop solutions for the complex problems we face across economics, environment, health, and many other domains.