Knowledge Structures: Methods for Exploring Course Content

Donald, Janet G.

doi:10.2307/1981643

Cited by 57 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…We are aware of the extent of the simplification when defining concept as such, but for the scope of this article we will adopt a fairly simple interpretation. We concur with Donald (1983) who defines a concept in education theory as "a unit of thought -an element of knowledge […]. According to him, concepts can exist at various levels of generality and abstraction and may be simple or complex" (Donald 1983, p. 32).…”

Section: Concepts In Educationsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…According to him, concepts can exist at various levels of generality and abstraction and may be simple or complex" (Donald 1983, p. 32). They can be represented as a separate entity but often exist within a larger framework of related concepts (Donald, 1983;Hulshof & Vroegop, 1990). RNAAS (2003) also formulates concepts as subject matter at the classroom level; for example "sentence structure" and "idiom" (RNAAS, 2003, p. 17).…”

Section: Concepts In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teachers’ interpretations of the concept-context approach for L1 education.

Platteel¹,

Hulshof²,

Driel³

et al. 2014

L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature

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In 2003, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences proposed two ways to improve secondary education in the Netherlands: concept-context rich education and the teacher as curriculum developer. In this study eleven L1 teachers explored these ideas by developing concept-context rich L1 education. Their interpretations of concept-context rich education and views on benefits of this approach after one and a half years of designing are the focal point of this article. Data show that teachers have many different interpretations of concept-context rich education -some are reflected by the research literature while others are mentioned only by the teachers. Important benefits of concept-context rich education formulated by these teachers are: increased student motivation, student participation, and teacher motivation.

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Section: Concepts In Educationsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Concepts In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ interpretations of the concept-context approach for L1 education.

Platteel¹,

Hulshof²,

Driel³

et al. 2014

L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In our study of knowledge structures in sixteen university courses across disciplines, we tested a variety of ways of relating course concepts (Donald, 1983). We found that a method of tree structuring worked best with well structured disciplines.…”

Section: Methods Used To Represent Well-structured Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Learning schemata: methods of representing cognitive, content and curriculum structures in higher education

Donald

1987

Instr Sci

Self Cite

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Abstract. Being able to represent knowledge is a key to being able to utilize it. Knowledge and skills have been represented in educational literature in three kinds of representations. The most frequently found kind is an individual learner's or an expert's cognitive structure. Cognitive structures may vary depending upon the method of analysis used to produce them, the degree of structure in the discipline, and the extent to which they are descriptive or goal oriented. Content structures, which are found in text or other learning material, are expected to meet the criterion of agreement within the discipline. Curriculum structures, which have been designed for the purpose of optimum learning, must take into account the criteria of sequence and continuity. Examination of the methods used to represent cognitive, content and curriculum structures leads to suggestions for their use in clarifying the learning task.

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“…These dimensions included (a) the existence of strong paradigms, (b) concern with applications, and (c) concern with life systems. More recently, Donald (1983Donald ( , 1990Donald ( , 1991Donald ( , 1993 has engaged in an ambitious program of research that seeks to understand disciplines with respect to characteristics such as knowledge structure, learningtasks, validation processes, and truth criteria. For example, in one study Donald (1990) interviewed faculty members about the validation processes, truth criteria, and other validation factors characteristic oftheir disciplines.…”

Section: Disciplinary Differences and Their Impact On Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Describing Complex Academic Tasks From Six Graduate Disciplines Using Multidimensional Scaling and Clustering

Enright¹,

Oltman²

1996

ETS Research Report Series

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The problem of defining the nature and variety of academic tasks is growing in importance as more complex assessment tasks are introduced in many educational contexts. In this study, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to describe and categorize tasks from six graduate disciplines including academic psychology, applied psychology, English literature, journalism, physics, and electrical engineering. A sample of task descriptions was constructed through interviews with graduate students from these disciplines. A rating instrument was designed to describe task goals and to evaluate whether the tasks were well or ill structured with respect to various aspects of problem definition and problem solution. Graduate faculty used the rating instrument to characterize a sample of tasks from their discipline. The scales were found reasonably reliable and were useful in identifying and describing task clusters and how such clusters varied both within and across disciplines. A cluster of short‐term problems that were posed by someone other than the student was found in every field although the other characteristics of this cluster of tasks varied with discipline. For example, the short‐term tasks in engineering and physics were well‐structured, requiring the application of established principles, and having objective standards for judging performance. In contrast, a cluster of short‐term tasks in English literature were very ill‐structured because different conceptual approaches could be relevant, there were alternative methods for accomplishing the tasks, many possible solutions existed, and the student had to define an issue or question to consider. In all disciplines except physics, a cluster of complex tasks emerged that was characterized as having multiple objectives that needed to be satisfied. The cluster of complex tasks that was found in physics was not described clearly by the scales. Problem‐finding was an important task characteristic in the social sciences and humanities but not in the physical sciences. The relevance of multidimensional scaling and clustering to test design is discussed.

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Knowledge Structures: Methods for Exploring Course Content

Cited by 57 publications

References 7 publications

Teachers’ interpretations of the concept-context approach for L1 education.

Teachers’ interpretations of the concept-context approach for L1 education.

Learning schemata: methods of representing cognitive, content and curriculum structures in higher education

Describing Complex Academic Tasks From Six Graduate Disciplines Using Multidimensional Scaling and Clustering

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