This position paper addresses the way knowledge is conceptualized in knowledge management literature and practice. Using the work of Lakoff and Johnson on metaphors it will show how people use metaphors to think and talk about knowledge. In KM literature at least 22 different metaphors for knowledge are used. Further research shows that these metaphors are primarily Western metaphors while in Eastern philosophy many other metaphors for knowledge are used. The choice of metaphors for knowledge has great influence about the way we think about knowledge management. They determine what we diagnose as KM problems in organizations and what we develop as KM solutions. To illustrate this, the paper presents the results of an exercise set up to determine the effect of metaphors on knowledge management approaches in which two challenging metaphors for knowledge were used: knowledge as water and knowledge as love.
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A case study and method development research of online simulation gaming to enhance youth care knowlegde exchange. Youth care professionals affirm that the application used has enough relevance as an additional tool for knowledge construction about complex cases. They state that the usability of the application is suitable, however some remarks are given to adapt the virtual environment to the special needs of youth care knowledge exchange. The method of online simulation gaming appears to be useful to improve network competences and to explore the hidden professional capacities of the participant as to the construction of situational cognition, discourse participation and the accountability of intervention choices.
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Students’ knowledge about the criteria for an upcoming test is a crucial component of assessment quality. Grounded in self-determination theory, we investigated whether knowledge about the criteria for an upcoming test related to students’ situational motivation and experienced anxiety during physical education (PE). We also examined whether these relations were: (a) mediated by need-based experiences; and (b) moderated by teachers’ motivating style. Participants were 659 students (55.54% boys, 44.46% girls, mean age 14.72 years, standard deviation = 0.94) out of 40 classes from 32 schools taught by 39 different PE teachers. Analyses through multilevel structural equation modeling showed that students with more knowledge about the criteria for an upcoming test valued and enjoyed the lesson more (i.e. autonomous motivation), and felt less aloof (i.e. amotivation). Relations between knowledge about the criteria and students’ situational motivation were mediated by experienced need satisfaction. Specifically, students who had more knowledge about the criteria for an upcoming test felt more in charge of their learning process (i.e. autonomy satisfaction), felt more effective in reaching their goals (i.e. competence satisfaction) and felt more connected to the teacher (i.e. relatedness satisfaction). Although relations between knowledge about the criteria and students’ motivation were not moderated by teachers’ motivating style, teachers’ motivating style displayed independent relations with students’ motivation. Implications for assessment quality and students’ motivation in PE are discussed.
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To improve people’s lives, human-computer interaction researchers are increasingly designing technological solutions based on behavior change theory, such as social comparison theory (SCT). However, how researchers operationalize such a theory as a design remains largely unclear. One way to clarify this methodological step is to clearly state which functional elements of a design are aimed at operationalizing a specific behavior change theory construct to evaluate if such aims were successful. In this article, we investigate how the operationalization of functional elements of theories and designs can be more easily conveyed. First, we present a scoping review of the literature to determine the state of operationalizations of SCT as behavior change designs. Second, we introduce a new tool to facilitate the operationalization process. We term the tool blueprints. A blueprint explicates essential functional elements of a behavior change theory by describing it in relation to necessary and sufficient building blocks incorporated in a design. We describe the process of developing a blueprint for SCT. Last, we illustrate how the blueprint can be used during the design refinement and reflection process.
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Knowledge management (KM) is difficult to pin down. It means different things in different organisations. The deliberate use of metaphors has been used to communicate what KM is about. This metaphorical communication can be even more enriched using visual as well as language mechanisms: ”a picture paints a thousand words” suggests we can capture more resonances of a complex subject like KM through visuals than through a description alone. In addition, visuals are perceived to transcend the limitations of language, which can be an obstacle to communication. Yet, no method currently exists that we can use to identify KM metaphors used in visuals. This paper describes our search for a method to analyse metaphors used in visuals about knowledge management. Our objective was threefold: 1) identifying new metaphors for KM in visuals that can enrich KM theorizing, 2) developing a way to identify which visuals are the most powerful in communicating KM theory, and 3) improving the use of visuals as a way of assessing students studying KM. We found that analysing metaphors used in KM visuals is possible using a method that focuses on the dominant metaphors in a visual.
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The focus of the thesis is an exploration into students’ vocational knowledge in the context of Dutch vocational education and training (VET). The reason students’ vocational knowledge requires exploration is because there is no consensus among scholars in the field of VET about how to theorise the nature of students’ vocational knowledge; most (not all) scholars rely on dichotomous conceptualisations, such as theory versus practice, general versus specific or explicit versus implicit. However, such commonly used dichotomies are not very helpful to understand the complex nature of vocational knowledge. Vocational knowledge is more than putting bits of theoretical and practical knowledge together, it is characterised by sometimes-intimate relationships between knowledge and actions. As a result of the above-mentioned gap in the VET literature, there is little empirical research on how VET students develop vocational knowledge and the extent to which this is occupation-specific knowledge. To understand students’ vocational knowledge, four different aims are formulated and carried out in four studies. The aim of the first study is to identify powerful vocational learning environments to enable the selection of a case that represents high quality vocational learning and teaching. With an eye on analysing students’ vocational knowledge, the second study aims to conceptualise the nature of vocational knowledge that avoids dichotomies. Therefore, two conceptual frameworks are integrated; the idea of contextualising is introduced which is based on cultural-historical theory to highlight the crucial role activity plays in knowledge development and to understand the relationships between the mind (i.e., what people think (and feel)), and action (i.e., what people do). Secondly, the theory is supplemented with ideas from inferentialism, a philosophical semantic theory of meaning to provide a useful way to focus on students’ processes of knowing and to reveal students’ vocational knowledge in terms of ongoing reasoning processes. The third study uses the conceptualisation of vocational knowledge to explore how students develop vocational knowledge in occupational practice, and to illustrate the process of contextualising. The forth study aims to describe what characterises students’ vocational knowledge using an analytic framework that distinguishes between occupation-specific knowledge components and qualities. This thesis contributes to research scholarship in the field of VET and an understanding of students’ vocational knowledge in practice. The theoretical framework of contextualising supplemented with inferentialism provides an alternative way to focus on students’ processes of knowing and helps to reveal students’ vocational knowledge in terms of reasoning processes. The empirical explorations and illustrations of students’ vocational knowledge contribute to the scholarly literature and practice on understanding the nature of vocational knowledge, how students develop vocational knowledge and what characterises their vocational knowledge. The intention to introduce the idea of contextualising is not about reinventing the wheel but rather an attempt to understand how it turns and how it functions. The intention of this thesis is to encourage dialogue and move the debate about the nature of vocational knowledge further, and hence, to provide some “food for thought”.
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Conceptual metaphors play a vital role in our ability to think in abstract terms like knowledge. Metaphors structure and give meaning to the concept of knowledge. They hide and highlight certain characteristics. The choice of metaphor when reasoning about knowledge is therefore of vital importance for knowledge management (KM). This paper explores the possibility of introducing new knowledge metaphors to the field of KM. Based on a ‘wish list’ of characteristics of knowledge they want to highlight, the authors choose to explore the Knowledge as a Journey metaphor as a new metaphor for knowledge. This results in new insights regarding knowledge sharing, acquisition, retention, and innovation.
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Metaphors are common phenomena intellectual capital and knowledge management theories and practice. An important question to ask is: what are the ‗best‘ metaphors we can use in our theorizing on intellectual capital and knowledge management? This paper addresses the question of the aptness of knowledge related metaphors. It concludes that the aptness of metaphorical expressions depends on three factors: the richness of the semantic field of the source domain, the validity of the mapping, and the ideological implications of the mapping. This conclusion results in a research agenda on the aptness of metaphor in knowledge management and intellectual capital theory and practice.
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Conceptual metaphors play a vital role in our ability to think in abstract terms like knowledge. Metaphors structure and give meaning to the concept of knowledge. They hide and highlight certain characteristics. The choice of metaphor when reasoning about knowledge is therefore of vital importance for knowledge management (KM). This paper explores the possibility of introducing new knowledge metaphors to the field of KM. Based on a ‘wish list’ of characteristics of knowledge they want to highlight, the authors choose to explore the Knowledge as a Journey metaphor as a new metaphor for knowledge. This results in new insights regarding knowledge sharing, acquisition, retention, and innovation.
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In this article the idea of contextualising vocational knowledge is theorised to understand the nature of vocational knowledge and this process of contextualising is illustrated with empirical examples from culinary education.
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