Taking a broad, yet specialized approach that is a first in the field, this book examines three threads: traditional structures for organizing knowledge; personal structures for organizing knowledge; and socially-constructed structures for organizing knowledge.

This book aims to synthesize different directions in knowledge studies into a unified theory of knowledge and knowledge processes. It explicates important relations between knowledge and information. It provides the readers with understanding of the essence and structure of knowledge, explicating operations and process that are based on knowledge and vital for society.The book also highlights how the theory of knowledge paves the way for more advanced design and utilization of computers and networks.

Founded in 1985 by Jean-Claude Falmagne and Jean-Paul Doignon, Knowledge Structure Theory (KST) constitutes a rigorous and current mathematical theory for the representation and the assessment of human knowledge. The seminal work of these authors initiated a highly active research strand with an ever-growing literature, mostly scattered across various technical journals.Starting from a concise but comprehensive introduction to its foundations, this volume provides a state-of-the-art review of KST. For the first time the volume brings together the most important theoretical developments and extensions of the last decade and presents new areas of application beyond education, with contributions by key researchers in the field.Among the important advances covered by this book are (1) a comprehensive treatment of probabilistic models in KST; (2) polytomous extensions of the theory; (3) KST-based psychological diagnostics and neuropsychological assessment; (4) the representation and assessment of cognitive skills in problem solving, as well as procedural skills. In addition, this book also includes an overview of available software for the application of KST.

This book aims to synthesize different directions in knowledge studies into a unified theory of knowledge and knowledge processes. It explicates important relations between knowledge and information. It provides the readers with understanding of the essence and structure of knowledge, explicating operations and process that are based on knowledge and vital for society. The book also highlights how the theory of knowledge paves the way for more advanced design and utilization of computers and networks.

Thirty-three of the top scholars in this fast moving domain present a picture of work at the cusp in social psychology -- work that deals with cognition and affect in close relationships. The present volume contains a wealth of research findings and influential theoretical accounts that spring as much from indigenous work in the close relationship field as from purebred social cognition. The chapters introduce theories and research programs concerned with the role of individual and couple differences in close relationship knowledge structures. They deal with the role of emotion and affect in close relationships. And they discuss the function of cognition and knowledge structures in relation to the developmental course of close relationships. Each section is accompanied by a critical review written by an expert in the field. This volume is a must for any close relationship scholar interested in the latest research and theorizing about close relationships that adopt a social psychological perspective. It will also be of interest to scholars and students working in clinical psychology, social cognition, communication, individual differences, and family studies.

Knowledge Spaces offers a rigorous mathematical foundation for various practical systems of knowledge assessment, applied to real and simulated data. The systematic presentation extends research results to new situations, as well as describing how to build the knowledge structure in practice. The book also contains numerous examples and exercises and an extensive bibliography. This interdisciplinary representation of the theory of knowledge spaces will be of interest to mathematically oriented readers in computer science and combinatorics.

The Structures of Practical Knowledge investigates the nature of practical knowledge – why, how, when and by whom it is codified, and once codified, how this knowledge is structured. The inquiry unfolds in a series of fifteen case studies, which range in focus from early modern Italy to eighteenth century China. At the heart of each study is a shared definition of practical knowledge, that is, knowledge needed to obtain a certain outcome, whether that be an artistic or mechanical artifact, a healing practice, or a mathematical result. While the content of practical knowledge is widely variable, this study shows that all practical knowledge is formally equivalent in following a defined workflow, as reflected in a construction procedure, a recipe, or an algorithm. As explored in the volume’s fifteen contributions, there are three levels at which structures of practical knowledge may be understood and examined. At the most immediate level, there are the individual workflows that encompasses practical knowledge itself. Probing further, it is possible to examine the structure of practical knowledge as it is externalized and codified in texts, drawings, and artifacts such as models. Finally, practical knowledge is also related to social structures, which fundamentally determine its dissemination and evolution into new knowledge structures. The social structures of professionals and institutions represent the critical means by which practical knowledge takes form. These actors are the agents of codification, and by means of selection, appropriation, investment, and knowledge development, they determine the formation of new structures of practical knowledge. On a more abstract level, the creation of new knowledge structures is understood as constituting the basis for the further development of scientific knowledge. Rich in subject matter and incisive in the theory it lays out, this volume represents an important contribution to the history of science and epistemology. Individually, the fifteen case studies – encompassing the history of architecture, mining, brewing, glass production, printing, ballistics, mechanics, cartography, cosmology and astronomy – are replete with original research, and offer new insights into the history of science. Taken together, the contributions remodel historical epistemology as a whole, elucidating the underlining knowledge structures that transcend disciplinary boundaries, and that unite practitioners across time and space.

This book introduces the concept of a hypothetical type of knowledge construction -- referred to as structural knowledge -- that goes beyond traditional forms of information recall to provide the bases for knowledge application. Assuming that the validity of the concept is accepted, the volume functions as a handbook for supporting the assessment and use of structural knowledge in learning and instructional settings. It's descriptions are direct and short, and its structure is consistent. Almost all of the chapters describe a technique for representing and assessing structural knowledge acquisition, conveying knowledge structures through direct instruction, or providing learners with strategies that they may use to acquire structural knowledge. These chapters include the following sections in the same sequence: * description of the technique and its theoretical or conceptual rationale * examples and applications * procedures for development and use * effectiveness -- learner interactions and differences, and advantages and disadvantages * references to the literature. The chapters are structured to facilitate access to information as well as to illuminate comparisons and contrasts among the techniques.

This book puts the structure and function of knowledge firmly in the driving seat of university curriculum development and teaching practice. Through the application of concept mapping, the structure of knowledge can be visualised to offer an explicit perspective on key issues such as curriculum design, student learning and assessment feedback. Structural visualisation allows a greater scrutiny of the qualitative characteristics of knowledge so that we can analyse students’ patterns of learning and match them to expert practice. Based on nearly two decades of research and direct observations of university teaching by the author, this book aims to offer a scholarly account of teacher development. It focusses on elements that will be of immediate utility to academics who want to develop their teaching to a level of adaptive experts, offering them greater autonomy in their role and a powerful understanding of teaching to escape the repressive routines of the traditional classroom. Rather than providing a comprehensive review of educational research, this book provides a route through selected theories that can be explored in practice by university teachers on their own or in groups. The book will help academics to identify the nature of powerful knowledge within their disciplines and consider ways that this may be used by students to become active and engaged learners through the manipulation and transformation of knowledge, and so become expert students.