Re: Measuring Knowledge LO2574

lifvendahl thomas (p60tal1@corn.cso.niu.edu)
Fri, 25 Aug 1995 15:37:12 -0500 (CDT)

Replying to LO2551 --

On Thu, 24 Aug 1995 BeatMan44@aol.com wrote:

> A colleague and I were recently talking about knowledge, knowledge
> captial, the knowledge economy, and the Knowledge Age. When you consider
> previous ages in humanity's progression (e.g., Agricultural Age,
> Industrial Age), you realize that the contribution of humanity's efforts
> where obvious. During the agricultural age, *crops grown* were the
> contribution. During the Industrial Age, *products manufactured* were the
> contribution. Crops and products are simple to measure, easy to chart, and
> obvious contributions to the rest of humanity.
>
> So I pose these questions to you:
>
> . Given our movement toward the Knowledge Age, how does one measure the
> contribution of knowledge to the customer? How does the customer see the
> application of knowlege?
>
> . Is it even important to measure knowledge or the contribution of
> knowledge? Why or why not?
>
> . If you were to measure knowledge, what precisely would you measure?
>
> . How does one measure the acquisition of knowledge? The application of
> knowledge? The sharing of knowledge?

I would also question whose "knowledge" becomes the one "to know"? I
always try to introduce in my teaching the concept that knowledge
production and validation come with cultural/political contexts.
Understanding the communication process that voices the need and the how
that need becomes apprehended seems to me to be be just as important in
the procedures that undergird needs assessment methodologies.

I would like to suggest that we need to move beyond the prescriptive
nature of knowledge acquisition into a deeper understanding of how any
given "knowledge" becomes seen as necessary to the development of an
organization or individuals within it.

--
Thomas A. Lifvendahl
Northern Illinois University
RE/ACE Office
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
815/753-1621
P60TAL1@corn.cso.niu.edu