Question:
Define knowing and understanding. This should go beyond the dictionary - how do you conceptualize knowing and understanding? Are they different, or synonymous? How are they related?
Attempted answer:
Reflecting on this idea of knowing and understanding, in my mind, they have different meanings, but are related. I think knowing something is a precursor to understanding something. The first step is "knowing about" something, then knowing it and then understanding it. Here is a basic diagram:
Know about (awareness)-----Knowing ----- Understanding
The difference between knowing and understanding is hard to explain as they are very similar. Anyhow,here goes. I think knowing something is when there is a shared conceptualization about something. You can know something, but not necessarily understand it like someone else does. Understanding is more personal. It's almost like knowing all of the ins and outs of something in one's own way. Understanding implies knowing what something means.
Hmmmm, what do you think?
I like the graphic, it is a nice technique for description. Also I like that you define knowing as a "shared conceptualiztion" which brings in a social cognitive factor.
ReplyDeleteI too like the "spectrum" of knowing and understanding. I agree that knowing seems to be a precursor to understanding, but wonder if one can understand without going through the formal knowing stage (like when you get sudden insight to how something works before being formally told about it)? Then again, my conception of understanding (my understanding of understanding? haha) is a little different. Your idea of understanding as a personal way of internalizing knowledge compliments what Mary Ann pointed out as the social cognitive aspect of your definition of knowing. Now that I think about it, my definition of understanding as a ability to apply knowledge to other situations does go along with yours - you have to internalize it first before you can apply it.
ReplyDeleteI see your point about, "Understanding is more personal" being considered as a social cognitive factor. People tend to understand things after going through their own personal way of processing information. However, I kinda of view your statement of, "knowing something is when there is shared conceptualization about something", as being a constructivism factor. This is because in certain instances we can 'know' something based off of a constructed meaning that has been applied to it. And sometimes after we interact with and get to understand that thing we develop our own knowing of it, separate from the constructed meaning of it. Which would then mean that its possible to go from, knowing-to understanding-to knowing.??
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