Teacher: Amy Burvall
Unit 1
DP Language A: Theory of Knowledge
Fall 2011: Year 1 Semester 1,
UNITS FOR
PART IV--OPTIONS
UNIT 1
The Nature of Knowledge, Knowledge issues, and the Knower
PROJECTED DATES
SIGNIFICANT
CONCEPT
Mid August-late September
- Knowledge is constructed, critically examined, evaluated and renewed by communities and individuals.
- Knowledge is a human pursuit full of richness and complexity, and the acquisition of knowledge varies from individual to individual
and culture to culture.
- As a knower of knowledge, one carries a responsibility to the community and to the individual knower as a global citizen
- Claiming knowledge is not necessarily a simple process
- What are the implications of knowledge? - of having and not having it?
- What counts as knowledge?
- How do various languages deal with the concept "to know"?
- What is the value of knowledge?
- How does knowledge change over time?
- How is knowledge accepted or rejected?
- How does knowledge gain or lose status?
- How do cultural and personal values influence knowledge?
- What are the responsibilities of the knower?
- What role does intuition play in knowledge?
- Why is skepticism important?
- What is the difference between Knowledge and "belief"? "wisdom"? "information"? "data"? faith"? "opinion"?
- What are the effects of the digital age on knowledge?
- What are the justifications of knowledge?
- What is "truth"?
- Do we construct reality or just recognize it?
- In what ways does knowledge come from the inside and outside?
- How is knowledge produced and shaped?
- How is knowledge articulated?
- How do we acquire knowledge?
- How do we classify it?
- Who owns knowledge and what are the implications of knowledge ownership?
- Are certain ways of knowing more valued than others?
- Can a machine “know”?
UNIT QUESTIONS
AIMS and
OBJECTIVES
Aims: to encourage students to think critically about knowledge itself so that they are aware that:
knowledge is a human pursuit full of richness and complexity, and that the acquisition of knowledge varies from individual to
individual and culture to culture
- knowledge is constructed in different ways and must be critically examined and renewed by individuals and societies
- knowledge is acquired differently in academic disciplines and yet, there are interdisciplinary connections
- there is a connection between thoughts, feelings and actions with regard to knowledge, and that one must consider the
interpretive nature of knowledge that results from people’s personal and ideological biases, including their own
- for the betterment of society, it is good to have an interest in, and an awareness of, the diverse ways of thinking and ways of
living of individuals and communities
- as a knower of knowledge, one carries a responsibility to the community and to the individual knower as a global citizen
- claiming knowledge is not necessarily a simple process.
Objectives:
Objective 1: analyze critically knowledge claims, their underlying assumptions and their implications
-
Objective 2: generate questions, explanations, conjectures, hypotheses, alternative ideas and possible solutions in response to
knowledge issues concerning areas of knowledge, ways of knowing and students’ own experience as learners
Objective 3: demonstrate an understanding of different perspectives on knowledge issues
Objective 4: draw links and make effective comparisons between different approaches to knowledge issues that derive from areas of
knowledge, ways of knowing, theoretical positions and cultural values
Objective 5: demonstrate an ability to give a personal, self-aware response to a knowledge issue
Objective 6: formulate and communicate ideas clearly with due regard for accuracy
and academic honesty.
FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENTS
Digital portfolio; learning / curator blog; TOK social media participation; multi-media presentations; class activities; course companion
work; Socratic seminar participation; reading analysis
SUMMATIVE
ASSESSMENTS
CONTENT
SKILLS
Digital Portfolio complete with course work, reflective writing and curation
KNOW:
Argument ad ignorantium, certainty, coherence, common sense, confirmation bias, evidence, gullibility, judgement,
mental map, open-mindedness, paradox of cartography, paranormal phenomena, relativism, skepticism, ways of knowing,
authority worship, context, culture, expert opinion, indoctrination, information, justified true belief, testimony, media,
primary vs. second-hand knowledge, think concept, urban legend, shared knowledge, collective knowledge, artificial intellligence
UNDERSTAND:
- the world is a confusing place in which we find a bewildering variety of different opinions
-
we acquire knowledge through language, perception, reason, and emotion, but none of these can give us certainty
according to relativism, truth is relative to the individual; but the fact that we take seriously the ideas someone
may be wrong in their beliefs suggests that relativism is false
since there are few black and white certainties in the world, we have to rely more on judgement
it is important to find the right balance between skepticism and open-mindedness
two criteria for deciding whether a knowledge claim is plausible are evidence and coherence
a responsible person will subject his/her beliefs to scrutiny
knowledge can be defined as “justified true belief”
simply believing something is true does not make it true
reliability is the main thing that distinguishes an acceptable and non-acceptable justification
there are different levels of knowledge, as well as a distinction between global and local knowledge
knowledge differs from mere information because it is organized into a meaningful whole
sharing knowledge, particularly in the digital age, means we can know more than our resources would allow
second-hand knowledge often leads to authority worship
-
Define and identify "Knowledge issues”
Describe the purpose of TOK and the “TOK way of thinking”
Define and identify "knowledge claims”
Explain how knowledge claims are justified
Self-evaluate as a “knower”
Curate resources relevant to TOK and tease out the knowledge issues
Describe perspectives, make counterclaims, and draw connections to other subjects
Communicate effectively and respectfully
-
DO:
TOK LINKS
INTERNATIONAL
MINDEDNESS
This is the TOK course, so everything is TOK, but here are some linking questions:
Belief: Where does belief end and knowledge begin?
Truth: Can we ever be certain of the truth?
Authority: To what extent should we accept knowledge as authority?
Paradigms: What role do paradigms play in knowledge?
Context: Does knowledge depend on context?
Know-How: What is the relation between theory and practice?
Wisdom: What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
Information: What is the difference between knowledge and information?
Justification: What distinguishes a good justification from a poor one?
TOK looks at the epic questions of our planet and examines global issues and controversies.
TOK fosters self-awareness, reflection, critical thinking, interest in and respect for other people’s points of view, and a sense of
responsibility.
International-mindedness is embedded in the course itself, as students explore various thoughts, ideas, and values from around
the world and even communicate, using social media, with peers from different countries.
LEARNER PROFILE
Inquirers
~students are asked to question everything
Communicators
~students write to an authentic audience via personal blogs.
~students practice structured discussion in Socratic seminar
~students hone presentation skills by presenting knowledge issues in real-life situations using a variety of multi-media tools
Thinkers/Risk-takers
~students take risks by challenging their own beliefs and knowledge claims, as well as those of certain cultural and academic
paradigms
Principled
~students demonstrate respect for peers’ ideas and input
Open-Minded
~students refine the skill of being open to others’ beliefs, opinions, and world views through class discussion, Socratic seminar,
and blogging
Reflective
~students not only reflect thoughtfully on the sources provided (articles, videos, readings, etc.) but curate their own sources and
share with the world via their learning blogs
TEACHING
STRATEGIES;
LEARNING
EXPERIENCES
We will be using Thinking Strategies at http://www.pz.harvard.edu/vt/visibleThinking_html_files/VisibleThinking1.html
As well as the “6 hats Thinking” and Thinking Dice.
Other strategies include:
- Socratic seminar
- Collaborative projects
- Direct instruction/ flip teaching
- Inquiry/ projects
- Microblogging
- Social networking
- Videos/art/readings as “hooks”
- Fun activities/group experiences
- Podcasts
- Practice presentations (filmed)
- Analysis of exemplars
- Curation (individual blogs)
- Digital portfolio
- Skype guest speakers/experts
RESOURCE-Course companions - Theory of Knowledge Course Companion (Dombrowski, Rosenberg, Bick) Oxford U Press
- Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma (Van de Lagemaat) Cambridge
RESOURCES-RELATED
Books:
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”, H.C. Andersen
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, M. Neil Browne
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Mark Rowlands
Construction of Social Reality, by John Searle
Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
Man is the Measure: A Cordial Invitation to the Central Problems of Philosophy, Reuben Abel
More Philosophy for Teens: Examining Reality and Knowledge, Sharon Kaye and Paul Thomson
Philosophy for Teens: Questioning Life’s Big Ideas, Sharon Kaye and Paul Thomson
Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet, Ian McNeely.
Six Thinking Hats, Edward de Bono
The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker.
The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker.
The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker.
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons
What is Emotion?: History, Measures, and Meanings, Jerome Kagan
Films: (clips)
How to Tame Your Dragon
The Brain
Memento
The History Boys
The Human Spark (PBS, 2010) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/humanspark/
The Matrix
The Truman Show
News:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/
http://www.ted.com/talks
http://www.engadget.com/tag/art/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
Magazines:
Wired
Metal Floss
BBC History
BBC Knowledge
Prospect Magazine, Current Affairs Cultural Debate http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/
Parabola Magazine http://www.parabola.org/
The Philosophers Magazine http://www.philosophers.co.uk/
Think http://www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org/page/34
http://www.philosophynow.org/
http://www.world-newspapers.com/philosophy.html
http://www.philosophersnet.com/