Knowledge Building Centers

Campbell, Margaret

Bereiter, C. & Scadarmalia, M. (2010)."Can children really create knowledge?" Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 36(1), 1-15. Retrieved from http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/585/289

Summary

The authors examine what it really means for school children to create public knowledge, what real ideas and authentic problems are as opposed to copied ideas and problems that only add to learning (instead of contributing to community). This discussion is not focused on the cognitive aspects of learning, but on solving problems that bring value to people, have enduring value, have applications beyond the situations that sparked the problem, and show elements of creativity or unique approach. The authors also distinguish between productive knowledge and the knowledge that just lets students know how to answer prefab problems; productive knowledge is a concept that can replace the idea of "mastery," which has little practical meaning in current times when the increases in knowledge are so rapid. The article demonstrates how children at all ages and intellectual levels can participate in practical knowledge building, which moves them from simply preparing for life after school to actually contributing to life from the first year of school.

Evaluation

The Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology and these two authors in particular have written a series of detailed articles about knowledge building and knowledge building centers. The references for this article are a treasure trove of information for this new way of designing learning environments. Also, in addition to the theoretical discussions, the paper includes many examples from student work in order to explain the differences between the knowledge types.
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PS I originally found this article during a search through last semester's archive for ET. However, the article referenced in the archive had incorrect spellings for the authors names and no journal date, so I did not include the reference as it was written in the archive. The title was intriguing, and that is why I tried to find the article. I was able to locate it after a search through the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, which also turned up many more terrific articles on this and other topics. I highly recommend the journal.
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Below is the text of the review from the archive:

Posted by Elizabeth Goode - 

I wanted to include this article because I found that a lot of articles discussing Knowledge Building Centers referred back to works by Berieter and Scadamalia, but also because the article discusses what knowledge building is truthfully trying to attain, which is the creation of new knowledge and not the attainment of already established knowledge that students solely have to build on in a stepping stone fashion without any new insights. I also wanted to include it, because at the end of the article the authors include a number or different teaching methods or theories that are similar to knowledge building centers. I thought it made a nice introduction to these other theories and opened it up for more research.