First, if we have the knowledge structurally represented, then it is organized for efficient learning. Second, learning the student's structural representation can assist us in teaching that student. By knowing the student's structure we have a better understanding of the material that might already be known and adjust the lessons to maximize learning. Structural knowledge is essential to recall and comprehension because research has shown that knowledge is facilitated by organization. When learners study, they construct structural knowledge along with declarative knowledge.
Structural knowledge is in the middle of the equilibrium from procedural to declarative knowledge.
Procedural knowledge is the step by step instructions in achieving a specific task and declarative knowledge is an awareness of an idea or definition. Somewhere in between semantic networks and structural knowledge pull the instructions and awareness together. Structural knowledge is also known as cognitive structure, the organization of long-term memory and relationships among ideas in the mind. Semantic networks are used to represent cognitive structure because they enable learners to map interrelationships, reorganize knowledge, achieve better retrieval, and obtain knowledge through spatial learning. This also reflects the structures in differing languages and words.