KP-LAB: Breaking New Ground on How to Create Knowledge through Learning
Author: Reynolds, Sally
Date: 2010-06-12
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Scientific Research,Computer Mediated Communication,Information Technology,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Learning Strategies,Cooperation,Design,Knowledge Management,Workplace Learning,Educational Innovation,Program Descriptions,Learning Processes,Educational Environment,Constructivism (Learning),Educational Technology,Handheld Devices,Synchronous Communication,Asynchronous Communication,Electronic Learning,Computer Software,Video Technology,Learning Activities,Teacher Education,Work Environment,College Instruction

The 5 year KP-Lab project funded under the FP6 of the European Commission's Programme for Research and Technological Development is about developing theories, tools, practical models, and research methods that deliberately advance the ways in which knowledge is created and which help to transform knowledge practices in education and in the workplace. The multi-disciplinary KP-lab project consortium chose to adopt the knowledge-creation metaphor of learning as a way to provide the theoretical basis for the project, and to use the project as a way to develop the associated Trialogical Approach further. This approach aims not to be an over-arching theory but rather a specific approach to knowledge creation through learning which can be used to support research and to develop innovative technology-mediated collaborative practices as a way to improve knowledge creation processes where the role of both knowledge artefacts and practices are emphasised. This approach puts forward arguments about new ways of creating knowledge and transforming practices related to collaborative knowledge creation in common learning contexts and suggests ways in which these practices can be enhanced, elaborated and improved through the application of advances in information technology. By putting forward a model which allows the researcher to consider the processes and practices in collaborative knowledge creation supported by versioning of knowledge artefacts, it provides a vocabulary for further development of tools, processes and practices. It also allows for scientific research into the effectiveness of new tools and practices within this common model. The general characteristics of the trialogical approach have been embedded in 6 core design principles, 1) organising activities around shared &quot;objects&quot;, 2) supporting integration of personal and collective work (through developing shared objects), 3) emphasising development and creativity on shared objects through transformations and reflection, 4) fostering long-term processes of knowledge advancement with shared objects (artefacts and practices), 5) promoting cross-fertilisation of various knowledge practices and artefacts across communities and institutions and 6) providing flexible tools for developing artefacts and practices. There are a number of significant innovations represented in this approach, its merging of project realisation tasks with acquisition of sophisticated knowledge creation skills, its manifestation of collaborative work in material knowledge objects, its support of both ideas-driven and organised work in common environments, its analysis of learning in iterative, long-term collaborative work, its promotion of the teaching of knowledge practices, its development of technologies that both support mediation and reflection and also measure their impact, and its focus on changing practices. Coming to the end of its lifetime, KP-Lab is actively promoting the outputs of its work which include significant recommendations related to knowledge-creation in particular settings that have emerged as a result of the extensive empirical research work carried out by the project team. These outcomes relate specifically to knowledge creation in multidisciplinary design management, to work that involves the combination of conceptual collaborative problem solving with practical solution development, to learning activities aimed at specifically stimulating students' knowledge creation processes and to work that calls for collaborative and iterative artefact design in multidisciplinary teams.