Friday, October 30, 2015
What Do You Think?
Let's bring things a little closer to home. Please select, share, and explain a moment of knowledge from one of your other classes. That done, extract and share a first-order claim, a second-order claim, and a knowledge question. Remember, your second-order claim and your KQ may be very similar. Please couch your KQ in the language of TOK. This is due by 9:30pm Sunday 1 November.
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First order claim: Into the Wild was written by Jon Krakauer
ReplyDeleteSecond order claim: Bias in a literary source can affect the readers understanding or comprehension of that source.
KQ: To what extent does bias in literary sources thwart the readers understanding or comprehension of that source?
In English we were talking about how Jon krakauer may be an unreliable narrator because he sees himself as a young man in Chris McCandless.
Delete2nd moment of knowledge: When I was reading my history textbook for homework and realised that my personal bias was getting in the way of my understanding of the information I was comprehending.
DeleteAnswering the Question: To a large degree either the authors or the readers own bias can have a significant impact on the interpretation of the information understood in a literary source. It can be said that reading or writing something without bias is impossible, so therefore it would be impossible to read or understand a piece of information in literary form without the presence of some kind of bias.
Situation: I was looking for sources for the research for my biology project and was trying to find “peer reviewed” or equally credible sources. In this situation, I needed to consider the medium of the source as part of the evaluation.
ReplyDeleteFirst Order: There are many different kinds of academic sources.
Second Order: Different sources use different ways of knowing in order to inform the knower.
Knowledge Question: To what extent does the way of knowing used to inform affect the credibility of a source?
Second Order: Different ways of knowing are used in sources in order to inform the knower.
DeleteSituation 2: In IB History, there are various Document Based Questions which are based on different primary and secondary sources. The sources can be anything from articles, to speeches to analyses to photographs. This ties into the idea of different ways of knowing for different sources and one could interpret the effect this has on the credibility of the information.
DeleteThe way of knowing used to inform the knower does not affect the credibility of the source to a large extent. This is evident in IB History when DBQs present sources that are in different mediums. Some sources are photographs and require sensory perception and emotion to interpret, some are speeches, which require emotion, reason and language to understand, and others are articles, calling upon the knowers language and reason. The way of knowing however, does not control the origin of the source, which is what determines credibility. Also, no way of knowing acts completely in isolation, so every source utilizes multiple ways of knowing, and the fact that different ways of knowing and the combinations of ways of knowing resonate with different knowers, so this question is ultimately dependent on the knower.
Situation: In ESS, we were discussing the different cycles of plants and animals and I was struck by how complicated and connected everything is.
ReplyDeleteFirst Order: Everything on Earth is connected in a complex Web.
Second Order: Language, as a way of knowing, helps people protect ecosystems and not repeat past environmental problems.
Knowledge Question: To what extent does language and memory help scientists avoid repeating past environmental problems?
Second Order Claim: Language, as a way of knowing, plays the greatest role in helping people protect ecosystems and not repeat past environmental problems.
DeleteSituation 2: When I was driving home from school, I noticed some signs protesting the building of a pipe line and others strongly opposing it. Each side of the road seemed to have a different opinion. As a pipeline could produce environmental issues (that have already happened with other pipelines) to be dealt with if it were to be built, I wondered if people would stop and consider those past environmental issues when making the decision to build a pipeline or not.
DeleteAnswer to Knowledge Question:
To what extent does language and memory help scientists avoid repeating past environmental problems?
Language and memory, in my opinion, are very important tools in the pursuet of avoiding past environmental mistakes. Through language, researchers, scientists and persons in power are able to communicate ideas and problems to be dealt with which makes it easier to prevent recurring environmental issues since everyone is able to communicate clearly with one other. Also, memory, as a way of knowing, provides a portal to access past knowledge of environmental problems and their solutions and gives scientists a way to see the "bigger picture" of the problem's environmental effects. Memory gives scientists and people able to make difference in environmental issues the knowledge to solve then environmental issues of today - but also those of tomorrow.
Moment of Knowledge: We discussed the similarities and differences between apartheid in South Africa and the segregation laws in America.
ReplyDeleteFirst Order Claim:
-There are similarities between the Civil Rights Movement in America and the fight against apartheid in South Africa.
Second Order Claim:
-Historical knowledge is valuable, because it can be used to bring greater understanding to situations in the present.
Knowledge Question:
-To what extent is remembering other people's past, Historical knowledge, valuable to understanding the present?
Second Moment of Knowledge: In the book Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer looks at cases and stories similar to Chris McCandless in order to better understand his story.
DeleteAnswer to the Knowledge Question: Historical knowledge is highly valuable in understanding present situations because it gives context and allows for similarities and greater patterns to be revealed. Many times in order to fully comprehend people's actions or society one needs to know the history behind them. Though historical knowledge is usually about events long past and resolved, the ramifications and influence of these events stretch into the present, necessitating an understanding of them. We can use our five ways of knowing to understand the situation around us, but even many of these ways of knowing, for instance reason and emotion, rely on historical knowledge about our own personal lives. Many times reason draws conclusion based off past experience or we feel the way do because of events in our past, and society is no different. The way society functions, even in relation to current events, is inseparably tied to its past, hence to understand society and present situations historical knowledge is key.
Moment of knowledge: Our French teacher always let us to play the roles of the novel we are reading. I always remember the scene strongly.
ReplyDeleteFirst order claim: By acting out the scenes, students can understand the book better.
Second order claim: Sense perceptions interpret with memory to build up knowledge.
Knowledge question: To what extent does sense perception relates to the way to approach memory?
Moment of knowledge: To watch movie during English class helps me a lot to understand Shakespeare's play, because from the expression of the different characters, I remembered what is going on exactly and comprehended the book better.
DeleteAnswer: Sense perception can help us gain knowledge, and also it is a way to approach our memory and even let us maneuver the knowledge we owned already. This is because human has the better understanding under the situation of sensations occur. For example, if just let a person who doesn’t take Chinese to speak Chinese, it is impossible for him or her to do so; however, if we give him or her the condition to study in Chinese in order to build their memories as reading a passage, listening to a dialogue or writing an essay. Sense perceptions are pragmatic to gain knowledge, but it is much more important in the way to approach memory since it can extend the understanding of knowledge.
Moment of Knowledge: In science class, I learned how the process of photosynthesis is the opposite of the process of cellular respiration by referring to the different diagrams which visually depicted both processes in the textbook.
ReplyDeleteFirst Order Claim: In photosynthesis, oxygen and glucose are produced, but in cellular respiration, carbon dioxide, water, and ATP are produced.
Second Order Claim: Natural scientific knowledge is evident through interpretation.
Knowledge Question: To what extent does perception and memory affect how natural scientific knowledge is understood?
Moment of Knowledge: In science class, I learned about the structure and functions of the phospholipid bilayer. By looking at the diagram of the structure, I noticed that it looked a lot like a caterpillar and every time I think about the structure of the phospholipid bilayer, I think of a caterpillar and it helps me to remember the different functions and the overall structure of the phospholipid bilayer.
DeleteAnswer to KQ: Knowledge of the natural sciences can be understood in many different ways. For example, the way we perceive diagrams, vocabulary, and different structures when we look at them are crucial aspects of learning about natural science. Whenever we visualize something in science, we sometimes perceive the information given by having the tendency to either compare it with something we know or pick out different parts of the concept that may interest or stand out to understand and remember that concept. This is where memory comes into play. Once we perceive a concept in the method that works the best for us, we are able to use the way we have perceived that concept as a step to find the best way to understand and remember that concept.
In conclusion, to a large extent, perception and memory do indeed impact the way natural scientific knowledge is understood.
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ReplyDeleteMoment of knowledge: In my dance class, I noticed that all of us each have a set of movements that we use during each of our dance pieces.
ReplyDeleteFirst order claim: Dance is an art.
Second order claim: Emotion and sense perception is what has the greatest impact on someone's dancing style.
Knowledge question: Throughout a dance, is it possible for the dancer to convey scientific knowledge to the audience?
Emotion and sense perception, as a way of knowing, is what has the greatest impact on the way a dancer gains movements to choreograph their dance.
Deletemoment of knowledge: during dance class, I noticed that many of us had similar movements, however we all had a different story behind our dance piece.
Deleteanswer to knowledge question: Throughout a dance, is it possible for the dancer to convey scientific knowledge to the audience?
To a certain extent, it is possible for the audience to gather scientific knowledge from a dance, however this knowledge will differ from everyone as our usage of sense of perception may not be the same as others. Hence, the scientific knowledge we gain from a piece may not be reliable as we all interperate dances differently.
Moment of knowledge:
ReplyDeleteIn history class each student researched a different person in the Civil rights movement and taught the whole class about the person they researched.
First claim:
Language helps us to interact with each other
Second claim:
Language and reasoning, as ways of knowing, can not be separated
Knowledge question:
To what extent can language and reasoning effect each other?
Moment of knowledge:
DeleteWhen Anny asked me why I enjoy watching anime, I found out that explaining my reasonings to her in Chinese, my first language, is much more easier than it is in English.
Answer to knowledge question:
Language can effect reasoning to a great extent. The reason to this is that we use language to show others out reasons, or to explain something to other people. Also, different languages can effect one's reasoning because the person might know one language better than the other one, just like what happened in the moment of knowledge.
MOMENT OF KNOWLEDGE:
ReplyDeleteIn French class I was reading a text and didn't understand a vocabulary term, but when I looked it up, the definition did not make sense in context.
FIRST ORDER CLAIM:
The meaning of a word can be lost in translation
SECOND ORDER CLAM:
Historical knowledge can be interpreted in many ways when translated or relayed in a different language.
KNOWLEDGE QUESTION:
To what extent does language change our interpretation of historical knowledge?
In world history, while studying the Ottoman Empire, I noticed that a translation was not completely accurate. The class discussion based on a slightly skewed translation could have lead to a completely different interpretation of the events.
DeleteTo what extent does language change our interpretation of historical knowledge?
To a large degree, language can affect the interpretation of history. This is because the meaning or significance of what is said in one language is easily lost when translated. For example, if a translation is incorrect, and misinterpreted, it could lead to such extremes as war. Language is key in communicating stories and thus creating history. Our interpretation of world history, is solely based off of the use of language to understand a different nation and cultural past.
Moment of Knowledge: During our discussion in English about Into the Wild we examined the many parallels in McCandless’ life to the events of the author’s life and to themes found in transcendentalist writing.
ReplyDeleteFirst-order Claim: It is entirely possible that McCandless read the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson and perhaps took his encouragement to go back to nature a tad too literally.
Second-order Claim: Theoretical writing is a warped form of knowledge.
Knowledge Question: To what extent is theoretical knowledge valuable?
Second-order Claim Correction: Theoretical knowledge is a warped form of knowledge.
DeleteKnowledge Question: To what extent is theoretical knowledge valuable?
DeleteSecond Moment of Knowledge: During my preparation for my BHS Stage 2 exam last year, I noticed in some cases that I knew what needing to be done, yet could not do it. I knew how to wrap a standing wrap, but I could not do it.
Having theoretical knowledge of doing something was completely useless in this case of my exam. I could tell the examiner exactly how I would wrap a standing wrap, but if I could not do it, I would fail. Yet, still on the same exam, they asked me to discuss why and how to feed barley. I did not have to get up to prepare the food and feed a horse; I only had to explain. But the whole purpose of this exam was to prove that we could go to a barn where we would have to put all of our skills to work, both theoretical and practical. In an environment outside of this exam the theoretical knowledge, unless it can be properly applied, is useless.
Moment of Knowing:
ReplyDeleteIn economics class, we talked about calculating the cost of a business, which included a lot of math. People were frustrated and tired because of those calculating. And at the end of the class when teacher asked a simple question like" 500-(20x10)=?" there are people answered it wrong.
First order claim: Math and Economics are strongly related
Second order claim: Emotion is not only a way of knowing but also affects how well people accept knowledge.
Knowledge Question: To what extent does emotion affect how well people accept knowledge?
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DeleteMoment:
DeleteI knew I failed my English essay right before Math class. So I was really sad, and in the Math class I didn't understand anything teacher taught us.
Answer:
Emotion affects how well people accept knowledge in a great extent. When people are happy they are less distracted and are more open to new ideas. Therefore they can accept knowledge faster and better. When people are sad, they are more distracted by other bad things, and not focused. So it's harder to accept knowledge in a bad emotion.
Moment of knowledge:
ReplyDeleteWhen I was writing a paragraph about a book for my English class, I used my imagination and put myself in the situation a character from the book was in.
First order claim:
Imagination helped me to understand the emotion the character had.
Second order claim:
The knowledge we gained by our imaginations is sometimes uncertain because biases in our minds affect on the ideas.
Knowledge question:
To what extend can we make the knowledge we gained with imagination certain?
Moment of knowledge: In history class, I looked at a picture and answered a question which was to determine what was going on during the time period the picture was taken. I used both my imagination and reasoning in order to answer the question.
DeleteThe answer to the knowledge question: Imagination is necessary since it is impossible to find evidences to every single things. However we can make the knowledge we gained by imagination more certain by using reasoning based on reliable evidences.
Moment:
ReplyDeleteIn Spanish class, we realized that many words in Spanish are similar to their English translations.
1st order:
Computer in Spanish is computadora.
2nd order:
Knowledge of language aids the translations of others.
Knowledge Question:
How can knowledge of a language aid you to comprehend another?
Moment:
Delete- In Spanish class, we realized that many words in Spanish are similar to their English translations.
1st order:
- Computer in Spanish is computadora.
2nd order:
- Language effects the understanding of indigenous knowledge systems.
Knowledge Question:
- To what extent does language effects the understanding of indigenous knowledge systems?
KQ:
Delete- To what extent does language effects the understanding of indigenous knowledge systems?
Second Moment:
- During Varsity Volleyball’s team dinner, we spoke about Sally’s presentation about bully from the beginning of the year. We highlighted the fact that she had many words on each slide in order for international students who were not very comfortable with English, so that they would be able to understand the presentation better.
Answer to KQ:
The language that you are most accustomed to effects your understanding of indigenious knowledge systems. It would be easier for international students to understand important presentations during housemeeting if it were in their indigenous language, but because they are not very comfortable with the language spoken during housemeeting, it would take them a bit more time than usual to completely understand what is being said. It is the same thing when native English speakers are learning a new language or around others who are speaking another language. Things begin to get complicated when you think about an English concept in the context of a foreign language and/or country. Language changes the way that you think about a certain topic.
Moment: In English class we learned that Chris MCcandless wrote an S.O.S letter before dying.
ReplyDelete1st order: Chris MCcandless knew he was dying
2nd order: Sense perception allows us to understand our mental and physical state
Knowledge question: How can sense perception allow us to gain knowledge of ourselves?
2nd order: The knowledge we gain from the our use of sense perception allows us to understand our mental and physical state.
DeleteIn english we are reading the book into the wild, the main character believes that he can survive alone in the woods with no training and not enough supplies.
ReplyDelete1st order: Chris McCandless thought he was an exception and would survive with out proper training or supplies.
2nd order: Human science studies the knowers and how they think
Question: How can human science statistically know what is going on with a human?
Second order claim: Reason affects the way human science is perceived
DeleteQuestion: to what extent does reason affect human science?
2nd moment of knowledge: In history we are studying apartheid in South African, though many people think it is wrong, the white South Africans thought that there was nothing wrong with it
DeleteAnswer to question: human science is based on the inner working of the human mind and the dessions we make and the way we act. A lot of how we act and think has to do with our ability to reason; wrong or right. When studying aparthied we read about all the awful things that were done in discrimination and how protesters were treated by the government some even getting killed, the reason that they must have had to create to justify the killing and minimizing if those people would have been hard. Human science would study the ways in which the white South Africans treated the other races there and why they did it.