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Writing Program
English Dept

Knowledge in Action:

All I really needed to know I learned in kindergarten.
---Robert Fulghum

Have you ever been riding or driving along only to realize that you haven't been paying attention to your riding or driving---to realize that you've been on automatic pilot for a few, perhaps many, seconds?

This journal activity implicitly poses the question, "Are skills like riding a bike, driving a car, walking, catching or throwing a football, speaking or writing a language, multiplying and dividing, and solving problems a type of knowledge?" If so, how does this type(s) of knowledge behave?

Journal Activity---Part One of Two

Take a few minutes to write a few memories about when you first began to learn how to ride a bike or drive a car.

• Who was helping you learn?
• How difficult was it to keep your balance or keep track of everything you need to keep track of?
• Did your learning happen all at once, or over a period of time?

Journal Activity---Part Two of Two

• Form a group with at least two other people.
• Share your learning experiences related to riding a bike or driving a car.
• Discuss the items in "Things to Ponder."

Thing to Ponder

1. What role does repetition or practice play in learning a skill?
2. If skills are a type of knowledge, then how does the learning of a skill ("skill-knowledge") differ from learning knowledge-about-things?
3. If skills are a type of knowledge, then how do skills differ from knowledge-about-things (like names, places, the "catness" of a cat, et cetera)?
4. What is(are) the relationship(s) of memory/recall to the learning of knowledge-about-things?
5. What is(are) the relationship(s) of memory/recall to the learning of skills (the acquisition of skill-knowledge)? What role(s) does short term memory play in the learning of a skill?
6. What parts of riding a bike or driving a car are skill-knowledge, and what parts of riding a bike or driving a car are knowledge-about-things? Do some of these parts shift from knowledge-about-things to skill-knowledge as our skill level improves? (Don't forget those experiences of being on automatic pilot.)
7. What parts of writing are skill-knowledge, and what parts of writing are knowledge-about-things? Do some these parts shift from knowledge-about-things to skill-knowledge as our skill level improves?
8. Does the performance of a skill typically degrade with fatigue, lack of sleep, or the intake of alcoholic beverages?

Journal Assignment:
Explore your experience with today's journal activity and group activity. Use the questions in "Things to Ponder" (above) as a springboard.

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