Competence-based fuzzy skill functions

Fuzzy skill functions connect knowledge states at the performance level with latent cognitive abilities at the competence level. Given that there may exist precedence relations among skills, the main idea of this study is trying to develop fuzzy competence structures restricted on the possible fuzzy sets of skills that can occur. The knowledge structures delineated by fuzzy skill functions are related to the fuzzy competence structures. Knowledge spaces can be delineated by disjunctive fuzzy skill functions when the fuzzy competence structures are $\sqcup$-closed. Simple closure spaces can be delineated by conjunctive fuzzy skill functions when the fuzzy competence structures are $\sqcap$-closed. Delineating knowledge structures via competence-based fuzzy skill functions just depends on the effective competence states. We design algorithms for delineating knowledge structures via competence-based fuzzy skill functions without listing all fuzzy competence states of fuzzy competence structures.

The Illustrated Chicano: Chicano Border Methodology in Practice

<p>What is Chicano Border Methodology? In my thesis I am answering this question by showing that this is a key part of my practice, and revisiting my past work and experiences to re-construct the development of this methodology. Chicano Border Methodology is a living methodology based on lived experience that is constantly in praxis, and not just theoretical. It is rooted in a knowledge space that is specific to a locality, La Frontera/US-Mexico border. I began to assemble the methodology using epistemological pluralism as the framework and modified this framework to produce a decolonising epistemological pluralism. Using the colonial matrix of power, this position questions the assumption of epistemic privilege of western knowledge production. Using a personal narrative structure, I start the re-construction process by describing the beginnings of my decolonising process with the re-discovery of my Chicano identity. I then describe the knowledge space developed along La Frontera/US-Mexico Border and how it shows up in my art practice. Looking at the concepts of decolonisation process, practice-led research, performative research and Kaupapa Māori, I contrast and analyse the position of my Chicano Border Methodology, highlighting the differences that make my Chicano Border Methodology unique. I go on to describe and analyse how I applied this methodology to the production of The Illustrated Chicano, an art installation that looks at issues of place, home and immigration in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Illustrated Chicano, as a practical application of the Chicano Border Methodology, revealed that this methodology is robust and can be modified by Chicanos to match the specific needs of research areas, where a decolonising approach is required or beneficial to the outcome. I also explore how the community reacted to my installation built through the Chicano Border Methodology lens by documenting and analysing the community’s reaction to this work. I conclude with a discussion of the significance of local knowledge spaces, the value of different methodological models, and the flexibility of a decolonising epistemological pluralism framework, such as the Chicano Border Methodology.</p>

The Illustrated Chicano: Chicano Border Methodology in Practice

<p>What is Chicano Border Methodology? In my thesis I am answering this question by showing that this is a key part of my practice, and revisiting my past work and experiences to re-construct the development of this methodology. Chicano Border Methodology is a living methodology based on lived experience that is constantly in praxis, and not just theoretical. It is rooted in a knowledge space that is specific to a locality, La Frontera/US-Mexico border. I began to assemble the methodology using epistemological pluralism as the framework and modified this framework to produce a decolonising epistemological pluralism. Using the colonial matrix of power, this position questions the assumption of epistemic privilege of western knowledge production. Using a personal narrative structure, I start the re-construction process by describing the beginnings of my decolonising process with the re-discovery of my Chicano identity. I then describe the knowledge space developed along La Frontera/US-Mexico Border and how it shows up in my art practice. Looking at the concepts of decolonisation process, practice-led research, performative research and Kaupapa Māori, I contrast and analyse the position of my Chicano Border Methodology, highlighting the differences that make my Chicano Border Methodology unique. I go on to describe and analyse how I applied this methodology to the production of The Illustrated Chicano, an art installation that looks at issues of place, home and immigration in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Illustrated Chicano, as a practical application of the Chicano Border Methodology, revealed that this methodology is robust and can be modified by Chicanos to match the specific needs of research areas, where a decolonising approach is required or beneficial to the outcome. I also explore how the community reacted to my installation built through the Chicano Border Methodology lens by documenting and analysing the community’s reaction to this work. I conclude with a discussion of the significance of local knowledge spaces, the value of different methodological models, and the flexibility of a decolonising epistemological pluralism framework, such as the Chicano Border Methodology.</p>

Aboriginal knowledge, the history classroom and the Australian university

PurposeThis article considers the impact of competing knowledge structures in teaching Australian Indigenous history to undergraduate university students and the possibilities of collaborative teaching in this space.Design/methodology/approachThe authors, one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal, draw on a history of collaborative teaching that stretches over more than a decade, bringing together conceptual reflective work and empirical data from a 5-year project working with Australian university students in an introductory-level Aboriginal history subject.FindingsIt argues that teaching this subject area in ways which are culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students, and which resist knowledge structures associated with colonial ways of conveying history, is not only about content but also about building learning spaces that encourage students to decolonise their relationships with Australian history.Originality/valueThis article considers collaborative approaches to knowledge transmission in the university history classroom as an act of decolonising knowledge spaces rather than as a model of reconciliation.

Digital Materiality, Heritage Objects, the Emergence of Evidence, and the Design of Knowledge Enabling Systems

<p>Beneath the problem of achieving digital convergence in the heritage sector is a problem of deeply entrenched discourses generated in a physical paradigm where objects kept in heritage sector institutions were treated as goods to be divided, and where notions about the nature of those goods, their use, and practices facilitating their use, were imagined in terms of the norms for each institution type. The digital paradigm provides new opportunities, amongst them the possibility of creating intersecting digital knowledge spaces designed to aid processes of enquiry and meaning-making and to maximise possibilities for rational and justifiable knowledge formation about predictable and still to be imagined topics of enquiry. Achieving that vision calls for research that seeks to understand the process of knowledge formation, that hunts out the strengths and weaknesses in existing bodies of thought, and that works, through its modes of transmission, to instil the understanding necessary for a shared knowledge-oriented body of theory and practice to emerge. The research reported in this thesis responds to these needs. It was conducted by a former archives practitioner taking a fresh look at her own discipline’s body of thought, and reflecting on its utility across the whole heritage sector. An open and exploratory research question was posed: What can be learnt about archives domain thinking, heritage objects and their evidentiality, and the design of knowledge enabling systems by exploring how evidence emerges during a historical research process? The research design combined close examination of the archives domain’s explicit and implicit thinking with a case study in the form of a deeply reflective historical enquiry that was committed to tracking down and tracing seemingly relevant objects (both physical and digital), and their meaningful ways of being related, across institutional and conceptual boundaries. The researcher did not plan to go into ‘the wild’, but word got out, and ‘the wild’ came to her. The research, in other words, was conducted in the space archival science’s continuum thinkers refer to as the fourth dimension - the societal plurality, where assumptions embedded in institutionalized thought can be deeply disturbed. The historical enquiry was centred on Frederick Burdett Butler (1903-1982), an eclectic ‘collector’ and local historian who built his own museum/archive/library/gallery/ information resource in New Plymouth, New Zealand. A misfit in New Zealand’s historically-oriented professional community, he nevertheless amassed a massive collection which, during his life-time and since his death, has been widely dispersed. Parts are in collecting institutions and parts are in ‘the wild’. Much is in hiding. Three major problems in archives domain discourse were identified as potential stumbling blocks in the search for sector-wide theory. These are addressed in three theory-building chapters, each of which is framed around a line of enquiry followed in the researcher’s attempt to form knowledge of Fred. One of these problems is the prevalence in the domain of a fuzzy and ‘othering’ object-privileging concept of record, but little awareness of continuum theory’s concept-privileging notion of records as logical entities, which means there is also little awareness of the relevance of the continuum notion for richer, more flexible, and potentially convergent descriptive practice. The second is the existence of unresolved debates about the nature of evidence and its importance in relation to the concept of record. The third is dichotomous thinking about the nature of objectivity and subjectivity, a problem that has caused debates about the nature of records, the value of an evidence-oriented domain discourse, and the epistemic character of descriptive practice; also, it has played a part in the ‘othering’ of libraries. A final chapter reflects on the implications of the research for the design of knowledge enabling systems and on possibilities for archival science’s continuum theory to connect with similar bodies of thought emerging in other disciplines. The research paradigm is grounded in humanities, social science, and philosophical scholarship which draws attention to inter-dependence and co-evolution in time and over time, and which challenges habituated perceptions of dichotomies. Critical realism, a third way philosophy of knowledge, was the primary philosophical and methodological under-labourer.</p>

Digital Materiality, Heritage Objects, the Emergence of Evidence, and the Design of Knowledge Enabling Systems

<p>Beneath the problem of achieving digital convergence in the heritage sector is a problem of deeply entrenched discourses generated in a physical paradigm where objects kept in heritage sector institutions were treated as goods to be divided, and where notions about the nature of those goods, their use, and practices facilitating their use, were imagined in terms of the norms for each institution type. The digital paradigm provides new opportunities, amongst them the possibility of creating intersecting digital knowledge spaces designed to aid processes of enquiry and meaning-making and to maximise possibilities for rational and justifiable knowledge formation about predictable and still to be imagined topics of enquiry. Achieving that vision calls for research that seeks to understand the process of knowledge formation, that hunts out the strengths and weaknesses in existing bodies of thought, and that works, through its modes of transmission, to instil the understanding necessary for a shared knowledge-oriented body of theory and practice to emerge. The research reported in this thesis responds to these needs. It was conducted by a former archives practitioner taking a fresh look at her own discipline’s body of thought, and reflecting on its utility across the whole heritage sector. An open and exploratory research question was posed: What can be learnt about archives domain thinking, heritage objects and their evidentiality, and the design of knowledge enabling systems by exploring how evidence emerges during a historical research process? The research design combined close examination of the archives domain’s explicit and implicit thinking with a case study in the form of a deeply reflective historical enquiry that was committed to tracking down and tracing seemingly relevant objects (both physical and digital), and their meaningful ways of being related, across institutional and conceptual boundaries. The researcher did not plan to go into ‘the wild’, but word got out, and ‘the wild’ came to her. The research, in other words, was conducted in the space archival science’s continuum thinkers refer to as the fourth dimension - the societal plurality, where assumptions embedded in institutionalized thought can be deeply disturbed. The historical enquiry was centred on Frederick Burdett Butler (1903-1982), an eclectic ‘collector’ and local historian who built his own museum/archive/library/gallery/ information resource in New Plymouth, New Zealand. A misfit in New Zealand’s historically-oriented professional community, he nevertheless amassed a massive collection which, during his life-time and since his death, has been widely dispersed. Parts are in collecting institutions and parts are in ‘the wild’. Much is in hiding. Three major problems in archives domain discourse were identified as potential stumbling blocks in the search for sector-wide theory. These are addressed in three theory-building chapters, each of which is framed around a line of enquiry followed in the researcher’s attempt to form knowledge of Fred. One of these problems is the prevalence in the domain of a fuzzy and ‘othering’ object-privileging concept of record, but little awareness of continuum theory’s concept-privileging notion of records as logical entities, which means there is also little awareness of the relevance of the continuum notion for richer, more flexible, and potentially convergent descriptive practice. The second is the existence of unresolved debates about the nature of evidence and its importance in relation to the concept of record. The third is dichotomous thinking about the nature of objectivity and subjectivity, a problem that has caused debates about the nature of records, the value of an evidence-oriented domain discourse, and the epistemic character of descriptive practice; also, it has played a part in the ‘othering’ of libraries. A final chapter reflects on the implications of the research for the design of knowledge enabling systems and on possibilities for archival science’s continuum theory to connect with similar bodies of thought emerging in other disciplines. The research paradigm is grounded in humanities, social science, and philosophical scholarship which draws attention to inter-dependence and co-evolution in time and over time, and which challenges habituated perceptions of dichotomies. Critical realism, a third way philosophy of knowledge, was the primary philosophical and methodological under-labourer.</p>

Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) Adaptive System Impact on Students’ Perception and Self-Regulated Learning Skills

Adaptive learning is an educational method that uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to customize learning materials and activities based on each user’s model. Adaptive learning has been used for more than 20 years. However, it is still unique, and no other system could bring more or even similar capabilities than the ones adaptive technology offers, including the application of AI, psychology, psychometrics, machine learning, and providing a personalized learning environment. However, there are not many studies on its practicality, usefulness, improving students’ learning skills, students’ perception, etc., due to the limited number of institutes investing in this new technology. This paper presents the results of administering the newly developed Adaptive Self-regulated Learning Questionnaire (ASRQ) in an adaptive learning course equipped with the ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) system to study the amount of Self-regulated Learning Skills (SRL) score change, if any, of the students. The ASRQ was administered at the beginning and end of the semester as a pretest and posttest. Then, the quantitative Sample Paired t Test was run to measure the students’ SRL score change between the beginning and end of the semester. The results showed a significant decline in students’ SRL skills score while working with ALEKS. This paper also discusses the reasons for the considerable drop in SRL skills based on students’ perception and feedback collected through administering an open-ended survey at the end of the semester. The survey’s qualitative analysis showed various possible factors contributing to the decline of the SRL skills score, including lack of motivation, system complexity, hard penalty, lack of social presence, and lack of system practicality.

Understanding Teachers’ Perceptions and Strategies Implemented in High School Mathematics Classes Using ALEKS

The Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) is an adaptive learning tool used by hundreds of thousands of high school students in the United States. This study was designed to understand how teachers in high school mathematics classrooms used the ALEKS system for instruction and to examine what their perceptions were of its ease of use and usefulness. A basic qualitative study was conducted where five Chicagoland high school mathematics teachers were interviewed three times over the course of one academic school year. This study asked teachers to share first hand experiences and perceptions of using ALEKS. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) served as the theoretical framework for examining these experiences and perceptions. The results of this study indicate a variety of teaching strategies that teachers used with ALEKS as well as many common themes. Teachers used the ALEKS tool for assessing student understanding through its quizzes and assignments, used the data analysis tools with the program to analyze student progress, and made use of ALEKS to allow students to practice and receive feedback on mathematical concepts. The findings of this study indicate that teachers found ALEKS to be easy to use and useful in their teaching. Specifically, teachers cited the assessment tools, built-in feedback, ability to personalize learning, and the accessibility of learning tools for students as useful in their teaching.

Some Aspects of Realization of the Right to Reliable Information as Part of the Formation in the Russian Federation Knowledge Society

The article analyzes the transformation of the constitutional right to information into the right to reliable information, which is a key factor in the creation of a unified electronic knowledge space and the transition from the information society to the knowledge society in the Russian Federation, as well as the role of the library Institute in this process. The purpose of the research is to study the features and prospects of implementing the right to reliable information through the library Institute in the framework of a single electronic knowledge space. The purpose of the research necessitated setting and solving the following scientific tasks: understanding the impact of information on the institution of legal regulation; studying the provisions of the most important strategic documents of the information sphere that secured the transition to a knowledge society based on reliable information; analyzing the legal nature of reliable information; explore structural elements of a single electronic knowledge spaces, acting as a means of transition from information society to knowledge society; understanding the role of the Institute library in the electronic structure of a single space of knowledge; study of the essential features library of information that allow it to meet the criteria specified in the strategic documents of the Russian Federation; analysis of the contribution of the end-to-end digital technology in providing access to library information; develop proposals for improving the legal regulation of access to library information in the modern digital environment. Within the framework of this study, both general scientific (analysis, synthesis, method of system analysis, etc.) and special legal (formal-legal, comparative-legal) methods of cognition were applied, which allowed to solve the set goal and tasks. According to the results of the study, the need to rethink the role of the library Institute in the knowledge society in the modern digital environment is stated. The conclusion about the necessity of appropriate changes in the strategic documents and the relevant law libraries with fixing forms and ways through digital technology in the process of ensuring access to library and information library and information resources as necessary conditions for constructing a unified electronic knowledge spaces.