Facing the increasingly complex and ever-changing environment of present challenges, citizens in the fourth industrial revolution across the globe will need to develop knowledge-in-use proficiencies, which equips them with the scientific knowledge to make evidence-based informed decisions, support policy changes, and understand future consequences of lack of action. However, knowledge-in-use is a complex construct with multiple different sub-components. It remains challenging to both understand the underlying information processing mechanism and the inner cognitive process of knowledge-in-use. This chapter unfolds the latent process of developing knowledge-in-use by referencing several landmark cognitive models. Building on that, this chapter discusses how a project-based learning environment has the potential to support students' knowledge-in-use development.
TopIntroduction
Facing the increasingly complex and ever-changing environment of present challenges, such as food scarcity, pandemics, and climate change, citizens in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) across the globe will need to equip themselves with scientific knowledge to make evidence-based informed decisions, support policy changes, and understand future consequences of lack of action (Anderson, 2020; National Research Council, hereafterNRC, 2012a; NRC, 2011; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2016). To develop such a science-literate citizenry, educators must consider what students should ultimately know (big ideas) and be able to do (scientific practices) and how to develop learning environments to support this integrated type of proficiency (NRC, 2012a). As such, the goals of science education around the world have shifted to knowledge-in-use learning goals (Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE), 2015; Germany (Kulgemeyer & Schecker, 2014); USA, NRC, 2012a, 2012b; People’s Republic of China Ministry of Education, 2003). Knowledge-in-use requires all students to demonstrate and apply their knowledge, rather than recall what they know, by making sense of real-world phenomena, solving complicated problems and making informed decisions (NRC, 2012a; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2019; Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012).
Knowledge-in-use allows students to explain novel real-world phenomena or solve complex problems by applying what they learned (NRC, 2012b; NGSS Lead States, 2013). While the critical role of knowledge-in-use has been recognized and continues to receive critical attention (Charara et al., 2021; Harris et al., 2019; He et al., 2023; Pellegrino, 2012), it is a complex construct with multiple sub-components. As a result, it remains challenging to understand both the underlying information-processing mechanism and the underlying cognitive process of knowledge-in-use. Moreover, without understanding the nature of knowledge-in-use, it is even more challenging to explore further how to support an individual’s development of knowledge-in-use effectively.