Knowledge production
Transition to producer of knowledge
We are consumers of knowledge whether formally in coursework towards a degree or informally as we navigate our daily lives. When new faculty members begin work in academic professions they make a transition to becoming producers of knowledge as well as continuing their role as consumers. The transition requires a shift in thinking and practice as new roles as researchers become the focal point of faculty work.
Knowledge organization
The academic community is continually conversing about knowledge and the many forms it takes, as well as ways of thinking about how to organize and arrange knowledge into categories such as disciplines, themes such as postmodern, areas of thought such as women’s ways of knowing, or whether to turn those notions upside down by thinking about cross disciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary conceptions of knowledge. This ongoing meta-analysis keeps all researchers thinking, rethinking and in dialogue about what it means to know and how we arrive at knowing.
Characteristics of knowledge producers
Knowing what sorts of activities characterize knowledge producers is key for new faculty members. Producers always have a series of questions they are working on, wondering about, or collecting for later study. They keep a series of files on potential research topics and add to them when they find pertinent articles, potential collaborators, or possible grants to support the research. They are on the lookout for related work, whether by other academics in the local, regional, national or international field, or by practitioners, or in related fields. Accomplished faculty members take time to read, ponder and think about the research questions. They have one or more research projects underway all the time. This staggering of research projects means that the various stages of the research process can be underway at all times, meaning there is always some work to be done. It is helpful to move from one project to the next when a project reaches a challenging sticking point or lag in forward movement due to delays in data collection, analysis, or writing. New faculty members should always be on the lookout for places to share findings by attending conferences, reading related publications, and talking with other researchers in the same area of inquiry.
Becoming a Knowledge Producer
Study Traces Transition from Student to Scientist
Tal, R. (2005). Newswise website, University of Virginia
This article describes how a University of Virginia professor is tracking how a student makes the shift from being a consumer of knowledge to being a producer of knowledge, such as an independent researcher who might win a Nobel Prize or patent a new vaccine. He hopes to figure out how this happens to understand and improve the teaching of science at earlier grades and at the doctoral level in an endeavor called, “Project Crossover.”
Ways to Think About Knowledge
Exploring Patterns of Knowledge Production
Pollock, R. (2009). University of Cambridge
This paper explores the advent of good “structural” data to explore “patterns of knowledge production” in deeper and richer ways using entirely new models.
The Imperialism of Categories: Situating Knowledge in a Globalizing World
Hoeber Rudolph, S. (2005). Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 3, No. 1
This Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of Chicago questions assumptions we make as researchers about the democracy of knowledge.
Mapping Difference: Structures and Categories of Knowledge Production
Mazumdar, S. (2006). Organized presentation at Duke University conference
The Duke University conference and resulting volume sought to move interdisciplinary and inter-area research towards engaging the historical processes and categories of knowledge production.
Interdisciplines: Rethinking Interdisciplinarity
Hacking, I.(October 4, 2010). Integrated Science Education Blog
This blog offers a reflection on the origin of disciplines and the elements of collaboration.
Technology for All? The Impact of Technology on Knowledge Production and Educational Development
Editorial introduction (2003). Current Issues in Comparative Education, Vol. 6, No.1. Teachers College, Columbia University
Many in the educational development community ascribe a transformative role to technology regarding the ability to acquire and use “knowledge” as critical to developing human capital. Others question whether it is being used as a panacea for complex educational development problems, questioning who is generating “knowledge,” for whose benefit, and with what future implications. This is an introduction to this issue which examines the salient matters involving knowledge and technology that concern international educational development, and raises evocative questions about the values placed on various types of knowledge.
The Ph.D. Problem: On the Professionalization of Faculty Life, Doctoral Training, and the Academy’s Self Renewal
Menand, L. (November/December, 2009). Harvard Magazine
In this work Menand examines general education, the state of the humanities, tensions between disciplinary and interdisciplinary work, and “Why Do Professors All Think Alike?" This excerpt probes the professionalization of a research-oriented professoriate and the practice and consequence of contemporary doctoral education, and the resulting implications for liberal arts colleges, universities, and the wider society.
Women’s Ways of Knowing Project
Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N. and Tarulet, Jill (2002). Women’s Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society
This project outlined 5 ways women come to knowledge, based on a study of women’s contributions to mind and society.
