Bachelor of Knowledge Integration Cheat Sheet (as understood by me in 2014)
Knowledge Integration is about connecting diverse knowledge to solve complex problems. –
or, “Connecting knowledge to solve problems” – Ed Jernigan
Theoretical Framework
It’s epistemology (the study of how we know what we know) and how diverse information and knowledge can be combined and articulated to create new knowledge and to inform others.
Practical Framework
It’s interdisciplinary management for diverse teams that are tackling complex problems in a creative way using the design process.
What kind of skills does it emphasize?
- being broad-based: interest in understanding and relating multiple disciplines, and seeking solutions across disciplinary boundaries
- intrinsic motivation: active seeking of challenges and testing of own limitations
- team play: excitement about effective collaboration
- curiosity: pursuing knowledge rather than waiting for it
- flexibility: readiness for challenge, ambiguity and change
- reflective: capability for self-examination and thinking about thinking
- principles: commitment to an active sense of responsibility and concern for the consequences of one’s work, both locally and globally
What kind of questions would it answer?
- How do you get engineers, psychologists, and artists to work together when they don’t speak the same disciplinary languages?
- How can we solve problems that are so complex and have such huge scope that they can’t be solved by one discipline alone?
- How can we use the design process and creative thinking to come up with effective, holistic and innovative solutions to problems? And how can we include as many different knowledge models and perspectives into those processes to come up with the best results?
- What interesting questions lie in the spaces between disciplines?
What am I doing with it?
- Improving my ability to solve problems by analyzing large amounts of information to synthesize numerous well-informed solutions and effectively communicate solutions in written, oral and visual ways.
- I’m specializing in Economics and Cognitive Science and am dabbling in art & design to explore how people make decisions at a micro and macro level, how those decisions influence others, systems and the world around us, and how we can influence those decisions through environmental and interactive design. (the intersect of economics, cognitive science & transdisciplinary design)
Links
Parsons Transdisciplinary Design MFA
My presentation to High School Students about KI from Summer 2014
geoff evamy hill 