1.1. Motivation
A growing number of networked-based information sharing applications and learning environments have been developed for delivering information and instructional materials to Internet users or students. This age is also marked by a sharp increase in the popularity of search engines, which allow users with little or no training to access a seemingly unlimited amount of information. This presents a new challenge for users and instructors: the
information itself may have less value than in the past. I therefore believe that information shared via the Internet requires further utilization to benefit users in terms of learning and creative thinking potential. In particular, Taiwanese company executives are placing greater emphasis on manufacturing and Taiwanese educators on learning, in both cases without giving much attention to developing creative thinking potential. This can lead to negative consequences in an age marked by an overabundance of information. After describing a pilot study addressing human factors that influence information search behavior patterns, I will offer suggestions for search interface design to facilitate information sharing and search efficiency. Next, I will address the issue of making the best use of distributed information to facilitate learning, to assist learners in meaningful knowledge construction, and to enhance creative thinking potential.
Educators and many organization managers are acutely aware of the significance of creativity for learning and economic activity. However, creativity involves a complex mix of factors; it is not easy for students to generate creative end products in a short period of time.
Therefore, this dissertation mainly serves as an initial step toward achieving greater potential for creative thinking by means of improving conceptual awareness. To assist in this effort, I
have used a combination of information technology (IT) tools and education theory to create a methodological model I refer to as creative knowledge engineering (CKE) (Fig. 1). The purpose of CKE is to develop multiple Internet-based learning environments in which users can benefit from self-awareness via information sharing or learning processes, especially in terms of conceptual awareness. By establishing self-awareness, users can avoid the restrictive effects of habitual thinking, and consequently deepen their learning based on information shared over the Internet and develop creative thinking potential through the breaking of concept boundaries.
1.2. The creative knowledge engineering model
1. Information Search
2. Knowledge Construction
3. Creative Thinking
Self-awareness
•of cognitive/social processes•through self-disclosure and peer feedback
Incorporating new information into cognitive structures
Finding novel relationships by breaking boundaries
Self regulation
Figure 1. Creative knowledge engineering (CKE) model
The CKE model consists of three phases:
1. Information sharing and search. This step involves applying search technologies to
locate valuable information to achieve efficient information retrieval. During this process, users must be aware of what they are looking for and the relationship between required information and acquired information in order to avoid getting off-task or having to deal with irrelevant search results. My belief is that thinking style—a distinctly human factor—can be incorporated into search engine interface design to better predict search intentions and to help users comprehend search results.
2. Active knowledge construction instead of passive information sharing. CKE considers information sharing as an intermediate step in a process consisting of active
engagement in meaningful learning and knowledge integration. As a result of my literature review and from personal observations concerning popular Web applications, I have created four sharing activity categories: basic sharing, sharing with notification, sharing with feedback, and sharing with interactions. To overcome the tendency to passively absorb delivered information, I have designed a “beyond sharing” approach that emphasizes the integration of cross-unit knowledge in the pursuit of personal goals to generate productive exchanges among students. Students need to be aware of what they acquire in order to grasp the complexity of a problem and to find special meaning from self-experience to accommodate or assimilate new information into their personal cognitive structures.
3. Creative thinking potential. This step emphasizes the idea of using computer
technology as an auxiliary tool to externalize multiple viewpoints, facilitate individual awareness of concept boundaries, and enhance creative potential. I believe taking advantage of concept mapping to help students become aware of possible gaps in their existing conceptual structures is an essential step in improving student learning effects and creative potential. Various concepts or leads generated by peers may be used to stimulate creative associations that individuals may not otherwise come up with
because of their inflexibility in utilizing prior knowledge. In this manner, the restrictive impact of habitual thinking on creative potential can be reduced or eliminated.
1.3. Research goal
This dissertation aims to develop a series of Internet-based knowledge construction and sharing environment that facilitate users’ awareness ability, especially in terms of
conceptual awareness. I will begin with a pilot study that focuses on information sharing and search behavior and proceed to two studies on active knowledge construction and enhancing creative thinking potential to explore the power of utilizing distributed information over the Internet. These research activities are designed and conducted to activate or improve
self-awareness and self-regulation of user behaviors when (a) searching for and incorporating valuable information into cognitive structures through a process of active knowledge
construction, (b) discovering novel relationships by overcoming conceptual boundaries, and (c) identifying and considering creative ideas. Users can repeat the information search and knowledge construction steps in order to grasp the complexity of an assignment by getting glimpses of what others have done to address the same assignment, by finding reference data, and by identifying problems through knowledge re-construction.
After users collect sufficient information and learn corresponding knowledge that allows them to fully understand the context of a problem, they can further look for either novel relationships or remote associations between ideas in the acquired knowledge. However, simply possessing knowledge is insufficient for creativity to occur—imagination is also
required. I believe self-awareness plays an essential role in bridging the gap between
imagination and knowledge. Induced by self disclosure or peer feedback, self-awareness can assist in the generation of creative associations, since people with greater self-awareness can
more easily observe changes in self or environment and to use such observations to make creative changes and adaptations. Aspects of self-awareness could focus on cognitive and social processes. In this dissertation I emphasize conceptual awareness when building Internet-based knowledge sharing and construction environments. The guiding goal is to deepen users’ learning experience and even to remove barriers to creative thinking by giving learners opportunities to observe differences between their own and their peers’ knowledge structures.
The participants in the experiments described in this report are from elementary schools and colleges, but future researchers can recruit participants from any age group they desire to replicate these studies, to confirm the results, and to provide more thorough analyses.
The knowledge sharing and knowledge construction environments, as well as the beyond sharing and concept boundary-breaking activities presented in this dissertation, can easily be introduced to students of all ages. However, it is important to use learning materials that fit the learners’ comprehensive abilities and needs.