What is it and why is it important?

The knowledge of how to ride a bicyle is clearly different to the fact that two plus two equals four, or the fact that when I feel hungry I usually have a meal.

We can categorise this into

Declarative knowledge

Knowledge that relates to facts such as the days of the week, the price of a pair of shoes and the colour of fresh cow’s milk.

Procedural knowledge

Knowledge that relates to how to do something such as to tie your shoe laces, to drive a car or follow a style of coding.

Conditional knowledge

Knowledge the relates to when something must be done such as one knowing that your dog must be walked, knowing how to walk the dog and knowing WHEN to walk the dog.

It might seem like a simple categorisation but when entering unfamiliar environments it is useful to categorise the product of the learning experience as some kinds of knowledge are more urgent to get to know than others. Imbalances such as a desire to DO, but not knowing HOW to DO or WHEN to DO can lead to disconcerting experiences since it is self-evident that in the learning experience some kinds of knowledge must be sought before others.

What has been my experience with it?

Being able to categorise types of knowledge into their general usefulness gives me a framework for knowing how far away I am from being able to start to DO something (useful).

How have I operationalized this knowledge?

After being able to categorise or order types of knowledge that must be aquired it maybe helpful to think about a more structured context-specific framework for analysing an environment. For example when learning how to make sour-dough bread it might be useful to begin learning the terms or names of the things used in bread-making leading onto the specific bits of knowledge peculiar to making sour-dough bread. Once one has the names of things, you learn what to DO with those things. During the breadmaking process not all steps are performed at once, one checks for the existence of action-cues which prompt one to move toward the next step or initiate some action.

The wildest possibilities this knowledge might enable

A must faster learning cycle. A better way to communicate knowledge about processes. A way to deconstruct a process.