Skip to main content

Information Management Versus Knowledge Building: Implications for Learning and Assessment in Higher Education

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment ((MEMA))

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to consider two distinct orientations toward learning within the context of twenty-first-century higher education that have implications for assessment of outcomes internationally—information management and knowledge building. These two orientations are compared and contrasted along various dimensions, and potential contributors to the pervasiveness of the information management profile within the current generation of undergraduates are explored. With this background established, pertinent steps toward fostering more effective information management and enhancing knowledge building in higher education contexts are shared with specific attention to the role of assessment practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackerman, R., & Goldsmith, M. (2011). Metacognitive regulation of text learning: On screen versus paper. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 17(1), 18–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A. (1997). Mapping the multidimensional nature of domain learning: The interplay of cognitive, motivational, and strategic forces. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 213–250). Greenwich: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A. (2014). Thinking critically and analytically about critical-analytic thinking: An introduction. Educational Psychology Review, 26(4), 469–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A. (2015a). A+ students/c- learners: Education’s report card. Psychology Today, American Psychology Association Blog Series. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psyched/201502/studentsc-learners-education-s-report-card

  • Alexander, P. A. (2015b). Information management versus knowledge building: Implications for learning and assessment in higher education. Affiliated meeting of KOKOHs, competence modeling and competence assessment in higher education, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Germany and the American Educational Research Conference, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., & Knight, S. L. (1993). Dimensions of the interplay between learning and teaching. The Educational Forum, 57, 232–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., & Murphy, P. K. (1998). Profiling the differences in students’ knowledge, interest, and strategic processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 435–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., & The Disciplined Reading and Learning Research Laboratory. (2012). Reading into the future: Competence for the 21st century. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2012.722511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Jetton, T. L., & Kulikowich, J. M. (1995). Interrelationship of knowledge, interest, and recall: Assessing a model of domain learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 559–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Dumas, D., Grossnickle, E. M., List, A., & Firetto, C. M. (2015). Measuring relational reasoning. Journal of Experimental Education., 84, 119. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2014.963216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Singer, L., Jablansky, S., & Hattan, C. (2016). Relational reasoning in word and in figure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108, 1140–1152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Grossnickle, E. M., Dumas, D., & Hattan, C. (in press). A retrospective and prospective examination of cognitive strategies and academic development: Where have we come in twenty-five years? In A. O’Donnell (Ed.), Handbook of educational psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Au, W. (2007). High-stakes testing and curricular control: A qualitative metasynthesis. Educational Researcher, 36(5), 258–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, J. B., & Collis, K. F. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning: The SOLO taxonomy (Structure of the observed learning outcome). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bok, D. (2009). Our underachieving colleges: A candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braasch, J. L., Rouet, J. F., Vibert, N., & Britt, M. A. (2012). Readers’ use of source information in text comprehension. Memory and Cognition, 40(3), 450–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BrĂĄten, I., Strømsø, H. I., & SalmerĂłn, L. (2011). Trust and mistrust when students read multiple information sources about climate change. Learning and Instruction, 21(2), 180–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinsmore, D. L., & Alexander, P. A. (2012). A critical discussion of deep and surface processing: What it means, how it is measured, the role of context, and model specification. Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 499–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumas, D., Alexander, P. A., Baker, L. M., Jablansky, S., & Dunbar, K. M. (2014). Relational reasoning in medical education: Patterns in discourse and diagnosis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(4), 1021–1035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durkin, D. (1978–1979). What classroom observations reveal about reading comprehension instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 14, 481–533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwistle, N., & Entwistle, D. (2003). Preparing for examinations: The interplay of memorizing and understanding, and the development of knowledge objects. Higher Education Research & Development, 22(1), 19–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entwistle, N. J., & Peterson, E. R. (2004). Conceptions of learning and knowledge in higher education: Relationships with study behaviour and influences of learning environments. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(6), 407–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. S. B., & Stanovich, K. E. (2013). Dual-process theories of higher cognition advancing the debate. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(3), 223–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foehr, U. G. (2006). Media multitasking among American youth: Prevalence, predictors and pairings. Washington, DC: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franco, G. M., Muis, K. R., Kendeou, P., Ranellucci, J., Sampasivam, L., & Wang, X. (2012). Examining the influences of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations on cognitive processing and conceptual change when learning physics. Learning and Instruction, 22(1), 62–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2004). Does your assessment support your students’ learning? Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 1(1), 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). A meta-analysis of writing instruction for adolescent students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(3), 445–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hattie, J. A. (1993). Measuring the effects of schooling. SET, 2, 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattie, J. (2013). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hembrooke, H., & Gay, G. (2003). The laptop and the lecture: The effects of multitasking in learning environments. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), 46–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, B. K. (2000). Dimensionality and disciplinary differences in personal epistemology. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(4), 378–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kulikowich, J. M., & Alexander, P. A. (2010). Intentionality to learn, in an academic domain. Early Education and Development, 21(5), 724–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • List, A., & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Cognitive affective engagement model of multiple source use. Educational Psychologist, 52, 182. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1329014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • List, A., Grossnickle, E. M., & Alexander, P. A. (2015). Undergraduate students’ justifications for source selection in a digital academic context. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633115606659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning: I—Outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46(1), 4–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, L., Ariasi, N., & Boldrin, A. (2011). Epistemic beliefs in action: Spontaneous reflections about knowledge and knowing during online information searching and their influence on learning. Learning and Instruction, 21(1), 137–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meece, J. L., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Hoyle, R. H. (1988). Students’ goal orientation and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 514–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. K., Rowe, M. L., Ramani, G., & Silverman, R. (2014). Promoting critical-analytic thinking in children and adolescents at home and in school. Educational Psychology Review, 26(4), 561–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nandagopal, K., & Ericsson, K. A. (2012). Enhancing students’ performance in traditional education: Implications from expert performance approach and deliberate practice. In K. R. Harris, S. Graham, & T. Urdan (Eds.), Educational psychology handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 257–293). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, H. (2013). Testing more, teaching less: What America’s obsession with student testing costs in money and lost instructional time. Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583–15587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrino, J. W. (2006). Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests. Washington, DC: National Center on Education and the Economy for the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (Eds.). (2001). Knowing what students know: The science and design of educational assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants: Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richtel, M. (2010, November 10). Growing up digital, wired for distraction. The New York Times, A1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2013). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8-to 18-year-olds. Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation Study.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, L. D., Whaling, K., Rab, S., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Is Facebook creating “iDisorders”? The link between clinical symptoms of psychiatric disorders and technology use, attitudes and anxiety. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 1243–1254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, W. H., Houang, R., & Cogan, L. S. (2011). Preparing future math teachers. Science, 332(603), 1266–1267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selwyn, N. (2003). Apart from technology: Understanding people’s non-use of information and communication technologies in everyday life. Technology in Society, 25(1), 99–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, L. M., & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Reading across mediums: Effects of reading digital and print texts on comprehension and calibration. The Journal of Experimental Education, 85(1), 155–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F., & Toplak, M. E. (2011). The complexity of developmental predictions from dual process models. Developmental Review, 31(2), 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wickelgren, W. A. (1977). Speed-accuracy tradeoff and information processing dynamics. Acta Psychological, 41(1), 67–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, E., Zivcakova, L., Gentile, P., Archer, K., De Pasquale, D., & Nosko, A. (2012). Examining the impact of off-task multi-tasking with technology on real-time classroom learning. Computers & Education, 58(1), 365–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zusho, A., Pintrich, P. R., & Coppola, B. (2003). Skill and will: The role of motivation and cognition in the learning of college chemistry. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1081–1094.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia A. Alexander .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Alexander, P.A. (2018). Information Management Versus Knowledge Building: Implications for Learning and Assessment in Higher Education. In: Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, O., Toepper, M., Pant, H., Lautenbach, C., Kuhn, C. (eds) Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education. Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74338-7_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74338-7_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74337-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74338-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics