IB theory of knowledge

1. Understanding Knowledge
Questions

2. Knowledge claims / knowledge questions
• Knowledge claims (KCs) and knowledge questions
(KQs) can be distinguished into two groups: 1> first
order knowledge claims and questions, and 2> second
order knowledge claims and questions.
• Framing knowledge questions for the purposes of TOK
assessments requires students to move from first order
knowledge claims to second order knowledge questions
• This process begins in immediate experience (what we
experience directly, see, read etc.)
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3. From experience to a level 1 KC
• A newspaper story headed: “Vitamin supplements have
little or no proven benefits for consumers: Harvard
study” is one example of the sort of thing we are likely to
encounter in our daily life experience.
• This story can be transformed into a specific claim by
the person reading it, e.g., “Vitamins have no health
benefits”.
• This claim is an example of a first order knowledge
claim. It is rooted in the experience of the individual who
is making it.
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4. From Level 1 KCs to Level 1 KQs
• “Vitamins have no health benefits” is a level 1 KC that
can become the object of inquiry. Some people might
accept the claim as warranted because of its source
Others, for any number of reasons, may be skeptical of
the claim.
• The second view can lead to a variety of responses,
including a level 1 KQ.
• “How did the researchers at Harvard University arrive at
their conclusion?” is an example of a level 1 KQ.
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5. Level 1 KQs
• Level 1 KQs, as in the previous example, are tied to
Level 1 KCs.
• They are about the “how’s” of specific knowledge
acquisition and sometimes include references to the
“why’s” of its acquisition.
• The specific Level 1 KQs will vary relative to the AOKs
in which the KCs are framed. Apart from common,
general questions about logic, meaning, relevance, etc.,
one is likely to ask very different level 1 KQs about
knowledge claims in history, the natural sciences and
the social sciences. This reflects differences in how
knowledge is constructed across these different
disciplines.
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6. Level 2 KCs
• Level 2 KCs are different from Level 1 KCs. They are
not claims about what we “know” as a result of
experience or thinking. They are claims about
“knowledge itself”, i.e., how, if at all, it can be acquired,
whether or not it changes, what conditions it must satisfy
in order to count as “knowledge” etc.
• In the case of the KQ about the value of vitamin
supplements (i.e., “How did the researchers at Harvard
University arrive at their conclusion?”) a Level 2 KC
might be: “Science based research is more reliable than
anecdotal evidence when assessing the health benefits
of products and procedures.”
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7. More on Level 2 KCs
• The Level 2 KC: “Science based research is more
reliable than anecdotal evidence when assessing the
health benefits of products and procedures.” is not about
vitamins in particular, nor even about health care
products and procedures.
• Level 2 KCs are about knowledge. In the case at hand,
it is a claim about the comparative reliability of one type
of knowledge when compared with another type of
knowledge. It is, in other words, about knowledge itself
and how it is achieved.
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8. Level 2 KQs
• Level 2 KQs are also about knowledge itself – but unlike
KCs they are “questions”, not “claims”.
• To continue with our example (“Science based research
is more reliable than anecdotal evidence when
assessing the health benefits of products and
procedures.”) a Level 2 KQ might be: “How is the
reliability of a method for achieving knowledge
established?” or “If we do not know the answer to a
specific question, then how do we tell when we have
found the “right” answer to that question?”
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9. Back to the Beginning
• We began with an experience, i.e., a newspaper story
headed: “Vitamin supplements have little or no proven
benefits for consumers: Harvard study”.
• After some reflection and analysis we arrived at the
following KQs: “How is the reliability of a method for
achieving knowledge established?” and “If we do not
know the answer to a specific question, then how do we
tell when we have found the “right” answer to that
question?”.
• Our KQs make no reference to vitamins. They are
about knowledge itself.
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10. KQs and ToK Concepts
• Level 2 KQs are about knowledge. Some of the
terms appearing in them are thus also concepts
explored in TOK, e.g., “evidence”, “proof”, “logic”,
etc.
• Some TOK concepts can be drawn from the
Knowledge Framework, Areas of Knowledge, Ways
of Knowing and the Map Metaphor. Others are
centered on knowledge and knowing and, apart
from those mentioned already, include: “belief”,
“certainty”, “truth”, “culture”, “faith”, “induction”,
“experience”, “memory”, “imagination” etc.

11. The Evolution of a KQ
level 2 KCs
and KQs
level 1 KCs
and KQs
experience/re
ason/authority
etc.
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12. What is a knowledge question?

13. Images of KQs
• The pyramid illustration of knowledge questions
conveys a sense of “movement” from an experiential
base to a higher, more conceptually conditioned,
perspective.
• There are other images that also serve to crystalize the
idea behind knowledge questions.
• “Steps”, “elevators”, “stairs’, “escalators” and “ladders”
are some others. Each of these images conveys the
idea that knowledge questions involve movement away
from the ground that engenders them.
• The “ladder of abstraction” further clarifies Level 2 KQs.
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14. The Ladder of Abstraction (1)

15. Ladder of Abstraction (2)
• To recap: knowledge questions begin in real-life
situations, e.g., magazine articles, attending a debate
on faith vs. science, a thought one might entertain
while studying history, a question about ethics
• As individuals reflect on Level 1 knowledge claims
ideas and arguments emerge leading to more general
questions that are typically about knowledge.
• Level 2 KQs emerge as individuals move, in their
thinking, from specific, subject-centered questions to
more general questions about knowledge itself and
how it is acquired

16. Ladder of Abstraction (3)
• Real-life situation.
• A description of this situation, subject or topic: Not
a KC or a KQ.
• Narrow question, implicitly about how knowledge
is acquired in the case at hand: Level 1 KQ, Poor
KQ for TOK discussion.
• Open-ended question, explicitly about knowledge
Intermediate KQ.
• Open-ended question, explicitly about knowledge
itself, couched in terms of TOK vocabulary /
concepts: Good KQ for TOK discussion.

17. Ladder of Abstraction (4)
• Newspaper article/book review on God and
physics.
• Physics and God: description
(specific/concrete)
• How do religious people come to their beliefs?
Level 1 KQ: (poor) KQ for TOK discussion.
• Are religious beliefs reasonable? (intermediate)
• How can reason and experience be used to
support or oppose religious faith? (good) – it is
about knowledge itself and uses TOK concepts.

18. Knowledge Question Template

19. Truman’s Decision
• How, if at all, can intuition and imagination
contribute to establishing truth in history?
• How can we determine if wartime decisions are
right?
• Was using the bomb the only option available to
Truman?
• Military Strategy
• Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb during
WWII

20. Count the number of black dots
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21. • Arrange the following from “ground” to good
(Level 2) KQ:
• What can we learn from optical illusions?
• Why do optical illusions happen?
• What, if anything, do optical illusions tell us
about sense perception and truth?
• Here is an optical illusion
• Optical illusions
Dots

22. Sexist Language

23. Sexist Language
• How, if at all, do language and emotion affect
perception and thinking?
• Is prejudice possible without language?
• Does sexist language affect the beliefs children
have about women?
• “Fireman” and “chick” are sexist terms
• “That chick is hot!”

24. Certainty
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25. Are you certain?
• Under what circumstances, if any, might we
be justified in claiming that a belief we hold is
certain?
• Can we know something with certainty?
• Does feeling certain of something lead to
dogmatism?
• Is belief infallible?
• A magazine photo featuring the idea of
certainty
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26. Knowledge Questions - Activity
• Look to the subject area you teach. In teaching your
subject there are a number of topics you will address in
any given week or month. Select a topic and then frame
a level 1 KC (e.g., The roots of WW II are in the Treaty
of Versailles).
• …frame a Level 1 KQ
• …frame a Level 2 KC
• …frame a Level 2 KQ
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