Distinguishing knowledge-sharing, knowledge-construction, and knowledge-creation discourses

van Aalst, Jan

At one level, knowledge-creation discourse involves the design and improvement of intellectual artifacts such as theories, explanations, and proofs (Bereiter 2002) . Drawing from Popper's theory of objective knowledge, Bereiter considers ideas to be real objects similar to bicycles or telephones. We may ask how a bicycle can be improved, and we can ask the same of an idea. This aspect of the discourse is known as "design-mode" (Bereiter and Scardamalia 2003) , with an emphasis on explanations, casual mechanisms, and the coordination of claims and evidence.