Quest For Knowledge

Domains of Practice

Both the Web-based learning environment and the study-abroad activities of Quest For Knowledge use case-based reasoning as a means of learning by example. The learning practices and artifacts of ancient Greece are the cases (examples). Generative (leading) questions are used as a coaching tactic to stimulate and guide learner-centered reasoning of these cases.

The objective is to find contrasts and parallels with contemporary issues in cognitive science and educational technology. The goal of the case-based reasoning is to help learners index these cases with their prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of these fundamental issues in learning and teaching.

One of the fundamental differences between learning and teaching in ancient Greece and contemporary practices is the specialization of knowledge. Our strategy to bridge this gap is to provide learning and teaching cases within the framework of several domains of practice.

Each domain of practice presents a lesson unit consisting of three types of lessons which present learning and teaching issues from the multiple perspectives of education, practice, and artifacts.

For example, the three lessons in the Poetry domain cover the folowing topics.

Education - What is poetry and how is it taught and learned in ancient to contemporary Greece?
Practices - How is poetry practiced in ancient to contemporary Greece?
Artifacts - What examples of poetry can be found in the artifacts and settings of ancient to contemporary Greece? How was poetry depicted in the artifacts of other domains such as painting, sculpture, music, physical arts, and elementary education?

Each of these domains is linked to the other domains at relevant points so that a convergence of understanding can approximate the more unified body of knowledge and practices of ancient Greece.

To prepare yourself for this cognitive odyssey, choose any of the practice domains as your starting point and traverse them through the menu or links within each lesson to develop deeper understanding.

Elementary Education - The representation and use of knowledge through story-telling and games in elementary education. Representing knowledge domains through the broad disciplines of gymnasia and music.

Physical Arts - The representation and use of knowledge through the unity of body and mind. The learning of physical skills in authentic settings and activities.

Poetry - The representation and use of knowledge through the media and practice of poetry. The rhyme and meter of the spoken and written word.

Painting - The representation and use of knowledge through the painted image, sculpted form, and the architecture of place. The power of icons and symbols to index knowledge, invoke memory, and evoke experience.

Music - The representation and use of knowledge through vocal and instrumental music. The study of harmony, acoustics, and related sciences.

Elementary Education || Physical Arts || Poetry || Painting || Music