The AKRI has developed a way to formally study a knowledge area. The principal focus of the study is a Knowledge Structure Map (KSM).
Details of the KSM can be found elsewhere on this web site but the basic idea is as follows. A KSM is a diagram of boxes linked with lines. Each box represents a specific item of knowledge. Each line shows what a person would normally be expected to already know before a full and complete understanding of a specific piece of knowledge can be gained. In this way, a map is organised by learning dependency and so it can be used reasonably effectively as a learning guide.
A specific methodology is used to elicit a full map and this involves identifying: the knowledge elements within a knowledge area, the knowledge that understanding is based upon, expert opinion about each knowledge element and brief definition and description. The software tool used to elicit a KSM contains decision support capability to help managers of a knowledge area to develop and protect the knowledge resource. It also contains export facilities to create a learning resource for the knowledge area.
The KSM introduced in this section addresses the question of:
What knowledge is needed in order to know how to interview people effectively?
Access to material is through mouse clicks on each box or knowledge element.
Colours guide the learner. Green boxes are the things that should be learned next and purple boxes indicate what has already been learned. Any access is allowed but only access that satisfies the learning dependency rules will be acknowledged by colour change.
The material accessed is usually in three parts:
More detail concerning this particular map can be found in [section 4] of the source document.
Please use the map to explore this knowledge area. If you follow the guidelines correctly, you can come back to the map later and carry on from where you left off.