On The Knowledge Instruction Reform Oriented Cultivation Of Practical Ability

The development of students'practical ability is attracting more and more attention in recent years. However, almost all of the attention is focused on such means as the extracurriculum activity and the integrated practice curriculum,and knowledge instruction is seldom taken as a necessary means to develop students'practice ability. On the other hand,the present knowledge instruction tends to aim at knowledge acquisition and cognitive development,and accordingly design, organize, implement and evaluate instruction,rather than aim at knowledge application and practice ability development. In fact, in the new era of knowledge-based economy and the rapid development of science and technology, the cultivation of students' practical ability should turn to the knowledge instruction, namely finding the way to develop this ability in knowledge application. With "the knowledge-instruction reform oriented cultivation of practical ability "as the core topic, the author analyzes the orientation of the knowledge instruction and its problems since the new China was founded, demonstrates the necessity of emphasizing the development of practice ability in the knowledge instruction and the mechanism of transforming knowledge to practical ability. Based on this discussion, this thesis further discusses the reform regarding to the corresponding knowledge learning and knowledge teaching and the internal and external conditions needed. Besides the introduction, the dissertation comprises five parts:In Chapterâ… , the author discusses the transformation of the subject of knowledge teaching and its necessity. Due to the importance of the subject in teaching, this chapter begins with the discussion of the orientation of the subject in knowledge instruction. Based on the brief review of the factual orientation of the knowledge teaching in different historical stages since the foundation of new China, the author argues that the traditional teaching mainly emphasizes on the cultivation of "knowledge person","cognitive bodies"or "cognitive subject",but ignores the cultivation of practical ability; Taking practical-ability cultivation as the goal of teaching meets the requirements of new practice forms, embodies the meaning of life in the learning and teaching to knowledge, and helps students overcome their cognitive inflexibility. Therefore, the subject of knowledge instruction should turn to the cultivation of students'practical ability.In Chapterâ…¡,the author reviews and analyze the current opinions regarding to the relation of knowledge teaching and cultivation of practical ability. The author begins with a brief retrospection of this relation in the history of Chinese and foreign education.and then. From the understanding of some contemporary theories, the author searches for the trend and new movement of this relationship and uses it as a guide of the author's research. In Chapterâ…¢,the author focuses on the mechanism of knowledge using and its transformation to the practical abilities which are the essential and fundamental part of the research. In order to turn the potential value of the knowledge instruction into the actual value for students'practical ability, we have to find the answers to the following question: how to transform the external theories and knowledge and others' experiences to the individual practice ability of the learner? what elements or conditions have influence on this process? Based on the consideration of these issues, this chapter reveals the mechanism of transformation of knowledge into practice ability from the two dimensions, vertical dimension and horizontal dimension.From the vertical dimension, the general procedure of applying knowledge to solve practical problems consists of six main steps:the application of knowledge to perceive problem context, the identification of the problem and confirmation the target state to which knowledge applied, the generation of the solution program to the problem from the combination with existing knowledge and resources, the defence of the feasibility of the solution program, the implementation of the solution program, monitor and adjustment of the solution program and eventually application of knowledge to solve the problem;these six steps are nonlinear, and form "loops" among different steps through reflection. In the back and forth process, the application program of the knowledge is to be continuously adjusted and amended and finally the practical problem is solved. From the horizontal dimension, in the practical problem-solving approach, the ways of the application of knowledge are mainly:directive application,variant application, restructured application and the integrated application.The process and the way of using the knowledge to solve the practical problems reflects the unification of knowledge, practice,and innovation.The main variables determining the knowledge application are direct experience,situational awareness, operational capabilities,communication abilities and reflection abilities.In order to solve the practical problem successfully, the application of knowledge should be considered in an integral way and combination of all these variables are necessary.In Chapter IV, the author discusses the reform of knowledge learning aiming at the knowledge application. Based on the critical reflection regarding to the cognitive standard, simplified style and unique process model of the knowledge learning, the author suggests that different types of knowledge needs different learning standards, learning styles and learning processes. From the perspective of the practical application of knowledge, knowledge is often manifested in complexity and situation. Accordingly, the knowledge learning may vary considerably. Therefore, the extension of the learning process of knowledge and the selection of the type of the knowledge learning need to be considered into it the complexity and situation of knowledge. Based on the above, it is necessary to reconstruct the idea and the types of knowledge learning by the way of "learning in using",which is an important learning style aimed at knowledge application and cultivation of practical ability and also contributes to the two-way construction of knowledge learning and practical ability.The theme of ChapterV is "teaching reform aiming at knowledge application and cultivation of the practice ability." Based on the previous argument, the author discusses the way of how to adjust and transform teaching system in order to create the teaching conditions for students to apply knowledge and develop the practice capacity. At the same time, from the view of the external environment system of teaching reform transformation of the knowledge system, the author further explores all the necessary conditions for the development of student' practical ability.