Abstract: It has always been a challenge for business students to acquire technical knowledge. Such challenges are more pronounced at urban minority universities where many returning students often have additional obstacles that prevent them from learning as traditional students do. In response to the situation, we have developed a learning tool, called the Knowledge Assimilation Schema (KAS), that guides students to focus on the development of their knowledge structures rather than the collection of isolated knowledge entities. The learning tool has two major components: a knowledge representation framework that facilitates structural understanding and a knowledge acquisition process that steers deeper learning. Initial feedback and results from KAS have shown a noticeable improvement in conceptual learning of technical subjects, especially among nontraditional students.

Keywords: Conceptual learning, Knowledge assimilation, Knowledge representation, Object orientation, Ontology

Download this article: JISE - Volume 17 Number 2, Page 223.pdf

Recommended Citation: Sheu, M. Z. & Wong, W. -C. (2006). A Knowledge Assimilation Schema for Acquiring Technical Knowledge. Journal of Information Systems Education, 17(2), 223-229.