Knowledge creation and learning through conversation: a longitudinal case study of a design project

This research set out to establish a link between knowledge creation and learning. This was achieved by developing links between types of knowledge and learning styles using insights from experiential learning theory. Recently, the concepts of individuality-relationality, linear and cyclical time and status and solidarity have been included in experiential learning theory. These concepts move the focus away from the individual and towards interactive, conversational learning .. This is one of the first pieces of research to operationalise and explore these concepts empirically. A coding frame and analytical tools were developed to measure learning styles used in task-focused conversations among a team working on the design of a goods lift. Learning styles were used flexibly by participants and with great social skill. The qualitative analysis demonstrated the flexibility with which the participants used different styles of learning: sometimes they worked together using the same styles, and on other occasions they took up contrasting positions. Patterns in the use of these conversational learning styles were examined to see if, and when, cycles of knowledge creation took place. The results showed that learning styles were determined more by the nature of the immediate task than by the stage of the project or by individual predisposition to use a particular learning style. There has been a burgeoning discussion about the respective roles of tacit and explicit knowledge in organisations in recent years. However, this research suggests that processes reflection and activity have an equal and complementary role. Reflection and action define the means and rate at which experience and knowledge are transformed into something new. Thus, the tacit-explicit dimension does not stand alone: it can only be understood in combination with the action-reflection dimension.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Aston University

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Ross, Alec N.

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.48780/publications.aston.ac.uk.00011008

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:publications.aston.ac.uk:11008