“I Know” Doesn’t Mean “I Can”: How Knowledge Scaffolds Skill

So I’ve been thinking about the relationship between declarative knowledge and procedural skill.

And I think we can look at declarative knowledge as a form of scaffolding for procedural skill.

Declarative knowledge can act as the foundation that guides the learner’s early attempts at performing a skill.

Just like scaffolding supports a building while it’s being constructed,

Declarative knowledge → guides → procedural performance

For example, if I teach someone the principles of effective feedback, they may know what good feedback looks like.

But if I only give them multiple-choice questions about those principles, I’ve failed to support the actual practice and feedback needed to develop the procedural skill.

Because:

“I know” ≠ “I can.”

The learner needs to actually practice giving feedback, receive feedback on their performance, adjust, and repeat.

So the relationship becomes:

Declarative knowledge
↓
Scaffolds early performance
↓
Practice
↓
Feedback
↓
Procedural skill develops
↓
Some components can become increasingly automated

And this is where I think the building analogy gets interesting.

The declarative knowledge can act like the scaffolding that supports the early construction of the skill.

As the learner practices, parts of the performance can become increasingly automatic, meaning they no longer have to consciously work through every single step.

That automation can then free up conscious processing for more complex performance.

So I wouldn’t say declarative knowledge simply becomes procedural knowledge.

Rather:

Declarative knowledge can scaffold and guide the development of procedural skill, while practice and feedback help that skill become increasingly skilled and, in some parts, automated.

And now I’m seeing why simply teaching knowledge isn’t enough.

If the performance requirement is “I can do it,” then the learning experience needs to give the learner opportunities to actually do it.

Day 85 of Instructional Design

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