The assessment of prior knowledge profiles: A support for independent learning?

Prior knowledge state is an important determinant in the future learning process of adult students. Research on the prior knowledge state has focused on its structure along a set of dimensions. In the theoretical part of this article a distinct approach towards the analysis of the prior knowledge state is outlined. This analysis is based on the idea of the ‘structure of knowledge’. This base is further exploited to define a set of dimensions that are helpful to construct ‘knowledge profiles’ by using different parameters along those dimensions. Two dimensions are distinguished: the behavioural dimension, consisting of the parameters know, insight and apply; the knowledge dimension, formed by the parameters concepts, relations, structures and methods. It is argued that the assessment of the prior knowledge state needs to be done by dedicated prior knowledge state tests. The relevance of using prior knowledge profiles is especially important in a context of independent, distance learning. Student groups that take courses within this context can be characterised as very heterogeneous (e.g. age, education, profession, interest and prior knowledge), but they often have to deal with fairly standardised instruction materials and learning environments. The view is defended that the determination of prior knowledge profiles can be helpful to enhance a student's learning process, to design more flexible learning environments and to provide instructional support.