Robyler Article Response

Question #2: What is the difference between acquiring knowledge and employment of knowledge as described by Tennyson (1990) in the article?

According to Tennyson, acquiring knowledge is "the verbal information and procedural knowledge" and employment of knowledge is using "contextual skills, cognitive strategies, and creative processes." The difference between the two is that acquiring knowledge is what you are actually learning and employment of knowledge is taking what you learned and actually using it. Many students don't realize how important employment of knowledge is because they feel that they aren't going to actually use what they learn in school later in life. Employment of knowledge is just as, if not more, important as acquiring knowledge. Tennyson makes a good point when he says that 30 percent of learning time should be spent on acquiring knowledge and 70 percent should be spent on employment of knowledge. What's the point of learning if you aren't actually going to use it?