Knowledge, skills and understanding

Three views of one activity

A cyclist can name the brakes, use them to slow down and explain why a wet road can change braking conditions. These achievements support one another, but a check of one does not establish all three. Naming the controls does not show controlled braking, and fluent action does not establish a correct explanation.

Knowledge includes facts, concepts and relationships. A skill is an ability to carry out an activity with some reliability. Understanding involves making sense of relationships, explaining reasons and recognising when an idea applies. These are overlapping ways to describe learning targets, rather than separate compartments in a person. A practical skill often uses knowledge and understanding at the same time.

Match the check to the goal

Suppose your goal is to read a bus timetable. Knowing what a column heading means is useful knowledge. Finding a departure that arrives before a named appointment checks use of that knowledge in a task. Explaining why another departure arrives too late adds evidence about how the choice was made.

Connect these checks during practice. Identify the relevant headings, choose a journey and explain the choice. If the journey is unsuitable, ask where the reasoning broke down. Perhaps a heading was misunderstood, a row was followed incorrectly or the arrival time was compared with the wrong deadline. Each difficulty suggests a different next step.

One correct answer is not complete evidence of understanding. The learner may have guessed or recognised a familiar answer. A correct explanation adds evidence, but it too can be memorised. A changed example and further relevant questions can help distinguish a rehearsed response from flexible use of a relationship.

Describe the ability, not the person

A musician may name every note yet struggle to keep a steady pulse. Describe the demonstrated strength and the specific difficulty: note knowledge is available, while timing in this passage needs practice. Calling the person a good or bad learner hides the information needed to decide what to do next.

The form of a check also matters. Someone may demonstrate a procedure or point out a relationship more clearly than they can describe it in polished speech. Awkward wording alone does not disprove understanding. Use a suitable demonstration, drawing or explanation, while keeping the goal clear. If the goal itself is to explain an idea to someone else, communicating it is part of the ability being practised.

Understanding a poem, reading a timetable and operating a tool require different evidence. For each activity, specify what a defensible interpretation, reliable action or useful explanation would look like. Avoid treating one general label as a complete description of what someone can do.

Worked example

Try it yourself

Think through each question before opening the answer.

1. A musician names every note in a passage but cannot keep a steady pulse. What should the next practice target?

   Show the answer and reasoning

   Target timing in a manageable part of the passage, with feedback on the pulse.

   The note knowledge is useful and should be retained. Repeating note names alone does not address the timing difficulty. Choose an action that reveals whether timing is becoming more reliable.

2. A learner correctly says that a quarter of a litre is 250 mL, then fills a tapered 500 mL jug to half its height. Which part needs checking?

   Show the answer and reasoning

   Check how the learner uses the jug's calibrated scale and distinguishes volume from height.

   The numerical answer shows relevant conversion knowledge. Half the height of a tapered container need not contain half its volume. Ask the learner to locate the 250 mL graduation and explain why that mark, rather than a guessed height, matches the request.

3. Why ask for an explanation after a correct answer, and why might you also use a changed example?

   Show the answer and reasoning

   An explanation can reveal the reasoning behind the answer; a changed example can test whether that reasoning can be used beyond the rehearsed case.

   Neither response establishes complete understanding by itself. Explanations can be memorised, and language demands can hide what someone understands. Combine relevant evidence and use a response format suited to the learning goal.

What to carry forward

• State what you want the learner to know, do or explain.
• Connect facts, practical actions and reasons while keeping their evidence distinct.
• Use a difficulty to choose a focused next check, rather than an all-or-nothing label.
• Match the form of a check to the actual activity and goal.