prior knowledge
What you already know
Prior knowledge is what someone already knows before encountering new information or beginning a task.
The term appears frequently in education, where teachers build on students' prior knowledge to introduce new concepts: Activating prior knowledge helps students connect unfamiliar material to what they already understand.
In legal contexts, prior knowledge of a crime or defect can establish liability.
Temporary exterior work platform
- prerequisiteRequired prior condition
- readinessState of being prepared
- formative assessmentOngoing measure of student grasp
- diagnostic testingTests identifying conditions
Organized representational structure
- preconceptionsOpinions formed beforehand
- assumptionsUnproven things taken as true
- conceptual frameworkStructure for organizing ideas
- implicit understandingAssumed shared knowledge, unstated
Independent of experience
- presuppositionImplicit prior assumption
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- KantianOf duty-ethics philosophy
- synthetic a prioriNecessary truths that expand knowledge
nativism · first principles · axiomatic · foundationalism · precondition
scaffolding
Temporary exterior work platform
- prerequisiteRequired prior condition
- readinessState of being prepared
- formative assessmentOngoing measure of student grasp
diagnostic testing · placement · remediation · differentiation
schema
Organized representational structure
- preconceptionsOpinions formed beforehand
- assumptionsUnproven things taken as true
- conceptual frameworkStructure for organizing ideas
a priori
Independent of experience
- presuppositionImplicit prior assumption
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- KantianOf duty-ethics philosophy
synthetic a priori · nativism · first principles · axiomatic · foundationalism · precondition
- developmentgrowth, progress, advancement, expansion, improvement
- knowledgebook learning, encyclopedia, reference book, dictionary, thesaurus
- prerequisitesprereqs, corequisite, degree requirement, corequisites, intro course
- constructivismPiaget, Jean Piaget, scaffolding, schema, equilibration
- Equity Pedagogyequity in education, social justice education
- reader responsereader, response, meaning-making, active reading, gaps
prior knowledgeblank slate
Unmarked starting point
tabula rasa · ignorance · clean slate · empty vessel · naivety
knowledge, prior, priority, prioritize, priory, priorities, prioritized, prioritizing, prioritization