Knowledge Structure Mapping
What is Knowledge Structure Mapping?
A KSM is an organised visual map containing nodes and connecting lines (arcs) and showing a knowledge area. A complete map also contains expert opinion about the knowledge area being shown.
The knowledge represented on the map is organised in the way that a human expert would acquire this knowledge, by learning dependency. This means showing knowledge that an expert would be expected to know before it would be possible for the expert to understand some new piece of knowledge. By default then, the map provides a learning structure for a knowledge area.
The map is also supplemented with expert opinion about the knowledge represented on the map. The informed opinion takes the form of 4 numeric items and 4 text items. Using the map structure and the expert opinion captured during map construction, it is possible to analyse the knowledge area and provide decision support information that allows a knowledge resource to be accounted for during decision making.
A software tool called KST (Knowledge Study Tool) is available to support map construction and analysis.
The KSM methodology provides a useful way to study a knowledge area and it has been used successfully in many business based projects.
Related Research
This research area relates to the understanding and development of the Knowledge Structure Mapping service for business. A paper that explains the ideas that the work is founded upon, Creating Knowledge Maps by Exploiting Dependent Relationships has been published in the journal 'Knowledge Based Systems' .
Additional explanatory papers
Using Knowledge Structure Maps as a Foundation for Knowledge Management
Creating Knowledge Structure Maps to support Explicit Knowledge Management
Knowledge Structure Mapping (KSM) involves making a knowledge area that may exist either solely or mostly in peoples heads, visible to the organisational management. In addition to this, the process includes qualification measures of the elements of knowledge within the knowledge structure that can be analysed in various ways to provide decision support. The process has been used many times in business, other organisations and even trade sectors. In each case, the managers responsible have been given the capability to make decisions regarding the support and development of the knowledge resource as well as taking information about the knowledge resource to inform other related business decisions. In general KSM offers an excellent decision support process that integrates the knowledge resource with other business decision making.
The sort of questions typically associated with Knowledge Structure Mapping include:
- What do I know if I know everything about 'knowledge area'? (Where knowledge area can be almost anything)
- What is it that 'line manager' needs to know to be fully functional? Etc.
The questions addressed by KSM are usually ones that are important business or organisational operations but they could also relate to more general knowledge areas or even more personal areas such as 'negotiation' or 'decision making'.
Outputs offer practical management decision support and include:
- A large colour coded knowledge structure map
- Data concerning decision priorities
- Automated analysis options
- Qualified advice to identify and rectify knowledge related problems
- Suggestions to develop the knowledge resource
- An on line learning support tool for the knowledge area