Inert knowledge
Encyclopedia
Inert knowledge is information which one can express but not use. The process of understanding
Understanding
Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....

 by learners does not happen to that extent where the knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...

 can be used for effective problem-solving in realistic situations.

The phenomenon of inert knowledge was first described in 1929 by Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...

:
More often than not, it is common that what knowledge one gains from an instructional setting (i.e. schools, universities, etc) is not typically used outside the corresponding context. The fact that there is a lack of knowledge transfer from from in-school contexts to out-ofschool contexts seems to question the effectiveness of teaching we hold so dearly. An example for inert knowledge is vocabulary of a foreign knowledge which is available during an exam but not in a real situation of communication.

An explanation for the problem of inert knowledge is that people often encode knowledge to a specific situation, so that later remindings occur only for highly similar situations.

In contrast so called conditionalized knowledge is knowledge about something which includes also knowledge as to the contexts in which that certain knowledge will be useful.
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