KNOWLEDGE AND CURRICULUM 2

The Difference Between Knowledge And Skills: Knowing Does Not Make You Skilled

For many people, knowledge and skills are similar concepts used to describe competency. But for learning professionals they should be considered as two quite different yet related concepts.

Identifying The Difference Between Knowledge And Skills 

Knowledge is information acquired through sensory input: Reading, watching, listening, touching, etc. The concept of knowledge refers to familiarity with factual information and theoretical concepts. Knowledge can be transferred from one person to another or it can be self acquired through observation and study.
Skills, however, refer to the ability to apply knowledge to specific situations. Skills are developed through practice, through a combination of sensory input and output. As an example, social skills are developed through interaction with people by observing, listening, and speaking with them. Trial and error is probably the best way to achieve skills mastery.
To make it simple, knowledge is theoretical and skills are practical. You can know all the rules of a sport, know all the teams and all players, know all the statistics, but this only makes you knowledgeable about this sport; it does not make you any good at it. To become good at a sport you must play it, practice its techniques, and improve your skills through experience. You don’t need to know all the teams or all the players to practice a sport and you can easily learn the rules as you play, through trial and error.
The same applies to a job: One can know a lot about a subject matter, but might not have the skills required to apply that knowledge to specific tasks, since knowledge does not provide skills. However, developing skills normally provides some knowledge, as practicing those skills results in sensory inputs. As an example, an aerospace engineer may know a lot about avionics and flight theory, but this alone does not make him an aircraft pilot. On the other end, an aircraft pilot only requires a minimal level of knowledge about avionics and flight theory in order to be able to fly the plane, and this knowledge will continue to increase as he gains experience flying a simulator or an actual plane.