Knowledge Cycle

Humans have been thinking, talking and writing about knowledge for thousands of years. In the 1960’s and 70’s descriptions of “knowledge workers” and “knowledge management” appeared in the academic literature, followed by “knowledge acquisition” and “knowledge-based systems”.

More recently the recognition that knowledge mobilization/ transfer/ exchange is essential to the research process led to the development of a detailed knowledge cycle by Ian Graham which has been adopted and promoted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Our graphic representation tries to keep the key idea of the knowledge cycle accessible - namely that it is a cycle or continuous loop. The cycle can begin with a research question, or a set of data, or a learning that leads to a decision to change practice.

Research questions drive the need for data collection. For data to be turned into useful knowledge it needs to be analyzed and interpreted to generate meaningful insights. The insights from the data are used to form knowledge, which becomes the basis for further action but requires communicating the knowledge gained. Knowledge is then applied in real-world practices, with the goal of making improvements or changes. The cycle continues as actions taken from the new knowledge generate new data, and the process repeats to ensure continuous learning and improvement.

This type of learning cycle is core to other frameworks in the collection including the learning partnership in the Complexity Theory of Outcome Creation, Accountability to Learning, Rules to Principles, and Collective Impact.