Dwight Stewart wrote in message ...
"N2EY" wrote:

"Knowledge" in this context really means anything
that can be learned and known consciously by a person.

There are at least three different kinds of knowledge -
facts, concepts and skills.

Is there significant knowledge in using a hammer skillfully?

Yep, if you accept that skill is a type of knowledge. Besides the
skill of actually hammering, there's knowing what hammer to use for a
particular job, knowing how to hold the hammer and thing to be
hammered, and what safety precautions to take.

Facts are concrete pieces of information, and are
learned by pure memorization. "1 plus 1 equals 2
in base 10" is an arithmetic fact. A person can
know all sorts of facts with no understanding of
what they mean.

Concepts are understandings of how things work and
what they mean. Such as the concept of addition,
which requires understanding. Of course without
facts, very little can be done with pure concepts.

(snip) Most of what is on the written test is facts.
The Morse test is almost pure skill. Concepts get the
short end.

Why snip the skills definition?

I'm not sure I can fully agree with that since the written tests do
require at least rudimentary understanding of scientific concepts like radio
waves, RF exposure, atmospheric affects on radio waves, and so on (all found
in even college level science textbooks, including Ohm's Law).

Not really, Dwight.

Many of the written test questions are about the rules and regs, such
as band edges and power limits. Also symbol identification,
definitions, and other facts. One doesn't have to know what a kHz is
to know that the 40 meter band is 7000 to 7300 kHz. Nor does it
require an understanding of the operation of electronic components to
correctly identify which symbol is, say, a JFET.

More importantly, since the Q&A are all in the public domain, all that
is needed to get an answer correct is to identify which of the 4
answers is correct. How this is done by the testee and how much
understanding is involved is not a concern of the FCC or VEs as long
as there's no cheating involved. Rote memorization, word association,
and random guessing are all accepted ways of getting an answer
correct. Get enough answers correct and the license is issued.

For example, suppose a question asks for the length of a 40 meter
dipole made of wire and offers 4 answers. Someone could learn about
dipoles and get the correct answer. Or they could simply learn "40
meter dipole wire 66 feet" with absolutely no understanding of what a
dipole is other than that a 40 meter one is 66 feet long. In fact,
thinking about that one too much could get you in trouble because '40
meters' is actually about 131 feet.

I never saw much if anyhting about radio in any of the science
textbooks I had, grade school through college. I did see some stuff in
my engineering textbooks, though. But by then I had been a ham for 5
years.

73 de Jim, N2EY

"Scientists dream of doing great things. Engineers do them." (usually
attributed to Wehrner Von Braun)

WWHD