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From Explicit Knowledge to Tacit Wisdom: Knowledge Management Challenges and Opportunities in AI-Era University Classrooms

Author(s)

Renyuan Nong

Affiliation(s)

School of Business Administration, Baise University, Baise, Guangxi, China

Abstract

In the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration into higher education, the modes of knowledge creation and dissemination have undergone fundamental transformation. While AI enhances the accessibility of explicit knowledge, it also challenges the traditional roles of teachers and the function of classrooms. Drawing on the perspective of Knowledge Management (KM) and grounded in Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model, this study investigates how explicit knowledge and tacit wisdom interact within AI-empowered university classrooms. Employing a qualitative research design, the study combines classroom observation and semi-structured interviews, analyzing 45 sessions across three universities. The findings reveal that AI reshapes the flow of classroom knowledge: explicit knowledge circulates more efficiently, but knowledge fragmentation increases. Despite AI’s dominance in knowledge delivery, classrooms remain the primary space for tacit wisdom generation through interaction, reflection, and contextual learning. Teachers’ roles are shifting from knowledge transmitters to knowledge managers and wisdom facilitators. The study recommends building an “AI + Knowledge Management” teaching system in higher education, strengthening teachers’ capacity for knowledge integration and reflective guidance, and transforming classrooms from knowledge arenas into wisdom ecosystems that balance technological empowerment and humanistic education.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence; Knowledge Management; Higher Education Classroom; Explicit Knowledge; Tacit Wisdom; Teacher Role Transformation

References

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