KNOWLEDGE : Concept and facts in context Chapter 5 summary By Courtney Dawson

Knowledge: Concept and facts in concept Analysis of how essential concepts and facts, learners attitudes and beliefs, and societal problems and expectations can be contextualized within the curriculum

Thinking about concepts Primary focus of both curriculum and instructional design Concept formation-introducing new concepts Concept development-practicing and applying a concept Concept attainment-using a concept in context

Problem with teaching concepts Concepts are constantly being taught, but a thorough understanding of the essential elements of concepts, how concepts relate to each other, and how learners construct and assimilate concepts into their cognitive structure may be missing. Let’s test this theory with a little pre-assessment

Identifying concepts 1. Given the curricular area you are planning to design or redesign, list at least 10 but no more than 20 major concepts that are essential for students to learn 2. Group the concepts listed by a categorical relationship that links them together. 3. Organize those groupings by showing the superordinate, coordinate, and subordinate concepts in each category. 4. Finally, identify the attributes of each of the concepts in one of your categories to show how and where the superordinate, coordinate, and subordinate concepts share common attributes.

Thinking about concepts After just thinking about doing all how do you feel? Confused, frustrated, or both? The feeling is natural and may reflect how students feel if they were asked to perform a task after completing a unit that has just been taught.

Thinking about concepts Cheer up there is a way to begin thinking about concepts and concepts learning that will alleviate the confusion and frustration

Understanding concepts What is a concept ? a way to categorize and organize experiences A way to connect the web of ideas that emerge from the categorization

How do we understand concepts? To understand the elements that make up concepts and how these elements can help organize conceptual structures for curriculum design we look at concept attitudes.

Concept attributes Attributes can be described as the following: Criterial-essential to defining the concept Where examples are derived from when we teach the concept Noncritical-nonessential for defining the concept Learners most be able to distinguish between the two to get the concept Learner must demonstrate how and why the criterial attributes fit that concept and only that concept

Example of criterial/noncriterial attributes Island defined is a body of land surrounded on all sides by water, the phrase “Land surrounded by water” represents criterial attributes. Size, location, and topography would be noncriterial attributes Problem: learners that confuse the two by thinking “an island is a body of land located in the ocean” by high school many learners have managed to learn many misconceptions because they learned the concepts and attributes out of context

Thinking back to identifying concept To successfully complete the concept preassessment you needed to identify criterial attributes for the concepts,\ Separate them from the noncriterial attrbutes Then categorize them through a pattern that linked superordinate, coordinat, and subordinate concepts together Let’s look at an example

Vertebrates Criterial noncriterial Spine with internal skeletal system Birds Mammals Fish Amphibians Manners in which offspring are born Method of breathing External covering (fur, scales, feathers)

Vertebrates If these items were not categorized into criterial and noncriterial then it would be hard for the learner to identify appropriate examples and nonexamples when teaching these concepts.

Types of concepts Organized in 4 ways concrete./abstract Formal/informal Conjunctive/disjunctive /relational Enactive/iconic/symbolic

Types of concepts conjuctive disjunctive Conjunctive concepts has one set of criterial attributes that define the concept, these attributes remain the same across all examples. Example: A concept such as Island is conjunctive Island –body of land surrounded by water Self-service “island” in a gas station –concept of island maintains same attributes. consist of two or more sets of criterial attributes These must be taught with appropriate examples to ensure complete understanding Example: “Strike” multiple meanings (Turn talk to partner)

Types of concepts Relational concept Most difficult to categorize and to teach May have several sets of criterial attributes, but attributes have no real meaning unless they are viewed in relation to another set of attributes from another concept Examples: love, freedom, justice, love , a good taste Totally dependent on context to define them (one man’s junk is another man’s treasure)

Types of concepts Problems: When teachers treat relational concepts as conjunctive concepts This makes students identify the “correct” meaning for a symbol that means different things to different situations and circumstances.

Concept mapping Intentionally develop in 1973 by joseph novah (verbal learning) Serves to make new knowledge contextual and meaningful Differ from graphic organizer and webs Provide a much clearer representation of the relationships between and among superordinate, coordinate, and subordinate concepts and clearer pattern of criterial attributes

Examples of concept maps Please turn to pgs/51-53 Your assignment Take 5 minutes to read this section After reading this turn and talk to your shoulder partner “which concept map is easier for you to understand?”

Types of concept maps These examples point out critical issues to think about when creating a concept map When designing a map Determine if it accurately depicts the balance among the concepts that will be stressed in more detail and the ones that will be addressed more specifically

Other forms of knowledge Principles and facts-also included in curriculum design Principles-showing relationships between concepts] They tell how events or objects work or how they are structured Facts-statements that have been verified empirically; indicate a valid record Examples: