A presentation I created for my Methods of Teaching class (spring 2012) explaining Concept Teaching to my fellow students.

1. CONCEPT TEACHING
By: Junior, Ryan, and Stacie

2. WHAT IS CONCEPT LEARNING?
 The process of constructing knowledge and
organizing information into comprehensive and
complex cognitive structures
 MORE than just classifying objects and forming
Categories
 MORE than just learning new labels or vocabulary
to apply

3. CONCEPT LEARNING
 Helps the learner:
 Understand specific concepts
 Understand the nature of concepts
 Utilize logical reasoning and higher level thinking
 Improve Communication
Specific
Concepts
Nature of
Concepts
Concept Teaching
Logical Reasoning and
Communication Higher Level Thinking

4. NATURE OF CONCEPTS
 What is a concept?
 Mental abstractions/categories for things in the physical
world
 Involves putting something into a class, then
recognizing other members of that class
 Ex: A student has a pet dog named Max. The concept would
be “Dog”, and the student would use existing knowledge of
Max to recognize and categorize other “Dogs”

5. TYPES OF CONCEPTS:
CONJUNCTIVE CONCEPT
 A conjunctive concept is a concept with a constant
rule structure.
 Triangle – A plane figure with three straight sides and
three angles.
 Bird – Warm-blooded animal with wings and feathers.

6. TYPES OF CONCEPTS:
DISJUNCTIVE CONCEPT
 A disjunctive concept is a concept that contains an
alternate set of attributes.
 Noun – A person, place, or thing; however cannot be all
three at once.
 Strike (Baseball) – Occurs when a batter swings and
misses, hits the ball into foul territory, or the batter does not
swing and the Umpire decides that it passed through a
designated zone; cannot be all three at once.

7. TYPES OF CONCEPTS:
RELATIONAL CONCEPT
 A relational concept is a concept whose rule structure
depends upon relationships.
 To understand relational concepts, one must
understand the “other” and the relationship between
them.
 Time and Distance – Relative to beginning and end points
 Aunt- describes a relationship between siblings and
offspring

8. NATURE OF CONCEPTS:
EXAMPLES/NON -EXAMPLES
 Concepts are learned through use of Examples and
Non-Examples.
MAMMALS
Examples: Non-Examples
Dog Snake
Cat Ant
Squirrel Jellyfish
Cow Tree

9. NATURE OF CONCEPTS:
CRITICAL/NON-CRITICAL ATTRIBUTES
 Critical Attributes are features of a concept that
distinguish it from all other objects.
 Non-Critical Attributes are features found on some,
but not all, members of a category.
Attributes of Birds
Critical Non-Critical
Feathers Feather Color
Warm-Blooded Ability to Fly
Feet Webbed Feet

10. THEORISTS:
JEAN PIAGET
 Stages of Cognitive Development
 Sensorimotor (0-2 yrs.): Begin to recognize objects
 Preoperational (2-7 yrs.): Develop language; able to
think symbolically; see others’ Point of View
 Concrete Operational (7-11 yrs.): Able to solve concrete
problems logically; able to classify
 Formal Operational (11-15+): Able to solve abstract
problems logically

11. THEORISTS:
JEAN PIAGET
 Believed people adapt to their environment through
assimilation and accommodation.
 Assimilation- Trying to understand new information by
adapting it to what is already known (pre-existing
schemata).
 Accommodation- If new data does not fit into pre-
existing schemata, development of new schemata for
the new data.

12. THEORISTS:
JEROME BRUNER
 Three distinct modes of learning:
 Enactive Mode – Learning by doing
 Iconic Mode – Learning by forming mental images
 Symbolic Mode – Learning through a series of abstract
symbols or representations
 As children develop, less emphasis is placed on
doing and more is placed on the abstract

13. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
SELECTING CONCEPTS
 Curriculum is the primary source for new concepts
 Concept lessons should be taught if materials
contain:
 Unfamiliar terms
 Unknown steps
 New “Rules”
 INCLUDE NEW VOCABULARY WORDS

14. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES
 Direct Presentation
 Rule-to-Example – Concept is named, defined, then
examples/non-examples given
 Focus is on labeling and defining the concept
 Concept Attainment
 Example-to-Rule – Begin with examples/non-examples,
students discover concept through inductive reasoning
 Labeling and defining come at the end
 Higher level thinking; more useful with older students

15. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
DEFINE THE CONCEPT
 Identify the concept’s name
 List critical and non-critical attributes
 Write a concise definition
 Ex: Concept = Dinosaur.
 Critical Attributes: Reptile, lived 65+ million years ago,
extinct
 Non-Critical Attributes: Carnivore, Bi-pedal, Huge
 Dinosaurs are reptiles that lived over 65 million years
ago and have gone extinct.

16. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
ANALYZE THE CONCEPT
 Formulate Examples and Non-Examples
 Examples serve as connectors between the concept’s
abstraction and the learner’s prior knowledge
 Examples should be as concrete and meaningful as
possible
 The isolation of attributes is critical
 Use Charts, Diagrams, Webs, Visuals, etc.
 Sequence Examples/Non-Examples
 Display typical examples before atypical ones
 Critical examples are the most immediate neighbors,
non-critical examples are as different as possible.

17. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
SOCIAL CONTEXT
 Critical attributes of conjunctive concepts are fixed
across social contexts.
 Some disjunctive or relational concepts change
among social contexts
 Poverty – Different cultural definition or delineation
 Aunt – Strict blood relative vs. any adult involved in
raising a child
 North/South – Different attributes per location

18. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
SOCIAL CONTEXT
 Labeling of concepts is also influenced by context
 Concept remains the same, but labeling is different
 American vs. British Labeling:
 Trunk vs. Boot
 Flashlight vs. Torch
 Elevator vs. Lift
 Sorcerer’s Stone vs. Philosopher’s Stone

19. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
CREATE A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
 Graphic Organizers highlight critical attributes and
make concepts more concrete
 4 steps for creating a web:
1. Create core (focus) of web: Name of the Concept
2. Strands branch out from the core: Critical Attributes
3. Strand Supports: connect Critical Attributes to Concept
4. Identify strand ties: show relationship among attributes
 Analogies are also VERY helpful, as they help to
incorporate prior knowledge.

20. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (PAGE 336)
Encloses the Figure
Three Closed,
Equal Simple,
Sides Plane
Figure
Equilateral
Triangle
If equal Shapes the
sides, then Figure
equal angles
Three
Equal
Angles

21. PLANNING FOR CONCEPT TEACHING:
PLAN TIME AND SPACE
 Most Concept Teaching lessons use Row and
Column seating during instruction
 The time required for student understanding may
vary depending upon the age of the learners
 Typically, the biggest problem with this step is that
the teacher does not afford enough time for
understanding to occur.

22. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
CLARIFY AIMS AND ESTABLISH SET
 Clearly communicate the aims of the lesson and
how it will proceed
 You may go over the steps of the lesson and why
the concept is important to learn

23. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
INPUT EXAMPLES AND NON-EXAMPLES
 Two types of presentation:
 Direct Presentation
1. Name the concept and provide definition
2. Identify critical attributes and give examples/non-examples
3. Test for understanding by having students provide
examples/non-examples that fit

24. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
INPUT EXAMPLES AND NON-EXAMPLES
 Two types of presentation:
 Concept Attainment (students must have some prior
knowledge of concept)
1. Give examples labeled “Yes” & non-examples labeled “No”
2. Have students hypothesize about attributes and record ideas
3. Have students name the concept and describe process used in
identification
4. Check for understanding by having students identify examples
as “Yes” or “No” and have them explain why
5. Teacher only gives concept definition AFTER students have
engaged in the discovery of critical attributes.
 Teacher’s Roles:
1. Record Student hypotheses and critical attributes identified
2. Cue students
3. Provide additional data if needed

25. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
TEST FOR ATTAINMENT
 Provide additional examples/non-examples to test
students’ understanding of the concept
 Students are asked to provide their own
examples/non-examples

26. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
ANALYZE STUDENT THINKING/LEARNING
 Get the students to think about their own thinking
process
 Ask students to examine their decisions and the
consequences of their choices
 Help students integrate new learning by relating the
concept to other concepts in the unit of study

27. IMPLEMENTING CONCEPT LESSONS:
ASSESSMENT
 Ideas and strategies used in defining/analyzing concepts
can be used to evaluate understanding
 Have student do more than define concept with words
 Ask the student to use the concept in new situations
 Can use traditional selected-response items to test
knowledge and concept development
 Test items should include examples to measure ability to
discriminate between examples/non-examples
 Employ different test formats, such as True/False, Multiple
Choice, Matching, Short Answer, or Short Essay