Teaching Concepts

CONCEPTS are (1) categories into which experiences are organized and (2) the larger network of intellectual relationships brought about through categorization. Understanding a concept requires some level of critical thinking in order to make associations between words and ideas according to certain criteria.

Objects or events are sorted into concept categories according to their basic characteristics or critical attributes.

The critical attributes must be present in a particular sequence, relationship or patterns to qualify for category placement. These represent the concept criteria.

The specific ordering of attributes is known as the concept definition or rule.

Identify an important concept or key idea in a content-area lesson. Choose a more complex or abstract concept that lends itself to a higher level of analysis. The characteristics of concepts are as follows:

Concrete, semi-concrete, abstract: Can a person see, hear, touch, taste or feel the concept or aspects of the concept? Or does the concept involve combining multiple thoughts and ideas that are remote in time and space?

Is the concept narrowly defined through a few converging features or characteristics versus broadly defined with divergent and multiple features or characteristics?

What critical attributes distinguish this concept from other related concepts? What rules or criteria define the concept? Which qualities, characteristics or attributes are essential in classifying this concept into its class or category? Does the concept represent a system? If so, how are the component parts related to each other? How do they act on each other and respond to each others actions? Are there clear examples and non-examples that illustrate and distinguish the concept rule or criteria?

Consider how students may have experienced or be familiar with the concept, i.e., its representational forms within the students’ experience: By doing it? By seeing it depicted or represented vicariously? Through symbols or language? Perhaps students have experienced aspects of the concept or are familiar with some representations of the concept, but have not linked these together to appreciate their inter-relationships. Or are they merely unfamiliar with the labels and words used to define and describe the concept? Does the concept have personal and public dimensions?

Is the concept being learned or taught in a formal context such as in school or training program? Or is it learned primarily or initially in an informal context such as a social setting or through casual observation? If a concept learned informally is a component of an academic lesson, how is the informal learning of the concept being linked or transferred to the formal classroom setting and for what purpose?

Examine the word naming a concept for prefixes, suffixes, and or root words. This morphological analysis will reveal the meanings embedded within words according to their structure.

Teaching cognates is a way of relating new words in English to known words in a students’ native language. Often words that are common in a student’s L1 will be “big words” or less commonly used terms in English.

Words with a deceptive morphological structure: outline, nevertheless, discourse

False friends

Synforms: cute/acute, available/valuable, conceal/cancel, price/prize, industrial/industrious

Words you can’t guess when there are non-existent contextual clues, unusable contextual clues, misleading and partial clues or suppressed clues

5. What are some interesting and learner-relevant examples or cases of the concept which you can use in its explanation?

6. What are some contrasting non-examples of the concept that will help clarify or illustrate the concept?

7. What are some cues, questions or directions that can be employed to call attention to critical and non-critical attributes in the concept examples?

8. What is the most efficient, interesting and thought-provoking medium (or media) by which to present examples and non-examples?

9. What level of concept mastery do you expect of students and how will you measure it?

Ex. Be able to define "lake" and state the similarities and differences this body of water has with other major bodies of water through a project.

Teaching word meanings related to concepts:
How to select and teach vocabulary

1. Word meanings are best learned through conceptual development. This approach stresses in-depth understanding as opposed to surface understanding. Existing concepts can be used as a basis for acquiring new concepts. For example, a student who knows what a horse is can relate the new concept of unicorn to horse in order to understand the new concept.

2. Word meanings should be learned in context. The contextual setting gives student clues to word meanings. The teacher should provide examples in which the new word is used correctly and students should have opportunities to apply the word's meaning.

3. Vocabulary instruction should be based on learner-generated word meanings. Learner involvement increases understanding and memory; thus, when students use their experience and background knowledge to define words, they learn better. The words serve as labels for concepts and students associate words to a larger vocabulary and experiences.

4. Vocabulary should focus on usable words. The use of vocabulary related to a theme or instruction in "word webs" is helpful. Students should be taught how to figure out related words.

5. Students should be taught the use of context clues and structural analysis skills (prefixes, suffixes, root words).

6. Students should learn to use the dictionary, thesaurus and glossary to develop understanding of word meanings when they cannot figure out the meanings from experience, context or structural analysis.

The following are ways to define words within a text. These forms of definition of words and terms can also be used to teach students to use context as clues to meaning while reading content-area texts. These are also useful as strategies for defining words in writing without isolating words from their context, thus focusing students on associating words with their related concepts.

A micrometer is an instrument used with a telescope or microscope for measuring minute distances.

A machete, like a sword, can be very dangerous. In bright light, the pupils of the eyes contract; in the dark, they dilate.

A ginkgo is a tree of eastern China that has fan-shaped leaves and provides much shade.

The mercury in the thermometer was dropping--the quicksilver was
contracting. The acid, not the base, reddened the litmus paper.

All alone, Jim heard the creaking sound of the opening door and saw a shadowy figure standing suddenly before him. Jim was literally stupefied.

Even though he was sixty-five years old, he continued to love sports. He played a skillful game of tennis and seldom missed his daily swim. He was very athletic.

Roe, B.D., Stoodt, B.B., & Burns, P.C. (1987). Secondary School Reading Instruction: The Content Areas. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Cooper, J. M. (Ed.). (1986). Classroom Teaching Skills. Boston, MA: D.C. Heath.

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