Diverse Learners:
Effective educators do not view a diverse classroom as a challenge or a problem that needs to be overcome (Schmidt, 2012). Effective educators need to value the diversity in their classroom and appreciate the different views and opinions that come along with it. This may include students with special needs and students who are English language learners. All students, need to feel valued and recognize the importance that they add to the learning community.
Concept attainment models can be good at achieving this. Concept attainment models focus on connecting your own previous knowledge with the new facts and information that you are learning. There is no right or wrong answer to your previous knowledge on a subject and all views, opinions, and perceptions are valued equally, because they are all important to the process.
In the concept attainment model students with disabilities are not drilled on factual information that they are "supposed to know". They are rather allowed an opportunity to develop insight about their own understandings and are allowed to capitalize on their strengths, this provides them with a greater opportunity to develop deep understanding of new concepts and skills (Schmidt, 2012). This can help greatly increase their ability to remember information as well as apply it to settings outside of the classroom.
"The
effective facilitator will select and design learning experiences that allow
special need students to build on their individual strengths and understandings
to accommodate their needs." (Schmidt, 2012).
Concept attainment models can provide for a unique opportunity for teachers to allow for english language learners to share their ideas about the content and explain how they developed those ideas. This allows educators to capitalize on diverse experiences on a daily basis (Schmidt, 2012). By doing so, students can then share their personal and cultural experiences used to make sense of the topic being discussed. Multi-cultural experts have pointed out that students who have the opportunity to hear first hand accounts of diverse experiences have a greater opportunity to develop new interests (Schmidt, 2012). These new interests may generate a more positive discussion, or more interest in different subjects within the classroom itself. Which can have a positive impact on both learning and the learning environment.
Basic strategies that teachers are familiar with can also be used within concept attainment models easily. These can include pictorial cues, translating important materials, providing peer mentors, using non-verbal cues, using hands-on activities and so on. Therefore, concept attainment model lessons can provide just as much, if not more, opportunities for English language learners to collaborate and excel in the classroom.
References
Schmidt, Diane. Stephans, Joseph. (2012). Models, Methods, and Strategies for a New Era: Shifting
Emphasis From Teaching to Learning.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Example Lesson Plans for Concept Attainment in Language Arts
The following are links that will allow you to view examples of Concept Attainment Lesson Plans for Language Arts and English instruction.
http://web.archive.org/web/20031211010906/http://faculty.rmwc.edu/dnicholson/courses/metaphors.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20031110103738/faculty.rmwc.edu/dnicholson/courses/paradox.htm
http://www.byrdseed.com/can-you-spice-up-grammar/
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=25198
Concept Maps
Concept Maps can be a powerful tool in using the concept attainment model. Concept maps can be used for almost any lesson in any subject, including language arts. You could even use a concept map in order to get a visual for a student's understanding of a story that they are read. An example of how to use concept maps and the concept attainment model for a language arts lesson is as follows:
Step 1: Ask students to read a story.
Step 2: When the students are completed the story, ask them to work in groups of three in order to create a concept map of the story. This concept map can include characters, settings, events, and any connections that the students have made from this story and other stories or from this story to their own lives.
Step 3: Each group presents and shares their concept map, describing what they have added. Encourage the students to ask questions and discuss concept maps at length.
Step 4: After seeing each of the other groups concept maps, each group is now able to add any information they would like to their own concept map. They can add information that they saw on another concept map, or anything that they thought of or that was discussed.
Steps for a Concept Attainment Model
Planning
the activity
1.
Determine the concept that children will attain.
2.
Clarify the concept by defining it.
3.
Choose objects, pictures, symbols, words, and so on that children can identify
as examples (with a "yes" or "thumbs up") or nonexamples
(with a "no" or "thumbs down"). Determine about 10-15
"yes" and 10-15 "no" items in advance.
4. Arrange examples and
nonexamples in order for presentation. You should arrange items so that
initially more than one concept might apply. The concept-attainment activity
will demonstrate this. Eventually, as you present more "yes" items,
children will narrow their ideas to one concept. At the early childhood level,
I recommend that the teacher always start the activity by presenting two very
obvious "yes" items and then two "no" items, one at a time.
"Yes" items must all have a common feature. "No" items
should contain a variety of attributes instead of simply being the opposite of
the "yes" items.
5.
Review items in advance for presentation and anticipate children's reactions.
Make sure that every "no" item does not fit the concept or idea.
Adjust the order of items if necessary. Although you should devise a written
plan, remember that you can make adjustments to the order of items while
implementing the activity. Be flexible; every group of children will respond
differently.
6.
Determine when to present the concept-attainment model in the curriculum for learning effectiveness. For example, would it be most
effective as an opening activity, an activity in the lesson, or a closing
activity for summative assessment?
Reference
Gallenstein, Nancy L. "Creative discovery through
classification." Teaching Children Mathematics11.2
(2004): 103+. Academic ASAP. Web. 23 May 2015
How Can This Effect Language Arts Instruction?
How Can This Effect Language Arts Instruction?
When concept attainment models are considered are typically with use of science or mathematics lessons. These subjects are more directly related to the creation and integration of new concepts. However, all subject areas can benefit and have benefited from the use of concept attainment models in the classroom. Language arts can benefit from concept attainment models in several ways.
Often when teachers are educating students on new words and their meanings, they take a direction that focuses on memorization. As discussed in other entries, focusing instruction on memorization alone is not effective because it is not how our brain operates, it is also not effective in helping students retain the information that they have learned. In order for these new words and definitions to be retained properly, we need to find a way to connect these new words and meanings to the students prior knowledge and experiences using concept attainment models.
The task presented to teachers is to shape an entirely new concept in the mind of the student (Carroll, 1964). The teacher must teach the word and the meaning, they must recognize unfamiliar ways in which familiar words may be used, and they must be aware of the possibility in meaning. This is a large task to be tackled by an educator, and the old models and strategies may not be effective in doing so accurately.
Another area of language arts instruction that may benefit from concept attainment models is the reading of stories and literature. One research study has shown that the retelling of stories is effective in improving children's comprehension of the story, concept of story structure, and oral language complexity (Morrow, 1985). Mentally reconstructing the events by rearranging pictures in the stories sequence, role playing the story, or building representations of the story are all effective in improving comprehension (Morrow, 1985). This is because these tasks are more closely related to how our brain learns and retains information. These tasks could be included and implemented as part of a concept attainment model lesson plan.
References
Carroll, John. (1964). Words, Meanings, and Concepts. Harvard Educational Review. Volume 34.
Issue Number 2. page 178-202.
Morrow, L. Mandel. (1985). Retelling Stories: Strategy for Improving Young Children's
Comprehension, Concept of Story Structure, and Oral Language Complexity. The
Elementary School Journal. Volume 85. Issue Number 5.
When concept attainment models are considered are typically with use of science or mathematics lessons. These subjects are more directly related to the creation and integration of new concepts. However, all subject areas can benefit and have benefited from the use of concept attainment models in the classroom. Language arts can benefit from concept attainment models in several ways.
Often when teachers are educating students on new words and their meanings, they take a direction that focuses on memorization. As discussed in other entries, focusing instruction on memorization alone is not effective because it is not how our brain operates, it is also not effective in helping students retain the information that they have learned. In order for these new words and definitions to be retained properly, we need to find a way to connect these new words and meanings to the students prior knowledge and experiences using concept attainment models.
The task presented to teachers is to shape an entirely new concept in the mind of the student (Carroll, 1964). The teacher must teach the word and the meaning, they must recognize unfamiliar ways in which familiar words may be used, and they must be aware of the possibility in meaning. This is a large task to be tackled by an educator, and the old models and strategies may not be effective in doing so accurately.
Another area of language arts instruction that may benefit from concept attainment models is the reading of stories and literature. One research study has shown that the retelling of stories is effective in improving children's comprehension of the story, concept of story structure, and oral language complexity (Morrow, 1985). Mentally reconstructing the events by rearranging pictures in the stories sequence, role playing the story, or building representations of the story are all effective in improving comprehension (Morrow, 1985). This is because these tasks are more closely related to how our brain learns and retains information. These tasks could be included and implemented as part of a concept attainment model lesson plan.
References
Carroll, John. (1964). Words, Meanings, and Concepts. Harvard Educational Review. Volume 34.
Issue Number 2. page 178-202.
Morrow, L. Mandel. (1985). Retelling Stories: Strategy for Improving Young Children's
Comprehension, Concept of Story Structure, and Oral Language Complexity. The
Elementary School Journal. Volume 85. Issue Number 5.
A National Model for Concept Based Curricula
A National Model for Concept Based Curricula:
There are many leaders in the field who are pushing and fighting for a concept based curricula. Those such as Lynn Erickson write how a concept based curricula can help better the education of our students nationally. In Lynn Erickson's book Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum Instruction and Concept-based Learning she states that
"After years of leading local curriculum committees in writing standards-based, concept-based curricula across the United States, I have come to the conclusion that we should develop a model for concept-based curricula at the national level, with teacher teams of our best disciplinary experts representing each grade level. This national model would state clearly what students must know factually, understand conceptually, and be able to do in each subject area. The leaders of the discipline-based writing teams would create a uniform concept-based design across the different disciplines. This means that they would need solid training in the what, why and how, of concept-based curriculum design. The writers would strive for clarity, coherence, and rigor through the grade levels and across subject areas. The current national and state standards are not curriculum documents they are curricular frameworks. The next step is to provide solid models for classroom curricula.
For science and social studies the national curriculum model could be in the form of concept-based interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary instructional units for each grade level and course that are rigorous (intellectually) coherent (internally, horizontally, and vertically), and clear. These grade level instructional units would be developed using the current national standards as a base, but would focus the content to reflect the most critical knowledge, concepts, and skills of the discipline. Secondary mathematics would also be designed as units of instruction.
Elementary mathematics and language arts would need a developmental skill sequence. The elementary mathematics would also need to develop the statements of conceptual understanding (generalizations) to accompany the necessary skills. Ideally, all other disciplines (fine arts, career and technical education, health and physical education and so on) would follow suit in designing concept-based curriculum models for a well-rounded education"
She continues to claim that the current state academic standards fail to articulate clearly the differences between three components (factual knowledge, conceptual understanding, and key processes and skills). She states that if teachers had these three sets of understanding articulated clearly in their curricula that they could teach deeper factual knowledge and and conceptual understanding.
References
Erickson, H. Lynn. (2008). Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum Instruction
and Concept-based Learning. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, California.
There are many leaders in the field who are pushing and fighting for a concept based curricula. Those such as Lynn Erickson write how a concept based curricula can help better the education of our students nationally. In Lynn Erickson's book Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum Instruction and Concept-based Learning she states that
"After years of leading local curriculum committees in writing standards-based, concept-based curricula across the United States, I have come to the conclusion that we should develop a model for concept-based curricula at the national level, with teacher teams of our best disciplinary experts representing each grade level. This national model would state clearly what students must know factually, understand conceptually, and be able to do in each subject area. The leaders of the discipline-based writing teams would create a uniform concept-based design across the different disciplines. This means that they would need solid training in the what, why and how, of concept-based curriculum design. The writers would strive for clarity, coherence, and rigor through the grade levels and across subject areas. The current national and state standards are not curriculum documents they are curricular frameworks. The next step is to provide solid models for classroom curricula.
For science and social studies the national curriculum model could be in the form of concept-based interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary instructional units for each grade level and course that are rigorous (intellectually) coherent (internally, horizontally, and vertically), and clear. These grade level instructional units would be developed using the current national standards as a base, but would focus the content to reflect the most critical knowledge, concepts, and skills of the discipline. Secondary mathematics would also be designed as units of instruction.
Elementary mathematics and language arts would need a developmental skill sequence. The elementary mathematics would also need to develop the statements of conceptual understanding (generalizations) to accompany the necessary skills. Ideally, all other disciplines (fine arts, career and technical education, health and physical education and so on) would follow suit in designing concept-based curriculum models for a well-rounded education"
She continues to claim that the current state academic standards fail to articulate clearly the differences between three components (factual knowledge, conceptual understanding, and key processes and skills). She states that if teachers had these three sets of understanding articulated clearly in their curricula that they could teach deeper factual knowledge and and conceptual understanding.
References
Erickson, H. Lynn. (2008). Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum Instruction
and Concept-based Learning. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, California.
Trends in Education
Trends in Education:
There was a time when education was viewed as simple memorization of facts and information. It was thought that teachers needed to present information to the students, and the students needed to memorize and retain the information. Simple exams with multiple choice questions were all that were needed in order to gauge a students level of understanding. Teachers could test what students had learned by simply testing their memorization of the information that had been presented to them. For example, did they remember the definition of this word, or the date on which that event occurred, or the name of the President that signed this act. Although memorization of factual information is important. Nowadays that is not the primary goal of education. Now we strive for something higher.
Why has there been a shift away from memorization of facts? It has been discovered that it is simply just not compatible with how our brains works. Memorization and comprehension are very difficult for the brain unless it has a way to analyze and connect the information to previous understanding (Schmidt, 2012). Those who are successful in memorizing information can only retain this information for a short period of time if it is not connected to previous understanding.
"What we now understand about learning indicates that instructional models and strategies based on the memory notion of cognition and over-emphasize lower-order thinking are not adequate for successful learning. New models and strategies engage learners in thought-provoking experiences in which they question, explore, analyze debate, create, and evaluate information and experiences. Through emphasis these higher-order thinking tasks and activities, learners will also successfully achieve those lower-order cognitive skills."
(Schmidt, 2012)
References
Schmidt, Diane. Stephan, Joseph. 2012. Models, Methods, and Strategies for a New Era: Shifting
Emphasis from Teaching to Learning.
There was a time when education was viewed as simple memorization of facts and information. It was thought that teachers needed to present information to the students, and the students needed to memorize and retain the information. Simple exams with multiple choice questions were all that were needed in order to gauge a students level of understanding. Teachers could test what students had learned by simply testing their memorization of the information that had been presented to them. For example, did they remember the definition of this word, or the date on which that event occurred, or the name of the President that signed this act. Although memorization of factual information is important. Nowadays that is not the primary goal of education. Now we strive for something higher.
Why has there been a shift away from memorization of facts? It has been discovered that it is simply just not compatible with how our brains works. Memorization and comprehension are very difficult for the brain unless it has a way to analyze and connect the information to previous understanding (Schmidt, 2012). Those who are successful in memorizing information can only retain this information for a short period of time if it is not connected to previous understanding.
"What we now understand about learning indicates that instructional models and strategies based on the memory notion of cognition and over-emphasize lower-order thinking are not adequate for successful learning. New models and strategies engage learners in thought-provoking experiences in which they question, explore, analyze debate, create, and evaluate information and experiences. Through emphasis these higher-order thinking tasks and activities, learners will also successfully achieve those lower-order cognitive skills."
(Schmidt, 2012)
References
Schmidt, Diane. Stephan, Joseph. 2012. Models, Methods, and Strategies for a New Era: Shifting
Emphasis from Teaching to Learning.
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