week 7: instructional strategies for conceptual knowledge

Conceptual knowledge involves the ability to apply knowledge in encountered circumstances.
(This differs from declarative knowledge for declarative only involves memorising an association between different entities)
THEREFORE, concepts have both declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge.

Concepts are defined as:
sets of specific objects which are grouped together on the basis of shared characteristics and can be referenced by a particular name or symbol (Merrill & Tennyson, 1977).

To put it in layman terms, it simply means: Knowing the meaning of....

It is important to understand that there are two different types of concepts.
1. concrete concepts (can be known by their physical characteristics)
2. abstract concepts (defined; no appearance)
It is hard to determine sometimes if the concept is abstract or concrete as it usually depends on the level of sophistication of the learners.

Thus, it is crucial to know the level of sophistication of learners because the way to address these two concepts differs in strategies.

The characteristic of concepts is attributes.
There are 3 kinds of concept attributes namely:
1. intrinsic (invariant property of a class of things that can be pointed out.)
2. functional (relates to how something works and what its use might be)
3. relational (a quality a concept may possess defined in terms of something else.)

Some action verbs for concept objectives are:
sort, define, categorize, discriminate.

There is a general guide/instructional events to concept learning.
1. name the concept (the idea to be defined)
2. definition (a simple statement of description of concept)
3. show prototype (showing an example that best illustrates the concept)
4. showing more examples and NON-examples (common confusions)
5. state attributes (pointing out those important attributes that is the basis to the concept)
6. practice
7. feedback