Complex Cognitive Processes
Conceptual
Understanding
What Are
Concepts?
Promoting Concept
Formation
Conceptual Understanding
Concepts are ideas about what categories represent, or
said another way, how we group objects, events, and
characteristics on the basis of common properties.
Concepts help us:
(cid:131) simplify and summarize information
(cid:131) generalize to new situations
(cid:131) aid the process of remembering
(cid:131) communicate more efficiently
Teaching Concepts: The rule-
example strategy
(cid:131) Define the concept – identify its key features
(cid:131) Clarify terms in the definition – make sure the
key features or characteristics are understood
(cid:131) Give examples (and non-examples as well)
(cid:131) Provide additional examples – involve
students in generating more examples and
have them explain their selections
Concept Map
Reptiles
Characteristics
Non-Dino Reptiles
Usually
egg-laying
Lungs
Dinosaurs
Snakes
Turtles
Crocs
Attributes
Types of Dinos
Extinct
Reptilian
Triceratops
T-Rex
Stegosaur
Prototype Matching
Prototypes: There are more typical examples
of a concept
e.g., a robin flies, builds a nest in a tree, has a bird
song, is a typical bird size
a penguin has none of these features
e.g., Lassie is a prototypic dog because she has
qualities (like size, shape, bark) representative of
dogs in general
a Chihuahua does not
Promoting Concept Formation
(cid:131) Use the rule-example strategy
(cid:131) Help students learn what a concept is and what
(cid:131) Provide clear, concrete examples
(cid:131) Relate new concepts to already-known
it is not
concepts
(cid:131) Create concepts maps
(cid:131) Generate hypotheses about concepts
(cid:131) Prototype matching
(cid:131) Check for understanding and generalization
Hypothesis-Testing
Hypotheses are specific assumptions and
predictions that can be tested
Thinking
…involves manipulating and transforming
information in memory
…involves
(cid:131) Reasoning
(cid:131) Thinking critically
(cid:131) Decision making
(cid:131) Thinking creatively