Teaching concepts

Concepts are some of the most powerful components of learning. In fact, concepts attainment is necessary for deep understanding—if you don’t grasp the concept, you don’t really understand. This is a challenge in teaching in part because most people don’t recognize a concept when they see it. Further, concepts are abstract and therefore, hard to grasp. And yet, the “stuff” of faith is comprised of abstract concepts.

Concepts consist of a category (a class or a set) and attributes by which to tell whether or not an object belongs in the category. Concepts, then, require the ability to build taxonomies, discern likeness and difference identify qualities, and to name or create categories. No small feat for any learner, yet even young children are doing this when they learn a new concept.

The best procedure to follow when teaching a concept is:

1. Name the concept
2. Define the concept
3. Explicate the concept
4. Provide an example of the concept
5. Provide a non-example of the concept
6. Identify criterial attributes of the concept
7. Test for comprehension.

It’s quite amazing, but, if we follow this procedure learners seem better able to acquire an understanding of a concept than if we try it any other way. Often it is in step three, that we fall into the trap of teaching for misunderstanding (like offering anthropomorphic, ontological, or normative explications when teaching concepts or principles (which, like concepts, most people seem not to be able to identify)).

Avoiding teaching misunderstanding requires we do the hard work of developing a “deep understanding” of what we’re trying to teach. Steps 4, 5, and 6 are the ones that help facilitate the process of acquiring an accurate understanding (going from the known to the unknown, building taxonomies, sharpening identification of occurrence, etc.). Here’s a simple test: before trying to teach a concept (or much of anything) try “explaining” it to someone else (1) simply, and (2) accurately. Preferably, you should have a young child around to experiment on.

Step seven is critical. Learners are notorious for being able to explain a concept without fully understanding it. Students get adept at mimicking teacher explications or learning to give back “what to say” while bypassing all of the necessary processes that result in understanding. Unfortunately much of what consists of “testing” in schooling is assessing whether or not the student can “explain it like the teacher did,” rather than assessing understanding. Meaning, you can get 100% “correct” on a test and still not have learned anything.

When you teach a concept follow the correct procedure outlined and you’ll help your learners acquire a deeper understanding of the concept while avoiding misunderstanding.

“A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.”