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Concept Teaching
researched by Christine Riley & Marissa Keleher

Purpose of Model
The purpose of this model is to teach students a concept and the skills necessary to attain
an understanding of the concept. Students construct meaningful understanding of the
critical attributes of a concept. There are two approaches to concept teaching: concept
attainment and direct presentation.
- Concept attainment is an inductive approach to the concept teaching model. Examples are
presented first and then the concept is defined.
First, the teacher presents data in the form of examples and the students search for
common attributes to identify the concept. The teacher also presents non-examples. Next,
students will compare and contrast the examples that contain the attributes of the concept
with the non-examples. The students are expected to learn the concept by identifying its
attributes. Finally, the teacher defines the concept. This approach is best when dealing with
concrete or abstract concepts and you can provide many examples and non-examples.
- Direct presentation is a deductive approach to the concept teaching model. The concept is
defined first and then examples are provided.
First, the teacher clearly names and defines the concept that the students will be
learning. Next, the teacher provides examples and non-examples of the concept. This
approach is best when dealing with concrete or abstract concepts that students may not
have a great deal of experience with.

Student Centered vs. Teacher Centered

Concept teaching is a teacher-centered model.

Research Basis
Concept teaching is largely based on the works of the cognitive psychologist Jerome
Bruner. He believes that people interpret the world in terms of similarities and differences.
Bruner wrote the book The Process of Education in 1960. One of the things his book

highlights is that teaching and learning should not simply be the mastery of facts and
techniques. It also highlights that learning should utilize intuitive and analytical thinking.
Concept teaching was incorporated by Hilda Taba, a curriculum theorist and educator.
Taba believed that students could make generalizations only after the information was
organized, and that they could be led toward making generalizations through concept
teaching.

Unique Features

Is not a simple recalling of information or discrimination between two things

Learn from examples

States the set of characteristics common to any and all examples as opposed to
labeling

Shows a range of positive and negative examples

Targets critical thinking skills

Student ends up with his/her own mental image of the concept characteristics

Students become aware of how concepts are formed from attributes

Planning Steps
The first step in planning for a concept teaching lesson is to select the concept that you
want to teach. Concepts may be selected from state frameworks, school benchmarks,
textbooks, etc. When selecting the concept that you will be teaching, you must consider
the prior knowledge of students. Any key concepts within a unit that the students
are unfamiliar with should be taught.
The second step is to choose which approach to take, either concept attainment or direct
presentation. The key things to consider when choosing an approach is what is your
goal, who are the students that are being taught, and the nature of the concept.
The third step is to define the concept. There are three components to this step: (a) identify
the concept's name, (b) identify critical and non-critical attributes, (c) write a clear definition
of the concept.
The fourth step is to analyze the concept. The teacher should choose examples and nonexamples of the concept. The teacher should consider how he/she will make the examples

meaningful. The teacher should also consider what visual images he/she will use to help
teach the lesson (e.g. charts, diagrams, pictures).
The fifth step is to determine the sequence of examples and non-examples. Examples
should be sequenced from the easiest to most difficult. The initial examples presented
should be familiar to students.
The sixth step is to create the visual images that the teacher considered in step four.

Lesson Components
- Teacher selects the concept he/she wants the students to learn.
- Teacher selects the characteristics he/she is going to use to describe the concept.
- Teacher comes up with positive and negative examples of the concept.
- Direct presentation is used for the teacher to introduce the lesson.
- During the direct presentation the teacher describes the characteristics of the concept and
gives examples.
- The teacher describes a concrete definition of the concept.
- Students contribute additional examples.
- The teacher gives instructions as to how the students are going to explore the concept in
groups.
- Students branch off into groups and come up with positive and negative examples of the
concept.
- The teacher evaluates whether or not the students have attained the concept.

Relevant Ways to Meet the Needs of All Learners

The method allows the teacher to be flexible enough to cater to the needs of each student.
It is helpful if the teacher uses extremely clear examples. Students who are struggling to
attain the concept may meet with the teacher one-on-one. Those who have been able to
grasp the concept can help those who haven't. Students may also show their knowledge
through the use of illustrations or word cards. There are also many ways for the students to
identify the concept. It may be helpful for some students to do an activity as a group. Some
children may be able to understand the concept better if they can physically manipulate
objects that show the postive and negative aspects of the concept. For example: if the
teacher is trying to get the students to understand the concept of magnetivity, he /she may
have the students use magnets to test out objects that may be attracted or repelled by the
magnet.

Conducive Management of Learning Environment

- When the teacher is giving the direct presentation portion of the lesson, students should be
sitting at their desks within the classroom. It should be a quiet learning environment for the
moment.
- When the lesson shifts from direct presentation to concept attainment, the students may
branch off into groups. The students may choose areas other than their desks to work. The
learning environment includes a lot of discussion between students.

Related Assessment & Evaluation Startegies

- students come up with positive and negative examples of the concept.
- the classroom uses a combined effort to come up with a chart to be hung in the classroom.
- Students draw illustrations of the concept.
- KWL charts
- Students come up with their own examples of the concept.
- Teacher walks around the room while the students are discussing the concept as an
informal assessment of their understanding.

Classroom Example
Grade: 2
Subject: Math

The teacher chooses a concept to developed. (math facts that equal 10)

The teacher makes a list of examples and non-examples. The examples are put onto
sheets of paper or flash cards.
Examples: (Examples containing attributes of the concept to be taught) i.e.

5+5, 11-1, 3+4+4, 12-2, 15-5, 9+1

Non-examples: (Choose facts that do not have 10 as the answer) i.e. 6+6, 3+3,
12-4, 16-5, 3+4+6, 16-10

Create a chart with two columns. One column should be marked Yes (examples) and
one colum should be marked No (non-examples).

The teacher will present the first card by saying, "This is a Yes." Place it under
the Yes column. i.e. 5+5 is a Yes

The teacher will present the next card and say, "This is a No." Place it under the No
column. i.e. 6+6 is a NO

Repeat this process until there are three examples under each column.

Ask the class to look at the three examples under the Yes column and discuss how
they are alike. (i.e. 5+5, 11-1) Ask "What do they have in common?"

Present three more cards for each column. Ask the students to decide if the
examples go under Yes or No.

At this point, there are six examples under each column. Ask students to show if
they have caught onto the concept by giving an example of their own for each
column.

The teacher will discuss the process with the class. Once most students have caught
on, they can define the concept.

Once the students have pointed out that everything under the Yes column has an
answer of 10, the teacher will print a new heading at the top of the column (10
Facts). The teacher will then print a new heading for the No column (Not 10 Facts).

INQUIRY TRAINING MODEL

Application 1:

A map shows an island in the middle of a lake. The island is connected to

the shore by a causeway made of stones piled on the bottom of the lake
until the pile reached the surface. Then smoothed stones were laid down
to make a road. Mountains surround the lake and the only flat land is near
the lake. The island is covered with buildings whose walls are still
standing although the roofs are nowgone. It is completely uninhabited.
The students task is to discover what happened to the people who lived
there. What caused the place to become empty of human beings? As the
students conduct their inquiry the instructor draws on a fact sheet for
their responses.