The concept-based teaching method can be defined as a type of learning that focuses on general ideas and learning how to organize and categorize information. Conceptual methods focus on understanding broader principles or ideas that can then be applied to a variety of specific examples. It can also be seen as a more top-down approach that serves as a means of getting students to think more critically about new issues and situations they encounter. For example, if someone is teaching about the concept of fruit, then some good examples would be apples, oranges, and bananas. Some examples that can be used may be a relationship between mother and daughter or a group of friends.
Benefits derived from concept-based teaching
The following are the lists of benefits derived from concept-based teaching:
1. The concept-based teaching method helps students to play a more active role in their learning by using the flipped instructional model in the classroom.
2. Concept-based teaching simplifies content and eliminates redundancies between courses.
3. Concept-based teaching encourages students to see patterns and use those patterns to provide attention and anticipate risks.
4. Concept-based teaching helps support systematic observations about events or conditions that influence a problem.
5. Concept-based teaching results in a higher level of retention.
How to teach concepts in learning
The concept is the knowledge that identifies, explains, analyzes, demonstrates elements and events in real life. These are broad ideas that, in many cases, cut across geographic and cultural boundaries. There are two types of concepts. These are sensory and abstract.
• Sensory concepts: Sensory concepts are those that have characteristic features of a sensory organ. The characteristics are very tangible, they can be picked up by one or more of our sensory organs. For example, a course for doctors-in-training to help them learn to diagnose diseases will deal primarily with the sensory concept.
• Abstract concepts: Abstract concepts are neither visible nor tangible, leadership and management courses usually contain abstract concepts. For example, as an instructional designer, you will need to teach both sensory and abstract concepts.
These are the three steps to teaching concepts:
I. Define the concept: It is about the kind of concept and the distinctive characteristics. A definition is a statement of facts that identifies the species to which the subject belongs and specifies its class.
II. Provide examples and not examples – this helps reinforce learning by identifying key attributes. A definition can be remembered by memorizing it. Providing examples with the definition helps to cement the learning, in addition to using examples to explain the concept, it helps students to categorize objects based on similar properties.
III. Paint analogies: Allows you to create a new learning with a previously learned skill. Analogies refresh the student’s memory and help him correlate new learning with previously learned skills and past experiences.
PAPER CONCEPT
A concept can be a role, which means that it is not essential for all or some of its instances. for example, invasive species are a role because certain species can become invasive at some point and become native at a later time.