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Concept Based Thinking

This document discusses creating engaging classrooms that focus on conceptual understanding rather than just facts or skills. It advocates for teaching models that emphasize higher-order thinking like problem-solving, collaboration, and making connections between ideas. Specific strategies mentioned include using conceptual lenses to integrate thinking across subjects, focusing on generalizations and principles rather than just topics and facts, and designing curriculum around enduring understandings and essential questions rather than just standards. The goal is developing students' intellectual abilities like creative, critical, and reflective thinking.

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JeRu Sha
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107 views15 pages

Concept Based Thinking

This document discusses creating engaging classrooms that focus on conceptual understanding rather than just facts or skills. It advocates for teaching models that emphasize higher-order thinking like problem-solving, collaboration, and making connections between ideas. Specific strategies mentioned include using conceptual lenses to integrate thinking across subjects, focusing on generalizations and principles rather than just topics and facts, and designing curriculum around enduring understandings and essential questions rather than just standards. The goal is developing students' intellectual abilities like creative, critical, and reflective thinking.

Uploaded by

JeRu Sha
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dr. Timothy L.

Heaton
Professor of Education
Cedarville University
Heatont@Cedarville.edu
What is your classroom like?
All facts and no fun
All fun and no facts
OR
Engaging, Inquiring, Searching, Discovering,
Experimenting, Problem Solving that creates an
engaging environment where students are motivated
to learn more than what a standard curriculum
delivers.
All the ingredients but no Meal
Curriculum is not:
A list of standards
A standard textbook
A pacing guide
But are only a guide to what we must teach, the same
as individual ingredients don’t make the meal, but are
all blended together to create a culinary delight
Traditional Coverage Model vs. A
Conceptual Thinking Model
Every Discipline has an inherent conceptual structure:
1. Science- concept based
2. Social Studies- fact based
3. Math- skill based
4. English/Languarge arts- skill based

The greater amount of factual information, the greater


the need to rise to higher level of abstraction to
organize and process that information.
The Thinking Classroom
Students collaborate/hypothesize, research, compare
answers, access data bases, compare notes with other
students around the world to come up with a solution
to a global problem.
Know( factually)
Understand( conceptually)
Be able to Do ( skillfully)
Vs.
Traditional Curriculum….know and able to do
Conceptual Lenses
 Beliefs /Values  Complexity
 Interdependence  Paradox
 Freedom  Interactions
 Identify  Transformations
 Relationships  Patterns
 Change  Origins
 Perspective  Revolution
 Power  Reform
 System  Influence
 Structure/Function  Balance
 Design  Innovation
 Heroes  Genius
 Force  Utility
 Creativity
Integrated Thinking
Conceptual lens integrates thinking to:
generalizations and principles
Conceptual ideas are commonly called:
“Enduring understandings”
Ability to transfer knowledge and skills to new or
similar context is evidence of deeper understanding
and higher-order thinking skills.
Developing the Intellect
Need to develop “ intellectual dispositions”
Curious, creative thinking, open-minded, critical
thinking, strategic, skeptical, reflective thinking

All disciplines benefit from the use of creative


thinking in problems solving
Creative thinking is the personal construction of
meaning. Of all disciplines….Art is the most open-
ended.
Different Kinds of Thinking
Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking
Reflective(Meta-cognitive)Thinking
Conceptual Thinking

Marriage of all these types of thinking to produce


problem solvers.
Intellectual Focus Questions
 Clarity  Could you elaborate further?
 Accuracy  How could we find out if this is
 Precision true?
 Relevance  Could you give me more details?
 Depth  How does that relate to the
 Breadth problem?
 What are some of the difficulties we
 Logic
need to deal with?
 Significance  Do we need to look at this from
 Fairness another perspective?
 Does all this make sense together?
 Which of these facts are most
important?
 Do I have a vested interest in this
issue?
Structure of Knowledge
Topics: Do not transfer
Facts: Do not transfer
Concepts: Do transfer
Generalizations: Must be tested and supported by
facts
Principles: Foundational truths of a discipline
Theories: Supported by best evidence rather than
absolute facts.
Focus on Generalization and Principle levels when
redesigning curriculums.
Updated Bloom’s Taxonomy
Knowledge- Remember
Comprehension- Understand
Application- Apply
Analysis-Analyze
Synthesis- Create
Evaluation-Evaluate
Macro concepts/Micro concepts
System
Change
Order
These are macro concepts because they can be
transferred to many different topics…provides breadth
of understanding……
Micro concepts provide depth of understanding
Meeting Academic Standards with
Integrity
Academic Standards are not the Curriculum, they are
a framework for designing curriculum.
A curriculum is a coherent , teacher-friendly
document that reflects the intent of the academic
standards.
Many teachers do “pellet –gun” teaching as they
check off benchmarks.
Don’t use words such as understands or knows…but
rather what the student will be able to do or use.
When they can do or use, then they understand and
know conceptually.
Designing Concept Based Unit and
Lesson
Unit Title
Conceptual Lens
Concept and Subconcepts
Generalizations( enduring/essential understandings)
Guiding and Essential Questions
Critical content
Key Skills
Performance Tasks and Scoring Guides
Learning Experiences
Unit/resource /Teacher notes

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