Teaching for Understanding: Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

Developing a deep understanding of key concepts is critical for student learning, yet traditional fact-based approaches often fall short.

The concept-based teaching framework offers a more effective approach - one that engages students in inquiry, critical thinking, and transferable knowledge.

In this article, we will explore what concept-based teaching is, its benefits, and practical strategies for curriculum design and classroom implementation that bring concepts to life for students.

Introduction to Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

Teaching for understanding focuses on developing students' deeper conceptual understanding rather than just teaching isolated facts. This approach aims to equip students with transferable knowledge that they can apply flexibly across contexts.

Defining Teaching for Understanding and Conceptual Learning

Teaching for understanding is a student-centered approach that focuses on building enduring understandings of key concepts. Students explore the deeper meaning behind facts to grasp the larger concepts those facts illustrate. Conceptual learning develops students' abilities to identify patterns, connect ideas across disciplines, and transfer knowledge to new situations.

Benefits of a Conceptual Approach in Teaching

A conceptual approach to teaching has several advantages:

Students gain a deeper, more transferable grasp of subject matter versus just memorizing disjointed facts
Learns how to think critically and apply knowledge flexibly
Curriculum design is more cohesive when structured around key concepts
Assessments can evaluate higher-order thinking skills
Better facilitates interdisciplinary connections across subjects

Overview of Key Principles in Concept-Based Education

Some core principles of concept-based curriculum design include:

Structuring units around conceptual understandings
Helping students identify conceptual patterns
Focusing instruction on transferable concepts versus isolated facts
Using essential questions to frame exploration of concepts
Designing performance tasks that demonstrate conceptual understanding
Assessing students’ abilities to transfer concepts to new contexts

Planning concept-based curriculum requires identifying the big ideas and core understandings that connect facts and skills. This equips students with knowledge structures that facilitate deeper learning.

What is a concept based curriculum approach?

A concept-based curriculum is an instructional approach that focuses on teaching students the big ideas and broader concepts that connect facts and skills. Rather than just memorizing disjointed facts, students learn to categorize information and make connections between concepts.

Some key aspects of a concept-based curriculum include:

Teaching concepts rather than isolated facts. For example, teaching about the concept of "change over time" in history rather than just dates and events.
Organizing content around conceptual themes that connect subject areas. These big ideas link what students are learning across disciplines.
Focusing instruction on understanding concepts more deeply rather than just covering content. Students explore the broader significance behind facts.
Using essential questions to frame units and lessons around conceptual understanding. These open-ended questions guide inquiry.
Integrating metacognitive strategies to help students monitor their understanding. This allows them to actively build connections themselves.
Assessing student learning around the ability to transfer conceptual understanding to new situations. Not just recalling factual knowledge.

The goal of concept-based teaching is to foster deeper levels of comprehension. Students learn how to construct knowledge and develop critical thinking abilities that transfer to real-world contexts. This equips them with mental models to continue learning throughout their lives.

What is the concept of curriculum and instruction?

The concept of curriculum refers to the overall content and skills that students are expected to learn in a course or program. This includes the learning objectives, standards, materials, assessments, and sequence of instruction.

The concept of instruction refers to the methods, strategies, and processes teachers use to deliver the curriculum content to students. This involves aspects like:

Teaching style and methodology
Adapting to different student learning styles
Leveraging available resources and tools to support teaching

In summary, curriculum focuses on the planned content and desired learning outcomes, while instruction deals with the actual facilitation of teaching and learning in the classroom. Aligning these two concepts is crucial for effective education. Teachers must design instructional approaches that bring the curriculum to life for students. This requires understanding both what students should learn and how best to teach it.

Concept-based curriculum and instruction aims to move away from simply memorizing disconnected facts. Instead, it focuses on broader, transferable concepts that students can apply in new contexts. For example, teaching the general concept of "change over time" across different eras in history. This conceptual approach equips students with mental frameworks for deeper learning.

How do you use concept based teaching in the classroom?

Here are some tips for using concept-based teaching in the classroom:

Invite students to explore concepts

Present students with real-world examples and phenomena related to key concepts. Ask them to observe, describe, and ask questions.
Encourage them to identify patterns and connections related to the underlying concepts. Guide them to recognize essential features, rather than surface details.

Facilitate student-directed inquiry

After introducing a concept, let students form their own understanding by gathering data, evaluating evidence, and justifying claims.
Ask probing questions to push their thinking. Support them in making connections to prior knowledge.

Apply concepts to new contexts

Once students have developed an understanding of a concept, prompt them to apply it to novel situations.
This transfer of knowledge to new contexts promotes deeper learning and adaptable knowledge.

Emphasize big ideas

Focus instruction on conceptual understanding rather than memorization of disconnected facts and procedures.
Zoom out to help students grasp big, transferable ideas that organize their thinking.

Assess for conceptual understanding

Gauge student understanding through authentic tasks and assessments that require application of conceptual knowledge in context.
Evaluate their ability to transfer concepts to new situations.

Keeping the focus on powerful concepts, rather than discrete facts and skills, allows students to develop adaptable, transferable knowledge. This conceptual foundation prepares them for deeper learning.

How might a concept based curriculum affect the way a teacher approaches instruction?

A concept-based curriculum encourages teachers to take a more inquiry-based and student-centered approach to instruction. Here are some of the key ways it can impact teaching methods:

Fosters deeper learning

With a concept-based focus, teachers guide students to uncover broader ideas and make connections, rather than just memorizing facts. This promotes critical thinking skills. Lessons become more discussion-based to draw out conceptual understandings.

Encourages engagement

Exploring abstract concepts sparks students' curiosity and interest. Teachers can create engaging project-based and hands-on activities to allow students to actively construct and apply conceptual knowledge.

Changes assessment methods

Assessment goes beyond fact checks to evaluate application and transfer of conceptual learning. Teachers design performance tasks, essays, presentations, and other assessments that require deeper demonstration of understanding.

Requires flexibility

There is less emphasis on direct instruction. Teachers need to be responsive in shaping instruction based on the ideas students generate through conceptual exploration. More student autonomy is encouraged through self-directed learning.

Involves collaboration

Cross-curricular integration is enabled as students make connections across subjects. Teachers also benefit from collaborating to make coherent links between different domains.

In summary, a concept-based approach fundamentally shifts teaching to facilitate deeper, transferable learning for students. It compels teachers to adopt more student-focused and adaptive methods.

Designing a Concept-Based Curriculum

Offers practical guidance on how to design curriculum focused on conceptual understanding.

Identifying Powerful Concepts for Curriculum Design

When designing a concept-based curriculum, the first step is to identify the powerful, transferable concepts that will connect and organize knowledge for students. Some strategies for determining appropriate concepts include:

Analyzing standards and objectives to uncover the big ideas and enduring understandings
Consulting with other teachers and curriculum experts for input
Evaluating concepts for transferability across contexts and integration into larger frameworks
Selecting concepts that lend themselves to essential questions and inquiry

The goal is to determine the key concepts that encompass principles students should understand and retain long-term. These big picture concepts should facilitate deeper learning.

Constructing a Conceptual Framework

Once key concepts have been identified, the next phase is constructing a conceptual framework that maps out how the concepts connect and relate to one another. This involves:

Organizing concepts from most general to more specific
Illustrating relationships between concepts visually
Developing generalizations that add meaning to each concept
Writing essential questions that promote inquiry into the concepts

This conceptual framework provides a structure for concept-based learning and helps determine the focus for units and lessons.

Planning Concept-Based Units and Lessons

When planning instruction, units and lessons should revolve around the key concepts identified earlier. This involves:

Using the conceptual framework as an outline to sequence units and lessons
Designing unit questions that dig into the essential understanding of overarching concepts
Developing lessons that target more specific concepts and support the unit question
Creating formative assessments centered around the ability to transfer concepts to new contexts

The goal is to ensure instructional activities directly tie into the broader conceptual framework to promote deep learning.

Integrating Concept-Based Inquiry into Lesson Plans

Within each lesson plan, incorporate opportunities for students to inquire into the concepts through:

Posing probing questions that require conceptual application
Structuring comparisons of examples and non-examples
Facilitating rich class discussions around insights uncovered
Designing hands-on explorations and experiments
Asking students to justify their reasoning using concepts
Having students transfer concepts to real-world contexts

This inquiry process gives students a chance to wrestle with concepts and develop their own conceptual understandings.

Implementing Concept-Based Instruction in the Classroom

Concept-based instruction focuses on teaching students the big ideas and conceptual understandings behind content, rather than just the facts and skills. Here are some best practices for delivering concept-based learning in the classroom:

Facilitating Concept-Based Inquiry and Exploration

Use questioning techniques like Socratic seminars to reveal students' conceptual understanding and prompt deeper thinking. Ask open-ended questions that don't have one right answer.
Provide hands-on learning opportunities for students to inquire into concepts. For example, set up stations for experimenting with concepts in science.
Have students complete concept maps showing connections between ideas. Discuss how the concept maps demonstrate their understanding.

Strategies for Leading Conceptual Discussions

Hold class discussions where students share examples demonstrating their grasp of conceptual ideas.
Have students analyze conceptual themes and patterns across texts, data sets, or real-world issues.
Use techniques like debate and role play to encourage students to think from multiple conceptual perspectives.

Creating Concept-Based Assessments

Design projects, papers, or presentations that require applying conceptual understanding to new contexts.
Develop test questions that assess conceptual application, rather than just recall. Use conceptual scenarios with application questions.
Have students explain conceptual relationships, compare/contrast conceptual ideas, or analyze examples against conceptual models.

Conceptual Feedback and Reflection

Give feedback that pushes students to think more broadly about conceptual connections. Ask questions prompting deeper conceptual thinking.
Have students write short reflections explaining what they understood conceptually and what is still unclear. Use these to inform instruction.
Facilitate peer feedback discussions focused on applying conceptual ideas broadly.

Overcoming Challenges in Concept-Based Teaching

Navigating the Paradigm Shift to Conceptual Teaching

The shift to concept-based teaching can be challenging for educators accustomed to more traditional, fact-focused approaches. Here are some strategies to help navigate this paradigm shift:

Start small by piloting concept-based units or activities before fully transitioning your curriculum. This allows you and students to ease into the new approach.
Seek out professional development opportunities to deepen your understanding of conceptual teaching methods and curriculum design.
Collaborate with other teachers making the shift to share ideas and resources.
Focus on identifying the key concepts that tie together the factual content you teach. This helps avoid simply replacing facts with concepts without changing the overall approach.
Be patient with yourself and your students. It takes time to become comfortable with a more conceptual style of teaching and learning.

Strategies for Addressing Knowledge Gaps

Some teachers worry that moving to a more conceptual curriculum will leave students with gaps in core factual knowledge. Here are some ways to address this concern:

Use diagnostic assessments to identify factual gaps as they emerge and provide targeted learning opportunities to fill them.
Weave key facts and vocabulary building directly into concept-based activities and investigations.
Leverage multimedia to reinforce foundational knowledge - videos, animations and other visuals allow efficient delivery of facts.
Have students apply factual knowledge to demonstrate understanding - this shows mastery while keeping concepts the focus.
Strike a balance between building conceptual capacity and establishing a knowledge baseline. Meet students where they are.

Securing Stakeholder Buy-In for Concept-Based Curriculum

Gaining administrator, parent, and community support is key to successfully implementing concept-based curriculum. Consider these ideas:

Present student work and achievement data showing the benefits of conceptual teaching. Concrete examples help make the case.
Have principals and parents observe concept-based learning in action. Seeing the student engagement firsthand is powerful.
Frame concepts as promoting deeper learning skills needed to apply knowledge in college and careers. This resonates with stakeholders.
Show how concepts tie directly to state and national standards - this helps ease concerns about knowledge gaps.
Be transparent about the transition process. Keep stakeholders informed and provide opportunities for Q&A.

Adapting Instruction to Diverse Learners in a Conceptual Framework

Some students may need additional support accessing concept-based curriculum. Strategies include:

Scaffold higher-order tasks by breaking complex concepts and investigations into smaller steps.
Provide graphic organizers, models and visual representations to reinforce abstract concepts.
Relate concepts to students' lives and cultural backgrounds to promote engagement and understanding.
For students with learning disabilities, tie interventions like mnemonic devices directly to key concepts rather than isolated facts.
Offer concept-based assignments with flexible formats - written, visual, hands-on - for different learning strengths.
Group students strategically to facilitate peer modeling of conceptual thinking skills.

With some adaptation and differentiation, concept-based teaching can benefit all learners by connecting to their experiences and developing transferable understanding. The key is using concepts as an anchor rather than simply removing facts. This takes time but helps build authentic and equitable learning opportunities focused on enduring understanding.

Conclusion: Embracing the Conceptual Approach in Education

Recap of Essential Points in Concept-Based Teaching

Concept-based teaching focuses on helping students understand big ideas and make connections, rather than just memorizing facts. Here are some key takeaways:

Concept-based curriculum organizes learning around conceptual understandings and essential questions. This develops deeper learning compared to fact-based approaches.
Inquiry is central to concept-based teaching. Students investigate concepts through questioning, researching, analyzing information, and drawing conclusions.
Assessments emphasize applying conceptual understandings to real-world contexts and novel situations. This tests transferable understanding rather than basic recall.

Next Steps for Educators in Concept-Based Instruction

Educators interested in implementing concept-based teaching can take these next steps:

Review concept-based curriculum materials and instructional approaches to understand key principles. Resources from Erickson and Lanning are a good start.
Start small. Pilot concept-based units in one subject area before expanding more widely across the curriculum.
Collaborate with other teachers to develop essential questions, conceptual understandings, and concept-based assessments.
Seek out professional development focused specifically on concept-based teaching strategies.

Transitioning to concept-based instruction takes time but pays off enormously in developing deeper, transferable learning. Take small steps to gradually shift practice toward this more meaningful approach.