The importance of concept acquisition and attention to Constructivist theory in the classroom...

Another graduate class-initiated diatribe about Constructivism and concept acquisition...

"Describe concept development. Give examples to elaborate your ideas."

            I can’t think of a subject that is more up my educational alley than concept acquisition and the importance of interweaving of concepts as part of the educational process. As Henson points out, this is an area that is WOEFULLY ignored in American education: “[T]he high-performing Asian students spent far more time making connections among major concepts than U.S. students do” (338).

            Students are being terribly mis-trained about the nature of knowledge, about the way that we learn, and about the connections that exist between all things that can be known, and they are being misled by their own educational system. I have had students remark that I was drifting from my subject matter during my occasional forays into science, social studies and mathematics. I have to say  that I expected those comments to some degree. I realized there was a problem when a student appealed to me in my English class: “Why are we reading so much? This is English class!”

            The general education that students receive in public school creates a false impression of the world being divided-up by subject when there are no such walls in the real world. Students are taught to think linearly, inside several different boxes, and to never let thoughts from one box interfere with those of other compartments.  A superior education is both broad and deep. It enables students to view the world in an objective, quantifiable way as well as with a subjective and philosophical eye. The late Dr. Philip Phenix, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Education at the Teachers College of Columbia University once summed up a person of superior education as (1964):

            “[being]  skilled in the use of speech, symbol, and gesture, factually well informed, capable of creating and appreciating objects of esthetic significance, endowed with a rich and disciplined life in relation to self and others, able to make wise decisions and to judge between right and wrong, and possessed of an integral outlook. These are the aims of general education for the development of whole persons.”

             As an English teacher, I feel that Phenix’s sentiment airs my central calling. In Write for Insight: Empowering Content Area Learning, Grades 6-12, it says that “[i]f students are to make knowledge their own…they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else.” (Strong 2006)

            If we want students to really learn information, and not regurgitate it, they must interact with it, discuss connections, and apply those connections to their own constructs. There really is no other way.

            So how is such a thing taught? Kenneth Henson has put together a neat little checklist (339):

1.      Present a nominal definition of a concept and give examples—I usually skip this one and let the students do this for me, too. There is no concept that I’ve come across that no one in the room has any idea about.

2.      Emphasize common attributes and ask students for further attributes—Again, I let students lay the groundwork here as well, applying questioning where necessary to get the language clean and concise.

3.      Ask students to generate examples.

4.      Have students give totally opposite examples (nonexamples).

5.      Have students name metaphors to compare and contrast with the original idea—I prefer analogies. But same difference, right? I also like to find related art or images to use as a background for my Smartboard’s laptop, which I change almost daily.

6.      Have students review contexts in which the concept takes place.

7.      Describe the overt application of the concept.

8.      Identify factors in the environment that facilitate or hinder the application of the concept.

9.      Formulate an operational definition involving the last steps of “this” process.

10.  Discuss consequences in terms of viable solutions to a given problem.

            As an example, I have provided an instructional activity that I taught to fellow teachers at a National Writing Project seminar a few years ago. There is not a lot of correlation between the Numbers (1-10) above and the letters (A-J) below because I didn’t know there was an official formula that I should be following. That said, the flow is pretty tight.

A.     Bellringer: What do you know about constructivism? Write down everything that you know about constructivism and constructivist theory.

B.     Pass out KWL chart and have fellow students rewrite their thoughts as a bulleted list under “Know”. They should then fill out the second column, “Want to Know/think I’ll Learn”

C.     Discuss responses. Invite a fellow student to write the responses on the board.

D.    Attempt to categorize the responses using a graphic model or mind map. Ask fellow students for possible category topics.

E.     Create a working-definition of constructivism.

F.      Pass out Some Possibly Useful, or Maybe Just Interesting Stuff  About Constructivism. Divide the fellow students into 4-5 groups and have them read the papers aloud, breaking up the work however they see fit.

G.    Once reading is complete, ask the students to briefly share something they found interesting, something they agreed with, or something they took issue with from the list of facts about constructivism.

H.    Demonstrate how knowledge is fluid and subjective (which is a good thing) by doing a few organizational charts on the board using random/semi-random subjects. Connect the subjects by whatever means necessary.

I.       Demonstrate classroom use of constructivist teaching using part of a 9^th grade Persuasion/Propaganda Unit from this past year using a provided prompt.

J.        Have the fellow students complete the KWL chart and ask them to write a brief paragraph that tells what ideas they have for the use of constructivism in their own classrooms.

Works Cited

Henson, K. (2010). Curriculum Planning: Integrating Multiculturalism, Constructivism, and Education Reform (4^th Ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

Phenix, P. (1964). Realms of Meaning: A Philosophy of the Cirriculum for General Education. McGraw-Hill Education.

Strong, W. (2006). Write for Insight: Empowering Content Area Learning, Grades 6-12. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.