Concept of Attenment

Concept Attainment strategy facilitates the discovery of meaning by students through an inductive process (specific to general). Jerome Bruner is the originator of Concept Attainment (CA). Inductive thinking is the main goal of CA.

 

A word about what a “concept” is. According to Bruner, a concept has five characteristics. Only when these characteristics are identifiable in an idea, it can be taught using the CA strategy. These are the five characteristics of a concept which you can remember by N-E-A-R-R:

 

• N—name (for example, herbivore)

• E—examples (sheep, deer, cow, horse—sufficient examples must exist)

• A—attributes (characteristics—animal, eats only plants)

• R—range (non examples—lion, tree, tiger, stone)

• R—rule (definition—animals that eat only plants)

 

The following three phases will describe the procedure of CA as described by Joyce, Weil, and Calhoun (2000, p. 155):

 

Phase 1: Presentation

Teacher presents examples (called exemplars) and non-examples of the concept. These exemplars may be in the form of actual objects, pictures, written words, etc. The teacher tells certain focus statements such as, “I have an idea in my mind. I would like you to find this idea. To help you find it, I will show some examples of the idea, and also some non-examples of the idea. I would like you to observe these carefully. Do not talk as yet. This is because we don’t want to jeopardize others’ thinking. You will get a chance to respond later.”

 

Make two headings on the board—Yes, No; or Positive, Negative. Start with the best and clearest yes exemplar, then place a no-exemplar under the respective headings. Show a few more of these exemplars, remembering to stagger (do not place yes and no exemplars in a sequence) them.

 

Phase 2: Testing

It is now time to show additional exemplars and ask students to respond only using body gestures. Show an exemplar and ask them to show thumbs up if they think it is a “yes” example. Watch for the responses. Ask to show thumbs down, if “no.” Wait for their responses. Then finally, ask for a show of “side-way thumb” if they are not sure. Continue with different exemplars (again taking care to stagger) watching for the progress of student thinking.

 

When you think sufficient items are placed as examples, ask, pointing to the “yes” exemplars, “What is common about all these items? Or what are the common characteristics of these?” As they identify these, write them on the board. Ignore items which are not relevant and modify the responses to fit the characteristics of the concept. Show more exemplars to generate all the needed traits of the concept.

 

You define the concept by using all the essential attributes written, and then name the concept. For example, “All these are numbers with only two factors--itself and one. Such numbers are called prime numbers.” Show more exemplars and you may use the name of the concept from now. For example, show a new exemplar and ask, “Is this a prime number?” Ask students to generate their own positive exemplars.

 

Phase 3: Analysis of Thinking

In this last phase, you will point to the very first exemplar and ask, “What were you thinking of when you first saw this?” Ask for multiple responses. Then ask, “Which one confused you?” and then “Which one helped you to get the correct idea?” Let students think and share their own experiences of thinking. This is a powerful mega-cognitive phase and we should not miss the opportunity for students to think about their own thinking.

Once again, there are ways to make this strategy more effective. The following guidelines are helpful.
 

1. Prepare a minimum of 15 exemplars altogether (both “yes” and “no” together).

2. Use simple body gestures (raising hands, pointing, etc.) as signals and avoid verbal responses in the early stages of Phase 2—testing.

3. Do not use two parallel concepts. In other words, do not use another concept for non-exemplars. For example: for teaching herbivores, do not show examples of only carnivores as non-examples. Show a mixed-type of set whereby no one concept emerges from the no exemplars.

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If you didn’t guess as yet, this is one of my favorite strategies! When taught at a steady pace and with enthusiasm, the strategy gets a game-like nature which is very appealing to the students. I cannot wait for you to practice it. But you have enough work at hand in this unit. The K-W-L strategy is the strategy for micro-teaching this time. Therefore, I will keep aside the micro-teaching of CA strategy for the next unit. You have already learned the theory of CA in this unit. Please come back and revise this section when you are ready to use the CA strategy. I will also provide a sample lesson plan for CA in the next unit.

[Note: The CA strategy will be one of the options for your micro-teaching for next time. You will be provided a sample lesson plan of CA and a teaching demonstration in next unit’s lecture page.]

 

Now we will move on to the last strategy for this unit. Hope you have understood the lesson so far. Review any part that is not clear, if you need to.

Use “Before, During, and After” Strategy

 

There are strategies that follow a sequence of three phases related to reading: before reading, during reading, and after reading. These phases apply also to listening or watching. The strategy that I have selected is SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review especially dealing with constructing meaning while reading.

SQ3R was developed by Francis Robinson and includes five steps. These steps are explained in The SQ3R Reading Method. What is your reaction to this strategy? Do you think it works? Personally I have used it with college ESL students who were struggling readers. The results have been absolutely amazing as I found it to have a positive impact on their comprehension. Yes, you can make a difference in your students by using effective teaching strategies, if you are willing to, in the words of one of my favorite authors, Silberman (2006, p. 143): ​

 

1. Want it

2. Learn it

3. Try it

4. Live it

 

Hope this unit has been invigorating. The problem with our learning of these strategies is that we cannot wait to start using them. Isn’t that a good problem?

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