Hierarchic: 4 Main Ideas

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Name:

David LaFond
Is about

Date:

October 8, 2013

Concept Attainment Model

Main idea Main idea

The Concept Attainment Model is a teaching model designed to help students of all ages elaborate and reinforce their understanding of concepts and practice critical thinking.
Main idea Main idea

Planning

Implementing

Assessment

Motivation

There are four parts to planning a C.A. Model: 1. Identify Topics: Specify the topic that you will be covering. 2. Specify Learning Objectives: Clarify what your students should know, understand, or be able to do with respect to the topic. 3. Select Examples and Nonexamples: Make sure you make high-quality examples and nonexamples that are heterogeneous and incorporate things that are commonly known about the concept and common misconceptions.
4. Sequence Examples and Nonexamples: Make a list of examples and nonexamples to allow students to see if they can spot the differences and better mold their hypothesis.

There are four phases to implementing a C.A. Model:

Phase 1: Introduction: Have the students listen to your intro very carefully, for this procedure is different and may be confusing to some students. Phase 2: Examples and hypothesizing: List and example and nonexample and see if they can determine a hypothesis for what the topic or concept could be. Phase 3: The analysis cycle: List more examples and nonexamples and ask the class to hypothesize about what the topic or concept is through reasoning and prompting. Phase 4: Closure and application: When one hypothesis is left, students are asked to identify the essential characteristics of the concept, state a definition, and link it to closely related concepts or topics.

One easy way to assess during this lesson is to see how long it takes your students to correctly hypothesize the correct concept. You can also monitor and assess their logic skills when trying to solve the topic. You can also assess your students with a basic test or quiz. You can ask them to: define the concept, identify the concepts characteristics, relate the concept to other concepts, and identify or supply example of the concept not previously encountered.

One of the motivations for the C.A. Model includes a change from the ordinary. This model is very unique and some students will find this model quite interesting. The undertone that this lesson has is that of a puzzle. Students are basically solving out what they are being taught that day, and they are inadvertently learning from it. This lesson may seem difficult, but if you pull it off, you and your students will be having fun with it.

So what? What is important to understand about this?

The C.A. model helps students build their elaboration and critical thinking skills through the use of fun hypothesizing of a concept that they solve on their own.