Concept attainment

An instructional strategy

Learning objectives
List the stages of Concept attainment
Examine differences between a Tactic,
skill and strategy


Home work- Create two data sets over
next 4 weeks
TPS
Think to yourself for 20 seconds on the
difference between and instructional tactic,
skill and strategy I will then ask you to
share with a partner and I will ask 3
groups to share their theory.
Concept attainment
A STRATEGY
Its backed by the research of Bruner and
Perkins
The Brain as a pattern seeker
pushes analysis level of thinking BLOOM
Students remember informatiom longer
and understand the design of conceots
more quickly when asked to thimk at more
complex levels and discuss their thinking
Some research conclusions
Characteristics of expert teachers:
Use knowledge about students and how they
learn to fashion lessons
Connect ideas to students experiences
Create variety of learning opportunities to make
subject come alive for students who learn in
different ways
Create steps to help students progress towards
more complicated ideas and performances
(Darling-Hammond 1998)
Using Concept Attainment
: Consider this statement:
Look at the data set.
Do not try to answer the questions.
Do not focus on the subject matter or the
level of thinking involved in the wording.
Instead, focus on how the odd-numbered
questions are framed in relation to
student participation.
Concept attainment Data set
Bruner- Brain as pattern maker
Focus Statement- Focus on the effect each example would have on student
participation
A B
1 Share with your partner please the
similarities between these two
poems? I will ask a number of pairs
to share their answers
3No hands please Ill pick several of
you to respond. Why does a
boomerang return?( after 15 seconds
picks John)
5Thumbs up if you agree down if you
disagree and be prepared to defend
your answer you have 1 minute to
think. The Anglo Irish Treaty 1922
was the best deal the Irish delegates
could have got
7Think to yourself and then Ill ask a
number of you to share. Explain the
formula for calculating the speed of a
falling object

2Who can tell me what the major
causes of World War II were?
4Jimmy tell us the names of the main
characters in the Story
6What are the features of a river?
8Who in this group can give me the
answer to question 3?

Think to yourself
Checking for Understanding
Now, by yourself read the testers and
check which ones support your thinking or
hypothesis I will ask a number of you to
share your ideas
Testers
Anyone know the three wise mens
names?
No hands please Ill use the lollipop sticks
to pick.What were the consequences of
the reformation?
What is an ox bow lake. Teacher then
asks 6 students to share ideas

Pair activity:
Sharing your thinking
Sharing your thinking
Share with the person beside you what
your hypothesis is? i.e. what do odd
numbers have in common
SUSPEND JUDGEMENT DONT SAY IF
YOU THINK THE OTHER PERSON IS
RIGHT OR WRONG
Sharing Hypothesis
On your own write down an example of an
odd number question

Ask a number of students to share their
hypothesis and how they came to that
conclusion(METACOGNITION)
Odd-numbered questions
Framed in such a way that:
each student is held accountable to think
Opportunity is provided for rehearsal of
answer within the safety of ones own mind
prior to public sharing
Covert to overt responses



Even-numbered questions
Framed in such a way that:
Only one student is held accountable
Increased level of concern caused by
abruptness/ suddenness of question
Low level of concern and accountability
among others in the classroom

Deconstructing what we have
done
Do you think that you have grasped the
concept of framing questions effectively?
How did we do it?
Let us deconstruct the strategy that we
have followed in trying to grasp what is
meant by framing questions effectively

Three Phases of CA
First phase
I presented you with a focus statement and a
data set of ten questions to guide your thinking
You then compared the attributes of the odd-
numbered questions and contrasted them with
the even-numbered ones
You also generated a hypothesis about the
essential attributes of the odd and even-
numbered questions

Three Phases of CA
Second phase
I invited you to identify some unlabelled
testers to see if they could be classified
within your hypothesis
You worked and talked in pairs while
testing your shared hypothesis

Three Phases of CA
Third phase
As a group, we discussed the hypothesis
that emerged as a shared group response
across the room
We reflected on the connection between
the concept and its attributes
Let us take another example
I will use a Concept Attainment approach to
assist students in grasping for themselves what
the critical attributes of this concept are
Present focus statement: Compare odd-
numbered and contrast with even-numbered

1. In South Africa policy prohibited blacks from living in areas
designated as white only areas.
2. In Canada, the First Nation People were denied access to most
classy cafes.
3. In Germany, during WW Two, Jews were required by law to have
travel passes in order to move about their community
4. In North America, it is not unusual to have all white juries hear
the case of a non-white person
5. In Canada, during WW II, legislation was passed that sent
Japanese Canadians to special camps. They had to leave
behind virtually all their possessions. German and Italian
Canadians did not have to move to those camps.
6. In some states in the United States, if a black killed a white
person they were always found guilty. If a white killed a black,
they were always found innocent.

7. In the United States, blacks were obliged by law to sit at the
back of the bus.
8. In England, three people were killed by a bomb planted by the
IRA
testers




In conclusion:
Concept Attainment is classified as strategy
Has a research base with a series of steps
Can be integrated with skills and tactics to make
learning more effective
Conscious interweaving of skills, tactics and
strategies, and knowing when to use particular
approaches, is what we mean by instructional
intelligence.