Module 3: Concept Classification
Basic Methods of Instruction
1.Kinds of Learning
What is the Nature of Knowledge?
There are two major kinds of knowledge:
Particulars are single, unique cases, often referred to as referents, examples or instances.
Generalities are statements which apply to more than one particular.
Changes. Particulars of changes are instances of procedures and principles, and include specific events, like the evaporation of a puddle on my driveway last Sunday, the growing of a particular flower from a seed in front of my neighbor's house, and my son's writing of an essay last Tuesday night. Generalities of changes are what we usually call statements of principles and procedures.
It is helpful to distinguish between what content is learned
and on what level it is learned:
Level of learning can be classified as memorization, understanding,
Be careful not to confuse concepts with principles. The term "concept"
is often used in common language to refer to principles. When people talk
about the "concepts of science", they are usually talking about principles,
which instructional designers define as change relationshipsóindications
of the relationship between two or more changes.
Levels of Learning for Concepts
There are three major ways that a concept can be learned. You can memorize itóeither its definition, or a particular instance and its name. You can understand itóbe able to describe it in your own words and explain its relationship to other things you know. Or you can learn to apply it in new (previously unencountered) situations. This third type of behavior is what we call skill application. In this lesson we are only concerned with one of the three levels of learning for concepts: applying them, which is commonly called concept classification.
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