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I choose the topic of concept based teaching due to the fact that my own personal business seeks to implement this type of learning within its own curriculum. Now currently, the program is in its preliminary phase, where many portions of it are subject to change. However the vision I have of the program is one which implements the ideas of concept based teaching as a basis.

My reasoning for utilizing concept based teaching as a basis for my program stems from the problems I have seen in my tutoring business. Often times, what occurs in my experience, is students' teaching being solely based on rote memorization or regurgitation of skills and concepts. I often get students who come to me saying, "What formula do I have to use to get the answer?" or "What should I plug in for this problem?" This to me shows a lack of understanding, not on content, but on application. Too often I see students focused on the "what" rather than the "why" and "how".

Therefore, I choose concept based teaching as a way to not only show students why they are using certain content that is taught to them, but also to show them that they are capable of assuming the roles that come with the content.

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The main focus behind concept based teaching is the idea that content should equal to a "real-world" context of the content knowledge. The idea behind this is that it will help to create more relevant teaching. This type of teaching helps students apply their learning to more applicable scenarios and enables them to see their content knowledge in a more applicable manner.

This video I found was a useful tool to explain Concept Based Teaching

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Conceptual Understanding and Learning Transfer

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Implementation of Concept Based Teaching to the Curriculum

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Implementation of Concept Based Teaching to the Curriculum

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This book, starting on page 9 highlights the national standards from a concept-process design perspective. This was useful to me to identify and highlight key components of my own curriculum that I would need to evaluate in order to proceed with a concept-based teaching perspective.

The standards highlight a development of skills that build up over time to provide a deep and complex understanding. This understanding should be clearly identified and reflect the professional demeanor and skills utilized within the field. The processes and key skills should be differentiated from content, and the performances should demonstrate conceptual understanding.

This gradual buildup of skills is one that I found to be important. It almost reminds me of an apprenticeship, where a trainee is given skills to perform an application to a process that is still out of their grasp. However, their tasks are a small part of a larger process that will eventually accumulate into complete understanding.

It is here where I found alignment with the Tomlinson Model of Differentiation. While the content within the concepts is not explicitly stated to require differentiation, the application of the content, noted by processes and key skills, should. More specifically, this portion of assessment and teaching could be differentiated for interests, readiness, as well as learning profile. This application exercise which demonstrates deeper understanding of of content, could be in the form of a project which piques the student's interest, or is tailored more towards how they best approach learning. The ways to differentiate the application are truly endless.

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H. Lynn Erickson, Ed.D., is an independent consultant assisting schools and districts with concept-based curriculum design and instruction. During the past 20 years Lynn has worked extensively with K-12 teachers and administrators on the design of classroom and district level curricula aligned to academic standards and national requirements. She was a consultant to the International Baccalaureate Organization for the development of the Middle Years Programme-the Next Chapter.

Lynn is the author of three best-selling books, Stirring the Head, Heart and Soul: Redefining Curriculum and Instruction, 3rd edition ©2008; Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching Beyond the Facts, ©2002; and Transitioning to Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction: How to Bring Content and Process Together, co-authored with Dr. Lois Lanning, © 2014, Corwin Press Publishers. This publication, co-authored with Lois Lanning and Rachel French is the 2nd edition of Lynn's popular book, Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom: Teaching Beyond the Facts. She also has a chapter in Robert Marzano's book, On Excellence in Teaching, ©2010, Solution Tree Press.

Lynn is an internationally recognized presenter/consultant in the areas of concept-based curriculum design, and teaching for deep understanding. She has worked as a teacher, principal, curriculum director, adjunct professor, and educational consultant over a long career. In addition to her work in the United States, Lynn has presented and trained educators across the world in different regions and countries including Asia, Australia, South America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Cyprus.

Lynn currently lives in Everett, Washington with her family. She and Ken have two children, and two grandsons, Trevor and Connor, who continually stir her heart and soul.

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This book explores concept-based learning across disciplines and grade levels. Teachers can use the specific strategies to create a seamless learning program that teaches students the skills they need to think conceptually and to solve problems in today's complex, changing world.

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This article also stressed many of the points present in the Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction book. However, this article also stated that a concept based curriculum focuses on the higher level of thinking. As stated in the article, "Students will know/do in order to understand." The understanding of overarching topics so that the student is then able to apply these concepts to a broader picture is key.

Overall, the article states the a concept based curriculum seeks to connect student inquiry to key concepts. This is where it also aligns with the Tomlinson Model of Differentiation. This portion of student inquiry is able to be differentiated for based on student interest. Students should be able to choose their own topics of interest and seek to determine how their content is applicable. In this way, teachers will be able to guide students in their interests as well as in attempting to implement their content within a framework of a larger concept.

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This was a lesson plan that I had done previously for this class. I have annotated it to better align with the concept based learning methods. Let me know what you think about the changes!

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Concept Based Learning in a Large Undergraduate Classroom

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Concept Based Learning in a Large Undergraduate Classroom

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This experiment sought to determine whether a course structured by concepts fared any better than one that did not. The groups were used that utilized visual summaries known as concept maps. The first, a control, did not receive any concept maps, while the second constructed individual concept maps, and the third first constructed individual maps and then met in small groups to provide peer feedback about the maps.

The main findings of this experiment showed that concept maps with feedback produced a measurable increase in both student problem-solving performance as well as a decrease in failure rates. However, it was interesting to note that concept maps that did not receive feedback had no impact on student performance.

This experiment demonstrated to me that a concept based learning environment is only as useful as its instructor. If there is no feedback loop for the students, they will not show any improvement. However, if there is a feedback loop, it was shown that there was a significant improvement through understanding of overarching concepts. This aligns with the Tomlinson Model of Differentiation by allowing the teacher to differentiate according to the process. The process can be differentiated as once a feedback loop is given, adjustments to how content is delivered can be implemented. This allows for students to better understand content to then further their overall conceptual understanding.

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Overall, I felt like the methods of concept based learning were interesting and effective. I think that the methods help to solidify content in a firm context and help students understand the meaning of what they are learning in an effective inquiry based fashion. This method of learning is what I strive to achieve in my own business, and hopefully am able to promote strong, curious students who are prepared to apply their knowledge in whatever field they wish to pursue.