AN EVALUATION OF THE CONCEPT INSTRUCTION PROCESS IN THE CONTEXT OF “KNOW, UNDERSTAND, DO” DIMENSIONS

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Concept instruction is an important strategy that enables students to construct knowledge and “create meaning”. However, curricular and instructional designs are traditionally two-dimensional, and they focus on students’ “knowing” and “being able to do”. In fact, “understanding dimension” is important in terms of construction of knowledge and development of higher-order thinking skills. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of concept instruction process on students’ development in the context of “know, understand, do” dimensions presented by Erickson (2007). The study utilised a case study design, one of the qualitative research methods. Instruction of the selected concepts was performed in 16 course hours. The study was conducted in a state school located in one of the central towns of Adana. The participants included totally 21 primary school fourth grade students, 13 males and 8 males. Students’ development was monitored using the “level identification checklists”. In conclusion, concept instruction was found to contribute to the process of constructing knowledge in the “know, understand, do” dimensions of concept instruction, and there were more developments in the understanding dimension in comparison to other dimensions. In the understanding dimension, improvements were observed in students’ explaining, providing reference, asking questions, classifying, giving examples, making comparisons, and distinguishing skills. In conclusion, practices regarding concept instruction developed mostly the “understand” aspect of “know, understand, do” dimensions. Concept instruction improved students’ explaining, justifying, questioning, classifying, giving examples, making comparisons, and distinguishing skills. The students were found to be interested in the course, enjoyed it, and worked collaboratively in an active way.

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Concept Instruction , instructional design , content components

Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi

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Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi