Concept Development Model
Basic overview: The Concept Development Model is a great model to use when students already understand a concept and when you'd like them to think a little more deeply about it, see it in a different perspective, or be more able to apply it to/see it as a theme in new material you will be learning. The general idea is this: Ask students to list everything that comes to mind when they think of a certain concept. After the students have come up with a list they sort it into different categories and label each category. Students then discuss their reasoning for their categorization and use the category names and the words on the list to write their own definition of the concept. Key to the process is the teacher creating an environment where there is no one right answer so students feel free to say what they think. In the classroom: Recently in my instructional development class this model was presented to us as if we were a class of 9th graders about to delve into Romeo and J...