CONCEPT ATTAINMENT MODEL

Model of Teaching

1. The term modeling is common also include imitation, observational learning, copying and vicarious (sensational) learning.

2. Modeling is an individual demonstrating particular patterns which the trainee learns through imitation – Allen and Ryan.

3. The term model is used to mean a teaching episode done by an experienced teacher in which a highly focused teaching behaviour is demonstrated – White.

Concept Attainment Model

It was developed by Jerome S. Bruner, Jacqueline Coodrow and George Austine in 1956. It emerges out of the thinking process in the human being. It is based on the assertion that a human being is competent with the capacity to discriminate and to categorize thing in group.

Steps in Teaching Concepts

1. Describing the Behaviour:

Before teaching the concept the behaviour of the students should be analyzed. The teacher should know the entry behaviour of the students. Entry behaviour is modified during the process; the modified behaviour is called as Terminal behaviour of the students. The terminal behaviour analysed by the teacher at the end of the programme. If the terminal behaviour is good means the process and the objectives also good. If it is not satisfactory there is an inaccuracy is happened in the process. By which we can describe the behaviour of the students.

2. Providing Examples of the Concept:

During teaching of concepts the teacher should present the both the side. The positive and negative examples should be given to the students. When compare with the negative examples positive examples are very useful and benefit to the students. The examples should be very relevant and apt to the concept and also should be in sequence. That provides the external learning conditions of continuity and discrimination.

3. Define the concept:

The learners are asked to define or explain the concept their own examples and words. It is concerned with developing relationship between verbal and concept learning.

4. Evaluating the knowledge:   

During the teaching of concepts the teachers should evaluate the students’ knowledge about the concept. By asking question or the examples teaches has to assess the students learning outcomes, from that he verify whether the object of the concept are attained or not. At the end of the teaching the teacher has providing opportunity to the students for the practice and reinforcement that will useful to retain the learning concept.

Bruner’s Model of Concept Learning

J.S. Bruner proposed that economy in thinking and responding requires that we categorize the phenomena according to their common attributes. An attribute is a property/quality/feature or characteristic of an object which differentiate from others. Colour, texture, shape, size, number of parts, position and sound are the examples for the attributes. The objects are categorizes as a group by the common features. E.g. Dogs are categorizes by the four legs, tail, facial structure, and their barking sound. Similarly we can categorize more things and concepts as friends, enemy, profession, teacher and etc. in the teaching process to teach a concept the teacher should identify such an attributes of the concepts which are both the similarities and differences. E.g. Dog and Cat.

Experiments of Bruner

Bruner studied the strategies people use in acquiring concepts. He used a set of cards, some cards are having borders and others are without them. All the cards are having the figures at center varying in shape (square, circle and cross); in colour (red, green and black) and in number (single, double and triple). Each card combines four attributes: Figure Shape, Figure Number, Figure Colour and Presence and absence of borders. Each attribute has three variations as listed above. The subject is told that the experimenter has a concept in mind, say red circles, and the subject was to identify that concept. The subject is asked to select a card and then told by the experimenter whether the card an occurrence or not of the concept. With these data in mind, the subject would select another card to determine further attributes of the concepts. He would continuously do the same work till he finds the answer appropriately.          

Strategies in Concept Attainment

1. Simultaneous Scanning

In it the subject uses each positive instance (occurrence) each or correctly identified the card, to work out as to which combinations of attribute values are no longer valid. The subject must keep in mind simultaneously all rejected combinations in order to narrow down the range of successive alternatives. This technique is not very efficient as it places a great strain on the subject’s memory.

2. Successive Scanning

In it the subject makes an overall estimate of each correct characteristic of the concept and test, each one by one. It is called successive scanning as a subject tests individual hypothesis about the correct characteristic one at a time in succession. This technique is also in efficient as the subject may choose redundant (unneeded) cards which give no new information.

3. Conservative Focusing

In it each attribute is tested by selecting a card that is different from a focus card in only one attribute. If the new card is still a positive instance, then the subject knows that the varied attribute is not part of the concept. However, if the changed attribute yields a negative instance, then the attribute is a part of the concept. For E.g. the concept to be attained is ‘Red Circles”. Suppose the subject encounters a positive card with three red circles and two borders. This card becomes the focus card and each variable is examined by selecting additional cards. A plus sign in the parentheses (bracket) means the card is a positive instance of the concept, a minus sign in the bracket means the card is a negative instance or occurrence.          The selection sequences are given below:

Shape

Colour

Figure

Border

Square

Red

Single

Presence

Absence

Circle

Green

Double

Presence

Absence

Cross

Black

Triple

Presence

Absence

1. Square (-), Circle (+), Cross (-)

2. Red (+), Green (-), Black (-)

3. Single (-), Double (-), Triple (+)

4. Border(-), No Border(+)

Conclusion: The concept is ‘No bordered-Triple-Red-Circle’.

This technique is more efficient since the subject uses a correct instance as appoint of reference and selects additional cards to test each attributes value individually.

4. Focus Gambling

This strategy is called gambling or having a bed since the subject takes a chance varying two attributes at a time. In it the subject focuses on a correct card, but varies more than one attribute at a time. This can give early result if cards chosen yield a positive instance. If, however, the subject encourages a negative instance, he cannot tell which attribute was essential. Hence, he has to revert to simultaneous scanning technique to test hypotheses.

Applications

In teaching of Science the use of discovery and enquiry techniques provides the pupil with experiences quite similar to the card tasks used by Bruner. E.g. if the teachers wants the pupils to invent their own system of classification of plants or animals, they can identify the attributes and putting the plants or animals with common attributes in one group.

Reference

1. R.C. Rawat, 2002, Essentials of Educational Technology, R. Lall Book Depot, Meerut.