Concept Attainment

1. I can use this model in my Accounting class when introducing the concept of Permanent vs. Temporary Accounts. I will provide my students with two accounts to begin with. One of these accounts will be a permanent account, the other will be a temporary account. I will place the permanent account under the example list and the temporary account under the non-example list. Next I will pull out another permanent and temporary account and have the students help me repeat the process. Now I will continue to present accounts and have the students dictate which list the accounts will go in. After we have categorized each of the accounts, I will ask the students to post to a discussion board their hypothesis for what the accounts have in common. After they have posted, we will go through the posts together as a class and come up with the correct categorization. Next we will go through the requirements of both permanent accounts and temporary accounts. As an assessment, students will be asked to create a graphic that lists both temporary and permanent accounts, examples of each, and characteristics of each.
2. I can use this model in my Programming class when introducing the concept of Constants vs. Variable. I will begin by providing my students with two examples (freezing point, current temperature). I will place freezing point under the example list, and current temperature under the non-example list. I will then present them with another example (perfect GPA, first student's GPA). The students will help me decide which category these belong in. I will then present them with the remaining items to be categorized and they will guide me through the placement of each one. Once they are all placed. I will ask them to split into groups of 2 or 3 to come up with a hypothesis regarding the concept that is being taught. They will post their hypothesis on a discussion board. As a class, we will look through everyone's hypotheses and come up with one hypothesis that correctly identifies the concept. We will then make a list of all of the criteria of a constant. As a final assessment, I will have students write a blog that contains an explanation/definition of a constant, the criteria that must be met to be called a constant, and a list of 10 things that would be defined as constants in a program.
3. For my third example, I am going to steal one from the book that I thought was great. I have to teach my students how to assess the credibility of websites, and I love the way this is presented in the book. I will create a page in Canvas that shows a table consisting of two columns headed with the words "Examples" and "Non-Examples." In each column, I will have a selection of websites. The examples column will have websites such as "The White House Web Page" and "The Weather Channel's Web Page." In the non-examples column I will include "The Onion" and "The Daily News." Students will be asked to review the websites one by one--paying attention to the characteristics that the examples have in common with one another and that are not characteristics shared by the non-examples. Students will then be asked to hypothesis regarding the concept I am trying to teach them. I will create a worksheet for them to list the commonalities and their hypothesis. Students will split into groups of 2 or 3 to come up with a common hypothesis. I will make sure all students understand the correct hypothesis prior to the next step. As an assessment, students will be asked to make their own list of credible and non-credible internet sites. They will also provide a definition of a credible site along with a list of criteria for credibility. Students will submit this list via a blog.