Concept Mastery

Performance Learning PLUS is a monthly e-newsletter by Performance Learning Systems (PLS), a comprehensive educational services company that has provided a full spectrum of programs, products, and consulting services for educators and business professionals since 1971.

Do you find your students often learn a concept only to forget much of it a week after the test? Read on to discover an effective strategy for guiding your students through a process to achieve CONCEPT MASTERY.

Tips: Helping Your Students Achieve Concept Mastery

To help your students develop concept mastery, use a teaching process called SDLOC (pronounced "sedlock"). This process effectively supports the natural ways your students learn:

(S) SAME

When exploring a new concept, have your students notice how it is the SAME as something they already know. There is a level of comfort in sameness. Students are more likely to remember new information if they can connect it with familiar, prior knowledge or experience.

For example: If you're exploring the new concept of democracy, ask your students questions such as "What procedures do we have in this class that are like those of a democratic government?"

(D) DIFFERENT

While your students explore samenesses, have them also explore DIFFERENCES. Since a new concept will not exactly match a more familiar concept, it's natural for students to identify how it is different. Students gain as much understanding of a new concept by identifying what it isn't as by identifying what it is.

For example: In teaching the concept of democracy, ask your students questions such as "What procedures do we have in this class that are not democratic?"

(L) LABEL

Once your students have thoroughly explored samenesses and differences, have them label a new concept by giving it a name or a descriptive phrase. Labeling plays a crucial part in learning because people tend to retrieve information stored in memory by its label. Labels also serve the purpose of establishing a common language between you and your students. When using a label, make sure you and your students have a mutual understanding of what the label means. (Return to "Same" and "Different" for added clarity if necessary.)

For example: Establish a clear, concise definition of the label "democracy," such as "government by the people, in which majority rules."

(O) OPERATE

At this stage in the process, have your students OPERATE (i.e., practice) with a new concept to gain conscious mastery. Give your students opportunities to practice the new concept in a variety of multisensory learning situations. If a student is unable to operate with a given concept, return to the "Same," "Different," and "Label" stages of the SDLOC process.

For example: To help your students master the concept of "democracy," have them not only read about it and discuss it as a class, but also do role-plays of democratic governments, observe democracy in action by attending a city council meeting, and keep a journal to reflect on and process new information. The greater the variety of multisensory learning tasks, the more likely it is your students will begin to internalize the concept.

(C) COMBINE

Your students have reached concept mastery when they are able to COMBINE a new concept with prior knowledge or experience, join and perform two or more tasks simultaneously, and apply the new concept in new and creative ways. In the "Operate" stage, students achieve conscious mastery; in the "Combine" stage, students achieve unconscious, or automatic, mastery. At this stage, students have internalized the new concept and can apply it without really thinking about it.

For example: You can tell your students have mastered the concept of democracy when they are able to discuss it in the larger context of international politics, and when they are able to apply the concept in new and creative ways, such as: designing a conflict resolution process they can use in the classroom that is based on democratic principles, or reorganizing the school's student council meetings based on the principles of democracy.

In the natural learning process, students will go back and forth between "Operate" (practicing a new concept in isolation) and "Combine" (combining a new concept with prior knowledge) several times before completely mastering a concept.

Field-testing has shown that SDLOC follows a natural process for integrating information into students' bodies of knowledge. Using the "SDLOC" strategy in your classroom can make the difference between your students temporarily memorizing a concept and mastering it for life.

Source: The above concepts are based on the PLS graduate course Teaching Through Learning Channels™. For more information, see "Helpful Resources" below.

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