How Does ConceptEssay -based Education Improve Science Learning? Essay - 1,497 words

How Does Concept-Based Education Improve Science Learning? Concept-based education appeared as protest to the traditional old-fashioned and conservative system of education, which makes students obey standards. The thing is that every single person is individual and unique, therefore everyone needs a certain unique approach to receive the best result. This is just what concept-based education offers to anyone who wants to be involved. The main point about teaching, according to the concept-based method, is that the teacher is not considered a supervisor or a teacher in the direct meaning of this word. The approach is that the teacher should not overteach his students, he should rather try to show them the way and after that let them go along it on their own, which is very important for personal identification of the students, for the development of their free thinking. The teacher in this case is rather a coach.


Naturally, a coach has to be in the team, that is he is to be equal to the people he is training for them to feel that he is their friend. Talking about science, it is important to mention that it is far not the easiest thing to study. It is considered that one should have strong motivation and ability to learn. However, not all people, who have a desire to study science have the necessary abilities to do it. That's where the concept-based method comes in handy, as far as one of its main aims is to develop the personality, to make the learner interested in what he or she is studying, to encourage him, which is the key point to success. Teaching science has to be performed very carefully, not to cause a situation in which a student would feel uncomfortable or suppressed, otherwise he or she may lose their motivation and desire to study, which is a fatal mistake for a scientist, who has to be interested in what he is doing, give all his heart and soul to his work. The main advantages of the concept-based method of teaching are the development of the following qualities: critical and creative thinking communication independent learning problem-solving These items are essential for scientists, who really have to be creative enough to carry out new ideas, to be innovative and decisive, to come up with something new, not just study what has already been discovered. As to the methods of studying what has already been discovered, they differ from the traditional method as well.


In this case students study real things and situations, which helps to make the knowledge acquired deeper and more long-lasting. It's common knowledge that it is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. Students who study science with the help of this method have the ability to make experiments, to perform their own research, to observe objects. Usually they are asked to classify something in a way they think it is reasonable. Naturally, scientists have their own classification, which they think is most suitable, and often uneasy to understand. Within the concept-based method, students are taught to understand what scientist really mean by dividing something into these categories they don't just learn the classification by heart.


For example, in biology peanuts are classified as beans (but not nuts), however in medicine people who are allergic to peanuts are usually allergic to nuts and very rarely to beans. This is an example of a classification which needs deeper understanding than the one we have in our daily life and the concept-based method can provide this. Students examine objects and classify them in their own way, after that they are asked to explain why they think this very way is reasonable and after that they are suggested an alternative way and explained why this way is reasonable so that they could compare and understand it. They can also listen to other students' classifications and take some interesting facts into consideration. In addition, when students are able to perform their own research work, they don't just learn from their own mistakes, but ask more interesting questions than they would if they just memorized the given material. Therefore, they receive more interesting answers and accordingly they get more profound knowledge.


One more advantage of the concept-based method for students who study science is that getting this sort of educ ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: young people, scientist, studying, mistake, classification

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