IB Key Concepts:

 

PYP=Primary Years Program

 

The use of key concepts prevents an overreliance on memorization of facts as the end goal. In a concept-based model students must process the facts through their personal intellect—the conceptual mind. The key concept provides focus to the topic under study, acting as a conceptual draw for personal engagement and mental processing. The focus shifts from memorization—or a lower form of mental engagement—to deeper, personal inquiry as students consider connections between the facts and the key concept(s).

Source: http://www.ibmidatlantic.org/Concept_Based_Teaching_Learning.pdf

 

 

 

By separating factual knowledge from conceptual knowledge, we highlight the need for educators to teach for deep understanding of conceptual knowledge, not just for remembering isolated and small bits of factual knowledge (p 42).

 

Students understand when they build connections between the "new" knowledge to be gained and their prior knowledge. More specifically, the incoming knowledge is integrated with existing schemas and cognitive frameworks. Since concepts are the building blocks for these schemas and frameworks, conceptual knowledge provides a basis for understanding (p 70).

 

Source:

Anderson and Krathwohl’s book (2001) updated Benjamin Bloom’s

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), and further supports the need to teach for deeper conceptual understanding.