I read this booking after ripping through some MYP material. Erickson, Lanning and French came up a lot in the text, so rather than take the IB’s word, I thought I would investigate the source directly.
What follows are a bunch of my notes and resources that I plan to use in the coming months.
The book opens with SIX key findings of having CBCI. These are:
| Finding | Description |
| 1. Conceptual Thinking (CT) | When educators cover too much in the classroom this inevitably leads to shallow learning. |
| 2. Coverage Model | Knowledge/Facts and skills (KS) are easily observable and must be taught first. Learners must be able to know and do! This top layer so to speak is easily observable and taught. Below this, the KS layer lays the conceptual layer (concepts and conceptual understanding). Erickson et al. (2017) state that these need to be explicitly taught and stated in every discipline. Learners must be able to analyse, describe, explain and discuss concepts in a broader concept. |
| 3. Facts and Concepts | The more facts that you learn within a discipline the GREATER the need to conceptually link them together. Perhaps this is because they are easier to store in our pattern preferences brains. |
| 4. Explicit Curriculum Concepts | Knowledge/Facts and skills (KS) are easily observable and must be taught first. Learners must be able to know and do! The top layer (KS) is easily observable and taught. Below the KS layer rests the conceptual layer (concepts and conceptual understanding). Erickson et al. (2017) state that concepts need to be explicitly taught and stated in every discipline. Learners must be able to analyse, describe, explain and discuss concepts in a broader concept. |
| 5. Where Understanding Occurs | Understanding transfers/occurs at the conceptual level. Note that it cannot happen successfully without knowledge and skills. |
| 6. Increases Motivation | The authors put forward that much of the learning that occurs before Grade 3 is concept-based. From Grade 3 on it seems that educators start to focus too heavily on the content to be covered. Consequently, when educators focus on KS instead of Concepts, motivation to learn from our learners decreases. |
3D vs 2D Teaching
Erickson et al. (2017) refer to the 3D model (knowledge/skills/understanding) for learning outcomes used in CBCI, as opposed to the flat 2D model (knowledge/skills) used in more traditional teaching.
A note on writing lesson objectives should have the following verbiage
“In order to understand that”
Check out this example Lesson Objective below:
- Knowledge
- Conceptual language
- Extrapolation of understanding
Compare and contrast advances in robotics (past and present) in order to understand that technology is constantly evolving.
Furthermore, when you are planning lessons consider plan to introduce no more than 5 pieces of information – (Sousa, 2011)
Conceptual Lens & Guiding Questions
There are two parts to conceptual learning here. First, teachers choose concepts that they want their students to see the subject through – a conceptual lens’ to create the synergy between knowledge & skills with conceptual understanding. Use the conceptual lens to see a subject from different perspectives. This lens brings focus and depth to learning. Second, teachers must create a range of guiding questions to facilitate the synergy mentioned above.
Conceptual Lens and Guiding Questions Example 1#2
In the book, they use the example of an educator teaching her students about the Holocaust.
| Concepts (dual) | Humanity and Inhumanity |
| Lesson Context | Holocaust timeline |
| Guiding Questions | Why was the Holocaust a significant event in world history? Why does silence contribute to acts of humanity? Can a person be inhumane and civilised at the same time? |
Conceptual Lens and Guiding Questions Example 2#2
This is an example that I came up with for Design Technology in the MYP:
| Concept | Sustainability |
| Lesson Context | Students are tasked with designing a product or system that addresses a specific environmental issue, like waste reduction or energy conservation. |
| Guiding Questions | How can we design products that minimise negative impacts on the environment throughout their lifecycle?What are the most effective strategies for reducing waste and conserving resources in our designs? How can we balance the need for functionality and aesthetics with the principles of sustainability? |
Note that according to the MYP Design Guide (IB, 2014) there are only four key concepts, highlighted in bold and green below, used in design from a total of sixteen concepts available (see below):
| Aesthetics | Change | Communication | Communities |
| Connections | Creativity | Culture | Development |
| Form | Global interactions | Identity | Logic |
| Perspective | Relationships | Systems | Time, place and space |
Erickson et al. (2017) recommend that you choose ONE concept for each unit that you teach. Choose too many concepts and it may dilute the learning, making it too broad.
Styles of Thinking
Integrated Thinking – They describe integrated thinking as thinking at the conceptual level – which guiding questions would support.
Synergistic Thinking – This occurs between the lower level thinking (knowledge and skills) and the higher level cognitive work at the conceptual level.
Inductive Teaching – They recommend inductive teaching for CBCI; in short, this is when you are not directly teaching or explaining the concept. Instead, you show examples of that concept about the unit you are teaching.
Finally, with a nod to the MYP, Erickson et al. (2017) state that these conceptual ideas may also be referred to as:
- central ideas
- statements of inquiry
- big ideas
- essential understandings.
Transfer of Learning
This occurs when students transfer their knowledge and skills (KS) in different contexts. For example, earlier this year I was teaching Grade 5s how to calculate perimeter, area, and volume (KS) in our math lessons; using the conceptual lens of form. Then, in our IPC lesson, they had to design a transport module to hold the Mars Rovers – that they had made earlier. They had to use their knowledge and skills of perimeter, area, and volume to design and then create the container.
The authors suggest that his transference of KS leads to a deeper understanding of the concept being studied (form), and to higher-order thinking
They recommend that you have your students move between disciplines as much as possible to make their own connections.
Developing the Intellect
There are four dispositions in which educators can develop or nurture the intellect – explained below. This will lead students to develop a strong intellectual character. Teachers NEED to practise these different styles of thinking for themselves if they are to succeed in encouraging their students to develop them. If you are a teacher and you do not possess the ability to harness the different thinking styles then do everything you can to develop them.
Teachers – when you are planning units of work ask yourself the questions below to continue to develop your own thinking style:
- How will I teach this?
- Why will I teach it in this way?
- So what if I teach this?
| Creative Thinking | Reflective Thinking |
| Critical Thinking | Conceptual Thinking |
Creative Thinking
This style of thinking is about being open-minded when learning new things. Essentially, when you are receiving new information don’t judge it based on your previous experiences. Another way to think about creative thinking is that it is our personal construction of meaning!
For example, the next time someone says something to you that you might disagree with, write down or take note of your initial thoughts and then move in the opposite direction – like playing devil’s advocate to yourself!
Creative thinking will require you to take a leap of faith and be prepared to be wrong. And do not be afraid of the wrong. Rather, it is more important to make mistakes and learn from them. In my class, we have favourite failure Fridays (Ferriss, 2017), where we each share our favourite failure of the week. There is a precondition on the failure, in that it has to be a failure where we have learned something from it.
Teachers can also encourage this style of thinking by coaching our students when creating their own meaning, rather than giving them the answers.
Critical Thinking
You need:
- To filter incoming data to your conscious, using your open-mindedness, to check to see if the data is valid
- Check your bias at the door
- Strive to be objective
- Clarify the problem with each other
- Consider alternatives.
To plan for developing critical thinkers in your classroom try out the following with your students:
- Ask clarifying questions about the topics/learning
- What connections (transdisciplinary) can you make with other subjects? Consider practical implications of these connections
- Try this thinking routine – I used to think – – – Now I Think (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2015)
- Triangulate your thinking; share your thinking with two other people that are objective
- Examine everything up close – CSI Miami style
- Capture the meaning of what you are doing/learning in a short breath!
Reflective Thinking
This is thinking about thinking (metacognition). Teachers – use the excellent questions below, taken from The Nature and Functions of Critical & Creative Thinking (Paul and Elder, 2019).
Conceptual Thinking
This is a mixture of the aforementioned three styles of thinking. Erickson et al. (2017) describe it as pattern-seeking thinking to develop one’s understanding at the conceptual level.
The Structure of Knowledge and Process
Note that both Structure of Knowledge and Process, are fundamental for any curriculum to be successful.
Structure of Knowledge (SoK)
What follows is a diagram and theory of how knowledge is structured. Note that when designing academic learning objectives it is important to move away from verb-driven objectives and instead use words like:
- Must know for knowledge
- Understand for principles
- Do for skills
Note that the structure of knowledge works from the bottom (facts) up (theory).
| Type | Definition & Example | Transferable or Non-transferable |
| Facts | Factual knowledge needed for the subject. E.g. 1 – A pie chart is used to visualise people, places, and things of a whole E.g. 2 – a prime number is only divisible by one and the number itself. | Non-transferable |
| Topic | The topic frames the set of facts related to a specific person, place, thing or situation. It gives context to the facts. E.g. 1 – How data visualisations can be used to show student progression. E.g. 2 – How robotics was used to create the Mars Rover Curiosity. | Non-transferable |
| Concept/s | These are mental constructs drawn from the topic. They are non-tangible. E.g. 1 – Design, communication, innovation, structures, order etc. To be a concept it must be: | Transferable |
| Generalisation | A statement of two or more concepts. The statement must highlight the relationship between concepts. E.g. 1 – Effective communication of analysed data through visualisations can be used to show student progression. To be a generalisation it must be: | Transferable, across time, culture, and situation |
| Principle | These are generalisations that are considered basic truths of a discipline. E.g. 1 – As supply decreases, demand increases. Note that there are no qualifiers in principles because they are truths | Transferable |
| Theory | A belief held without proof (supposition) used to explain a practice or phenomenon. It must be supported by evidence. E.g. 1 – CRAP design principles, | Transferable |
Structure of Process (SoP)
We will now take a look at the SoP. Similar to that of SoK, SoP takes a bottom-up approach.
Erickson et al. (2017) put forward that much of what we learn is easily forgotten because our learning is not related or applicable to the real world.
Process, Strategies, and Skills are the main tools that students use to engage with the content – this section is known as the doing section. Moving from concepts to theory is all about understanding.
| Type | Definition | Examples |
| Process | As in the SoK, these are mental constructs drawn from the topic AND the processes, strategies and skills | Design thinking process Computational thinking process Writing process Scientific process |
| Strategies | A combination of mastered skills that can be used at any given moment. | Project completion Testing a product Regulating emotions |
| Skills | Small actions (taken from strategies) | Skills used when collaborating: active listening, talking to get your point across, paraphrasing, summarising |
| Concepts | As in the SoK, these are mental constructs drawn from the topic AND from the processes, strategies and skills | Characterization Identity Inference |
| Generalisation | It is the same as the SoK | – |
| Principle | It is the same as the SoK | – |
| Theory | It is the same as the SoK | – |
Micro and Macro Concepts
Micro concepts provide depth whilst macro provide breadth.
For example, the key concept of development in MYP Design would have the following four micro concepts:
- Iteration
- Prototyping
- Experimentation
- Reflection
Designing Concept Based Instruction (CBI) Units
These can be interdisciplinary or intradisciplinary. Erickson et al. (2017) state that CBI units must have intellectual synergy built into the curriculum (high conceptual thinking and low-level knowledge and skills thinking).
Inquiry Learning in a Concept Based Curriculum (CBC)
This section opens up by comparing deductive and inductive teaching – the latter is preferred for the CBC classroom.
| Deductive Teaching | Inductive Teaching |
| You start with sharing the unit generalisation with students. Students find knowledge and skills that support the generalisation. Move from abstract to concrete. | Opposite to deductive. Students start with examples/attributes of the generalisation/concepts and then come up with their own conceptual understanding. Move from concrete to abstract. |
With deductive thinking, you run the risk of thinking about your students. Whereas inductive teaching engenders an environment for students to think for themselves. Don’t steal your students’ ability to think…
Types of Inquiry Learning
The authors identify two main types of inquiry that suit CBCI: Structure and Guided Inquiry.
| Structured Inquiry | Guided Inquiry |
Lessons and Assessments
Erickson et al. (2017) provide comprehensive rubrics for teachers to use when writing lesson plans and assessments. I have summarised the main points into the table below (note that the information pertainst to that required for a master-level CBCI teacher). It is an extremely high bar to set, and I am sceptical if this can be achieved by teachers on a full timetable if they are planning alone and without any assistance (human or AI). Having said that, there is nothing wrong with having high expectations.
| Name | Description |
| Lesson Opening | The lesson opening should be clear and link to synergistic thinking.
Does the lesson opening: |
| Lesson Targets | The lesson targets should contain knowledge, understanding (generalisation), and do (skills). Do the lesson targets represent what students are expected to: Know? |
| Guiding Questions | The lesson contains all three types of questions that bridge thinking. Does the lesson contain guiding questions that are: |
| Learning Experiences | The experiences should be intellectually stimulating and although for students to arrive at the generalisation. Do the lesson experiences: |
| Assessment Methods | These methods must be linked to the lesson targets AND to the formative or summative and capture the learning process and product! Do the assessment methods: |
| Differentiation | All students are expected to access the SAME conceptual understanding. Does differentiation: Provide alternative pathways to meet the conceptual understanding? |
| Lesson Design | The lesson should lean more toward the inductive style of teaching rather than the deductive. However, deductive teaching may be required too. Does the lesson design: Deductive parts that support knowledge and skill acquisition? |
| Closing | When closing, consider how you can evaluate learning. Does the lesson close with: |