Types and Levels of Knowledge Facts Concepts Generalizations

Types and Levels of Knowledge

• • • Facts Concepts Generalizations Declarative Procedural Metacognitive

Facts: Unique Instances • Facts are single instances of information that one believes to be true. They may not be true. – Biddeford is in Maine. – Doug is your professor. • Facts by themselves do not lead to understanding within a given field. Rather, one must infer from facts, or interpret the facts to rise to higher levels of understanding.

Concepts • Concepts represent categories or sets of examples. Concepts will always have multiple examples. • People naturally learn many concepts – Moms, Bicycles, Candy, House, Pets • Many other concepts are taught in school: – States, Courts, Presidents, Birthdays, Planets, Cells, Ecosystems

Concepts have Distinguishing Features • Concepts are learned through repeated exposure to examples • With focus on distinguishing features • What are the distinguishing features of College Resident Halls? • It often helps students learn concepts by having them distinguish between correct examples and close non-examples.

• Kindergarten Concept Lesson

Generalizations: Complete Ideas • Generalizations are complete statements that link together concepts. • They often represent ideas that across time or place. – Families have many different forms. – Oxygen is an essential requirement for life. • Generalizations may be supported or not supported by evidence. Having students support their generalizations is a good teaching practice.

Declarative Knowledge • Declarative Knowledge refers to the content of a particular area of study. This would include the facts, concepts and generalizations of that topic. • You could think of declarative knowledge as the knowledge “about” the topic.

Declarative Car Knowledge • The written test for a driver’s license • Location and function of brake, windshield wiper controls, lights, radio, type of fuel to use, etc. • You can know all of the above and NOT be able to drive a car.

Procedural Knowledge • The knowledge of performing a cognitive or behavioral skill. – Driving a car – Reading – Writing – Lab work – Solving math problems – Writing learning targets

• Sounding Out Words

Metacognitive Knowledge • Metacognition is self awareness and reflection. • Different levels – Know that you understand – Know what to do when you do not understand – Know a range of strategies for learning – Know your emotional state