Choosing Between Models

A teacher who knows three models has three tools. The skill is choosing which tool to use for which lesson.

Three models, three uses

The three presentation models covered so far are task analysis, concept analysis, and advanced organizer. Each has its own strength.

Task analysis maps a procedure or skill into independent and dependent steps. It is best for subjects where students must perform a task: solve a math problem, write an essay, conduct an experiment.

Concept analysis breaks one concept into five components: name, definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples, hierarchy. It is best for lessons that teach a single concept thoroughly.

Advanced organizer presents a big topic with several connected concepts at the start of the lesson. It then isolates and integrates the pieces. It is best for lessons that cover a wider topic where the relationships matter.

A teacher who has used only task analysis will struggle to teach the concept of food well. A teacher who has used only concept analysis will struggle to teach a unit on the digestive system, where many concepts connect.

Mathematics: task analysis

Mathematics is procedure-heavy. Students must learn how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, solve equations, factor, and prove. These are procedures with clear steps.

Concepts exist in math (the concept of fraction, the concept of prime number, the concept of area), but the concept alone is not enough. The student must also be able to perform the calculation. A student who understands what a fraction is but cannot reduce a fraction to lowest terms cannot solve fraction problems.

Task analysis fits math because it maps the procedure. Each step is identified. Independent skills (prerequisites) are diagnosed before the unit. Dependent skills are taught and practiced in sequence.

The advanced organizer model has limits in math. A teacher can show students “Today we will learn fractions, decimals, and percentages, and how they connect.” This is an advanced organizer. But students still cannot solve fraction problems without practicing the procedure. An advanced organizer alone in math leaves students with the concept but without the skill.

For math, task analysis is the main tool. Other models support it.

Science, social studies, Islamic studies: advanced organizer with concept analysis

Subjects with many connected concepts work well with the advanced organizer model. Science topics like the digestive system, the water cycle, ecosystems, and states of matter all involve several concepts that relate to each other. Social studies topics like government, the economy, and historical periods are similar. Islamic studies topics like the pillars of Islam, the prophets, and Islamic ethics also fit.

The teacher uses the advanced organizer to show the structure: what the topic includes, how the pieces connect. Students see the whole picture at the start.

Then the teacher drills into each concept using concept analysis. For “digestion” within the digestive system, the teacher gives the definition, characteristics, examples, non-examples, and hierarchy. For “Zakat” within the pillars of Islam, the teacher does the same.

This pairing gives students both breadth and depth. The advanced organizer provides breadth (the whole topic). The concept analysis provides depth (each concept fully understood).

Languages: concept analysis and advanced organizer

Language teaching uses both models. Grammar concepts (noun, verb, paragraph, thesis) fit concept analysis. Wider topics (the parts of speech, sentence structure, types of writing) fit advanced organizer with concept analysis filling in the details.

Vocabulary teaching can use concept analysis for important words. The word “magnetism” is more than a label; it is a concept with characteristics, examples, and a place in a hierarchy. Teaching it as a concept gives students more than memorizing a definition.

Reading comprehension can use advanced organizers. Before students read a chapter, the teacher shows a graphic of the chapter’s main ideas and how they connect. Students read with the structure already in mind. They understand more.

Knowledge types and method choice

Declarative knowledge. Knowing what. Facts, concepts, definitions, examples, hierarchies. Examples: knowing that water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius, knowing the definition of a noun, knowing the parts of a flower.

Procedural knowledge. Knowing how. Skills, procedures, sequences of action. Examples: knowing how to add fractions, knowing how to write a paragraph, knowing how to use a microscope.

Presentation methods (lecture, advanced organizer, concept analysis) work well for declarative knowledge. The teacher shares information; students take it in, organize it, and store it.

Presentation methods are weaker for procedural knowledge. To learn how to add fractions, a student must practice. The teacher cannot only present the procedure; students must do the procedure with feedback. For procedural knowledge, direct instruction (covered later in this guide) is the better method.

Task analysis sits between the two. It maps procedures (procedural knowledge) but uses presentation to teach prerequisite concepts (declarative knowledge).

Flashcard

Which presentation model fits which type of knowledge?

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Answer

Concept analysis and advanced organizer fit declarative knowledge; task analysis fits procedural knowledge

Declarative knowledge (knowing what) is built up through definitions, examples, and structures. Concept analysis and advanced organizer present this content well.

Procedural knowledge (knowing how) is built up through practice. Task analysis maps the procedure into steps. Direct instruction (later in this guide) fits this best.

The skill is choosing the model that matches the content.

A practical decision process

When planning a lesson, the teacher can ask three questions.

1. What kind of knowledge is this lesson teaching?

• If it is a procedure or skill, task analysis fits.
• If it is conceptual understanding, concept analysis or advanced organizer fits.

2. Is the lesson about one concept or several connected concepts?

• One concept: concept analysis.
• Several connected concepts: advanced organizer with concept analysis inside.

3. What is the subject?

• Math: task analysis is the default.
• Science, social studies, Islamic studies: advanced organizer with concept analysis.
• Language: concept analysis for grammar; advanced organizer for wider topics.

These are defaults, not rules. A creative teacher mixes models depending on what the students need.

No method is always useful

A teacher who falls in love with one method will use it where it does not fit. A teacher who knows several methods can match the method to the lesson.

The course covers more methods after this chapter. Lecture (a basic presentation method), demonstration (for procedures), discussion (for higher-order thinking), cooperative learning (for collaboration), inquiry (for discovery learning), and direct instruction (for procedural knowledge) all have their own contexts.

The skill of teaching is partly knowing what each method does well, what each method does poorly, and how to choose. Task analysis, concept analysis, and advanced organizer are the first three tools. More are coming.

Flashcard

What is the key principle for choosing between teaching models?

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Answer

No method is always useful; every method has its context

A method that works for one topic may not work for another.

Task analysis fits procedures. Concept analysis fits a single concept. Advanced organizer fits a topic with several connected concepts.

The teacher who knows multiple methods chooses the one that fits the lesson, the students, and the goal.