Teaching Concepts Versus Facts in Developmental Biology

Abstract

Points of View (POV) Teaching Concepts Versus Facts in Developmental Biology William B. WoodDepartment of MCD Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309In our teaching of undergraduate life sciences courses, we are admonished to place more emphasis on concepts over facts, conceptual understanding over memorization of details. But understanding the biology of development requires extensive knowledge of facts as well as concepts, and sometimes it seems hard to distinguish which is which. What do we mean by a concept? According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, a concept is 1. an abstract idea. (origin: Latin conceptum, something conceived).Merriam-Webster defines a concept as 1. something conceived in the mind: thought, notion. 2. an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances.

Long-Term Retention of Knowledge and Critical Thinking Skills in Developmental Biology

“…The PLC assignment used as part of the Developmental Biology course emphasizes these points and is in alignment with suggestions published recently in a series of commentaries on effective teaching practices in developmental biology (12,16,31). The results presented here highlight the importance of in-depth analytical assignments in promoting deep learning.…”

An Empirical Investigation of the Conception Focused Curriculum: The Importance of Introducing Undergraduate Business Statistics Students to the “Real World”

“…The importance of educators recognizing and teaching for conceptual understanding becomes apparent when a learner has a defining moment in their education based on a well‐developed concept (Powell & Kusuma‐Powell, ). Such an event is described by Wood (), in which he tells of a visiting professor giving a lesson that allowed Wood to conceptually understand combinatorial control. Wood stated that during the lecture the “monstrous complexity” of the “seemingly infinite types and variations of developmental regulatory controls” could be reduced to one concept: how a cell behaves is dependent on what the cell has synthesized in the past (Wood, , p. 10).…”

“…Such an event is described by Wood (), in which he tells of a visiting professor giving a lesson that allowed Wood to conceptually understand combinatorial control. Wood stated that during the lecture the “monstrous complexity” of the “seemingly infinite types and variations of developmental regulatory controls” could be reduced to one concept: how a cell behaves is dependent on what the cell has synthesized in the past (Wood, , p. 10). This one well‐developed concept allowed Wood to make sense of all of the previous facts and theories that he had learned about combinatorial control, and provided a conceptual understanding that he could use in the future.…”

“…Interest in concepts led Meyer and Land () to identify economics concepts which, when mastered, allowed students to step through a “portal” and see economics in a new light. This process was witnessed by Wood () in his discussion of the combinatorial control of cells. These concepts are referred to as threshold concepts since they act as doorways to new understanding.…”

“…The first, “define the term combinatorial control,” corresponds to the lowest level of Bloom's hierarchy of knowledge since the student can receive a perfect score without understanding the statement conceptually. However, concept‐based approaches require higher order processing by asking the student “to explain at the molecular level how two different cell types in the same tissue can respond differently to the same hormonal signal” (Wood, , p. 11).…”