The Principle of Conceptual Clarity
Learning a concept involves more than just learning a label; it involves
learning the essential attributes of a concept. To learn the essential attributes
of a concept, students must be able to discriminate between examples
and nonexamples. Make sure all the essential attributes are clearly
present in your examples and that nonexamples embody only some of
these attributes. Avoid sending students down misleading and trivial
paths. For example, when presented with the set of examples shown in
Figure 7.1, p. 100, students may say that the yes examples are shaded
rather than beginning to formulate the essential attributes of a square.
The Principle