The Principle of Conceptual Competence
A concept is learned when students can list the essential attributes of
the concept and when they can use those attributes to discriminate
between examples and nonexamples. Never be afraid to challenge students
to apply their new understanding of the concept in a variety of
ways. Can they design an imaginary predator? Can they create two imaginary
societies—one that fits the concept of a civilization and another
that is missing one key attribute? Can they think of 10 different examples
of transportation from at least three different sources (e.g., from nature,
on the road, at the amusement park)?