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Conceptual Framework
A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing
information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”;
that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations
and to learn related information more quickly.” (Bransford, How
People Learn)
In order to develop competence in an area of inquiry, the learner needs
to understand facts and ideas within the context of a conceptual
framework. (Bransford, How People Learn)
A conceptual framework is a group of concepts broadly defined and
systematically organized to provide a focus, a rationale, and a tool for
integration of information.
“Do we want our students to be able to select, transfer and use information and
generalizations to complete a task trough taking what they have already learned a d
applying it to other situations?” (Morgan) If we do, the students need to understand
facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.
Theory and Conceptual Framework – Sociology
To get an idea about how conceptual frameworks are created let’s look at
how the organized information in a sociology textbook is developed.
Sociology is about the social life of human groups and individuals. Within
sociology is the concept of culture. Culture is e group’s ways of thinking,
the ways of acting, and the material objects that make up their ways of life.
Culture is one area in a conceptual framework for looking at the social life
of groups and individuals.
Let’s look at how Henslin in Down to Earth Sociology describes how
sociologists use theory and conceptual frameworks to construct meaning
from their objective observations:
“Sociologists conduct empirical research. Empirical research means “based
on objective observations.” Sociologists cannot draw conclusions that are
based on guesswork, hunches, custom, superstition, common sense, or how
they would like the world to be. Sociologists must gather information that
represents people’s attitudes and behaviors accurately.
The word theory sometimes scares students. It shouldn’t, for all of us are
theorists. To see what I mean by this, let’s start with a basic point – how we
make sense out of life. All of us want to know the meaning of the things that
happen to us, but the facts never interpret themselves. To find meaning, we
place our experiences (our “facts”) into a conceptual framework (our prior
knowledge). That is we take a “fact” (which can be someone’s behavior,
something we see on television – anything that happened to us) and compare
it with what we know about “that kind of thing.” We then use “what we
know” to interpret that “fact.”
Doing this gives us an understanding of what that event or “fact” of life
means. Whether our understanding is right or wrong is not the point. The
point is that we all do this as a regular part of our everyday lives. We feel a
need to know how “events” are related to one another. By placing them into
“frameworks” that we carry around in our heads, we arrive at that meaning.
Like the events in everyday life, sociological “facts” (the observations,
measurements, or research results) of sociologists do not come with built-in
meanings. They, too, must be interpreted. To make sense of them,
sociologists place their findings into conceptual frameworks that they have
developed. These frameworks provide explanations of how “facts” are
related to one another.
A theory, then, is a conceptual framework that interprets “facts”; it shows
how “facts” (measurements, observations, or research results) are related to
one another.” (Henslin)
Becoming Competent in an Area of Inquiry
Remember, to become competent in an area of inquiry, we need to
understand facts and ideas within the context of a conceptual framework.
Our first task is to discover the conceptual framework provided by the
textbook writer that we can use to construct meaning and see how “facts” are
related to one another.
Joe’s Challenge
Joe is a first-time freshman and wants to be a sociologist. He will have to
learn a lot of facts and ideas – most of which will come form textbooks. He
has the challenge of developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge. It is
a challenge because the averages college student forgets most of what they
learn during their four years in college. That is why learning how to use
cognitive strategies and internal dialogue inquiry is so important. Not only
must they learn strategies for developing a deep foundation of factual
knowledge, but those facts and ideas must be learned within the context of a
conceptual framework – in this instance the area of inquiry is sociology.
What is the Conceptual Framework for Sociology in Joe’s
Sociology Textbook?
Sociology is about social life in human groups and individuals. These
groups share a common culture. Culture is the ways of thinking, the
ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s
way of life. There are a lot of ways to look at human groups, but
sociologist focus on the social interaction or social life of groups.
Everything Joe will learn needs to be understood within the context of
the conceptual framework of sociology – the social life of groups that
share a common culture made up of ways of thinking, ways of acting
and their material objects.
For example, when sociologist noticed a group of people all tended to
act the same way in given situations, they concluded that within that
group there must be rules or guidelines for how the group acts in
given situations. For instance, In the United States people tend to
shake hands when introduced. A sociologist would ask themselves if
these rules for how to act impact social life of the group and the
answer is yes. They would then give this concept of rules of behavior
a name. Sociologist call these rules for behavior norms. That is how
concepts are developed and named and it is how a reader must try to
understand new facts and ideas presented in the textbook. The reader
must be asking themselves (conceptual framework inquiry) how what
they are reading is about social life in groups and how it is one of the
parts of culture – in this instance, ways of acting.
From the Literature – How People Learn by John Bransford
“To develop competence in an area of learning, students must have both a
deep foundation of factual knowledge and a strong conceptual framework.
Research that compares the performance of novices and experts, as well as
research on learning and transfer, shows clearly that experts are not just
"smart people"; they also draw on a richly structured information base. But
this factual information is not enough. Key to expertise is the mastery of
concepts that allow for deep understanding of that information, transforming
it from a set of facts into usable knowledge. The conceptual framework
allows experts to organize information into meaningful patterns and store it
hierarchically in memory to facilitate retrieval for problem solving. And
unlike pure acquisition of factual knowledge, the mastery of concepts
facilitates transfer of learning to new problems. This research has clear
implications for what is taught, how it is taught, and the preparation required
for teaching.
To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have
a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas
in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in
ways that facilitate retrieval and application.
This principle emerges from research that compares the performance of
experts and novices and from research on learning and transfer. Experts,
regardless of the field, always draw on a richly structured information base;
they are not just "good thinkers" or "smart people." The ability to plan a
task, to notice patterns, to generate reasonable arguments and explanations,
and to draw analogies to other problems are all more closely intertwined
with factual knowledge than was once believed.
But knowledge of a large set of disconnected facts is not sufficient. To
develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must have opportunities
to learn with understanding. Deep understanding of subject matter
transforms factual information into usable knowledge. A pronounced
difference between experts and novices is that experts' command of concepts
shapes their understanding of new information: it allows them to see
patterns, relationships, or discrepancies that are not apparent to novices.
They do not necessarily have better overall memories than other people. But
their conceptual understanding allows them to extract a level of meaning
from information that is not apparent to novices, and this helps them select
and remember relevant information. Experts are also able to fluently access
relevant knowledge because their understanding of subject matter allows
them to quickly identify what is relevant. Hence, their attention is not
overtaxed by complex events.”