The Concept Mastery Routine

Resources:

• The Concept Mastery Routine Research (.pdf)

Research Articles: 

• Bulgren. J., & Scanlon, D. (1997). Instructional routines and learning strategies that promote understanding of content area concepts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 41(4), 292-302. This article provides examples of using content enhancement routines (Concept Diagram, Comparison Table, ORDER) to promote an understanding of middle and secondary school content area concepts.
• Shaw, J.M., Thomas, C., Hoffman, A., & Bulgren, J. (1995). Using concept diagrams to promote understanding in geometry. Teaching Children Mathematics, 2(3), 184-189. An example of using the Concept Mastery Routine for teaching geometric properties and relationships in mathematics to middle- and upper-grades students is provided.
• Lenz, B.K., Bulgren, J.A., & Hudson, P. (1990). Content enhancement: A model for promoting the acquisition of content by individuals with learning disabilities. in T.E. Scruggs & B.L.Y Wong (Eds.), Intervention research in learning disabilities (pp. 122-165). New York: Springer-Verlag. This book chapter discusses information processing and pedagogy for students with learning disabilities, including suggestions for teacher planning and teaching routines such as the Chapter Survey Routine, Concept Teaching Routine, and Assignment Completion Routine.
• Bulgren, J.A., Schumaker, J.B., & Deshler, D.D. (1988). Effectiveness of a concept teaching routine in enhancing the performance of LD students in secondary-level mainstream classes. Learning Disability Quarterly, 11(1), 3-17. Multiple-baseline studies with a wide array of variables are used to measure teacher effectiveness with Concept Diagrams and the Concept Teaching Routine in heterogeneous regular education classrooms and their effect on students (with and without LD) using several classroom performance indicators.

The Story Behind the Concept Mastery Routine from author Jan Bulgren:
As I taught language arts and literature, I realized that teachers, and I am including myself in that group, often made assumptions about the common knowledge and understandings shared by all members of a class. This was particularly true for understandings about concepts, such as “tragedy” or “conflict.” I began to understand that students’ lack of common prior knowledge and shared understanding often made all the hard work that teachers put into instruction less effective than might be. This understanding led me to explore information associated with concepts, such as “tragedy,” that could be used to establish a common ground of understanding. Digging into the literature helped me clarify the importance of teaching students about characteristics or attributes associated with a concept as well as about examples and non-examples of a concept. I also learned the importance of exploring the prior knowledge of each student in the class, building a hierarchy of concept clusters, and developing good definitions for concepts based on shared understandings.

My findings from the literature provided the “spark” for the development of the Concept Mastery Routine and ultimately for a line of research that reflected progression along a taxonomic hierarchy of thinking — a hierarchy often reflected in content-area learning demands. The Content Enhancement Routines that our research team has developed respond to students’ needs relative to such skills as acquisition and retention of factual information, deep understanding of single critical concepts, ability to compare and contrast two or more concepts, ability to learn a new concept by analogy to a known concept, and ability to answer a critical question.

Author's thoughts about Content Enhancement Instruction:
Working initially on the importance of deep understanding of critical concepts, I became more and more aware of key principles that became the foundation for all the Content Enhancement Routines. Among these are that the teacher and students must be partners in learning, and that learning must be as interactive and co-constructive as possible given the large numbers of students in content classes. I also became very aware of the importance of focusing on critical information and concepts that would be used again and again. Furthermore, the wide range of students’ abilities, interests, and needs in subject-area classes underscored the notion innovative instruction is needed to help all students succeed.

Teacher Feedback on the Concept Comparison Routine:
One of the most insightful (and rewarding) pieces of feedback on this routine has come from many teachers – who were all saying the same thing. They reported that the process of planning to teach with the Concept Diagram and the Concept Mastery Routine provided them with a real sense of accomplishment in that they achieved a greater understanding of the material than they had had before. Although many of them had taught the same concept over many years, they reported that the depth and thoroughness of the analysis of a concept promoted by the Concept Diagram was invaluable to them. When they, as teachers, had a deeper understanding of a concept, they were able to confidently answer any student questions, elicit student’s prior knowledge, and plan extension activities to assure themselves and their students of deep comprehension of that critical concept.