With the changing world around us, there is a need to change the way we consume knowledge. Our traditional approach towards education is about making children learn on a short-term basis without making them understand its significance or meaning. Modern-day educationalists demand a change; they claim that with the changing times, there should be a change in the way children are taught. The traditional approach should be replaced by concept-based learning.
What is Concept-based Learning?
As one may be aware, the traditional methods of teaching just feed students with textual information without making them understand the concepts of the subjects. The consequence of this is- students unable to retain for longer and they end up forgetting it after exams.
Concept-based learning approach overcomes challenges in understanding the subject and transform students into life-long knowledge seekers.
This new approach towards education and learning is designing the curriculum in a way that:
o Shifts the attention from subject-specific information to deeply diving into the concepts of subjects which will help them in the long run.
o Make children understand and remember what they are being taught and not just mug up.
o The children are made to muster and decode the factual information with the help of conceptual thinking and learning.
o Make children inquisitive and nourishes open communication and discussion between the students and teacher
o Helps in the holistic development of children, making them lifelong learners.
Why is it Gaining Popularity?
Concept-based learning has caught the attention of top educational institutes and almost every institute is trying to imbibe this in their curriculum, while many institutes especially the government schools are struggling with the understanding of the concept. Here is why concept-based learning is gaining popularity in India:
Focus on meaningful teaching: The concept-based curriculum believes in making students understand the concepts rather than rote learning the facts.
Focus on the practicality of a subject: As opposed to the traditional curriculum, concept-based curriculum lays emphasis on teaching the practicality of a subject. This helps children in retaining the information as they would know the reason and rationale behind it.
Makes students curious:
It is very difficult to make kids upfront about learning new things and unless they do that, they are never going to seek power to learn more. With a concept-based approach, kids are taught in a way that they engage themselves in discussions and have a curiosity to understand what they are being told.
Improves retaining capacity:
Since students are made to understand the concept of a particular topic with its relevance and application, it is obvious that they will remember this for a longer period of time in comparison to what they are made to mug up without understanding.
This article is authored by Ritesh Rawal, evangelist of education and founder of Ritesh Rawal Foundation.
