Types of knowledge: Procedural and Conceptual knowledge.

What do you want students to learn today? Is it:

Writing a PEAK paragraph?

• What an adjective is?

• The limestone cycle?

• Finding volume of a prism?

Have you ever thought that these involve different types of knowledge hence they may involve different types of learning approaches?

A) Finding the volume of a prism involves procedural knowledge i.e. skills. It involves learning certain rules and procedures to follow. As a teacher, you are thinking of at least these 3 different learning stages:

1. Identifying what students already know about the procedure/model

2. Construct a sample of the model/procedure with them i.e. worked example

3. Give them opportunity to practise using the model with speed and accuracy until it’s automated

Does this sound familiar? Would you use it to teach the limestone cycle? Lets have a look!

B) Declarative and conceptual knowledge– This involves what we would call ‘understanding’ and making relationships between items of knowledge and concept formation.

e.g. based on the examples above:

• What is formed when limestone is heated? Why?

• What is an adjective?

Check my Teachers Guide to learn more about the types of knowledge..

Straight Into Teaching Teachers Guide

Buy Now

Does learning this knowledge require the same steps as procedural knowledge above? Comment down below...