Pedagogical techniques for mastering concepts

Concepts, along with reasoning and scientific theory, are the foundation of rational thinking. Student's understanding of the nature of concepts is a significant pedagogical challenge. Therefore, it is crucial to combine theoretical material with illustrative examples from the natural sciences and humanities, depending on the undergraduate program. The main logical characteristics of a concept are content and scope. The content of a concept is the totality of the attributes it lists for the objects it represents. Based on the nature of the attributes in the content, concepts are classified as positive and negative, relative and absolute. The scope of a concept is the class (set) of objects (elements) to which the attributes named in the concept’s content belong. Based on the type of scope elements, concepts are classified as concrete and abstract, collective and non-collective. Based on the quantitative characteristics of scope, concepts are classified as general, singular, and empty. A thorough initial familiarity with the nature of concepts will help students understand the scientific terminology of any academic discipline.

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