Post 57: What are Core concepts?

Post 57: What are Core Concepts?

A key principle supporting concept learning comes from psychologist, Vygotsky,who noted that concepts are not words but rather organized and intricate knowledge clusters. This simple but profound truth means that while we usually teach in a linear fashion, presenting concepts individually and in small clusters, we need to continually reapply core concepts within different context such as those in case studies, problems, and scenarios. The wealth of research studies on the brain and the mind confirms this practice.



When I was teaching business writing, the core concepts of the course were the Seven C's of Communication. . The Seven C's of communication are Completeness, Concreteness, Courtesy, Correctness, Clarity, Consideration, and Conciseness. These Seven C's  of Communication became the core concepts or core knowledge clusters of this class. In every lesson, these C's were repeated in every scenario and to every lesson. So as a result, in the business writing class, I applied these 7 C's to all the assignments in the class. You need to use the 7 C's in writing an email, a memo, a business letter, a business report, a business proposal, and a business presentation. These 7 C's were the core concepts of that business writing class.

The Seven C's of Communication

Completeness--a message must be complete and clear to the receiver.

Concrete--concrete business communication is about a clear message.

Courtesy--consider the feeling of different points of view in your audience.

Correctness--the correct use of language and writing with no grammar errors.

Clarity--clear or plain language, characterized by explicit, short sentences and concrete words.

Consideration--ability to relate to the target group.

Conciseness--having a premise with clear evidence and support.

Having core concepts that can be applied to all aspects of the class allows students to walk away from the class with a clear idea of what they learned in the class. When students tell their friends about what they learned in the class, they are able to tell their friends about these 7 C's of Communication and students are able to apply these 7 C's of Communication in writing all business correspondence which was the learning outcome of the class, teaching students clear, concise, correct, courteous business writing. These 7 C's are a clear example of what Vygotsky meant by knowledge clusters and how the human brain likes to cluster the knowledge it gains into long term memory.