Concept Learning in the Undergraduate Classroom: A Case Study in Religious Studies

Popularized by the work of Jerome Bruner in the mid-1990's, the "Concept Attainment Model" is a process of structured inquiry that requires students to make generalizations and draw conclusions from examples (and non-examples) of a particular concept toward developing new insights, hypotheses, and associations regarding what they have previously learned (Bruner, 1977). In order to broaden some of the typical assumptions about the manners and conditions in which it can be effectively employed in the undergraduate classroom, this qualitative research study offers an example of the Concept Attainment Model in action in the teaching of traditional just war theory in an undergraduate religion class. Data was collected and analysed according to Spradley's qualitative research methodologies (Spradley, 1980). Among the most important findings of this study is that in a religion or similar humanities course, the Concept Attainment Model is most likely to find success when highly scaffolded by the instructor.