Teaching for Transfer: A Dive into Concept-Based Teaching and Learning

Jennifer Dosher
Sep 1
3 min read

What if your students remembered the why behind the facts? That single question lies at the heart of concept-based inquiry, a framework that shifts education away from rote memorization toward deep understanding, transfer, and meaningful connections. In this blog, adapted from our Ed-Tabulous podcast, we explore why concept-based teaching matters, what it looks like in action, and how any educator can start applying it in their classroom.

Why Traditional Learning Isn’t Enough

Traditional, topic-based teaching often emphasizes what happened, when, and where. A history unit on World War I, for example, might focus on memorizing dates, battles, and treaties. While this ensures foundational knowledge and makes assessment straightforward, students often retain little beyond the test.

A personal story illustrates the challenge: after cramming vocabulary words for a retake, Jen’s son aced the quiz—but forgot the terms the very next day. Once the test was over, so was the motivation to remember.

This kind of surface learning rarely fosters true understanding.

The Power of Concept-Based Learning

Concept-based learning reframes education around big ideas like justice, conflict, change, identity, and power. Instead of simply teaching World War I as a list of events, students might explore conflict or alliances as transferable concepts that apply to wars, revolutions, and even social movements.

This approach:

Promotes critical thinking over memorization
Encourages inquiry and debate rather than passive learning
Builds transferable understanding across subjects and contexts
Keeps learning relevant and engaging for students

In short, it equips learners with tools to think, not just recall.

From Literature to History: Classroom Examples

Consider teaching To Kill a Mockingbird. Instead of focusing solely on plot, a concept-based approach centers on justice. Students might first define justice through Frayer models and rank real-world scenarios on a justice continuum. Later, during the trial scenes, they analyze how different characters perceive justice—and how race, class, or gender shape those perspectives.

In history, rather than only teaching the American Revolution, students could ask: How does power shift in societies? This opens connections to revolutions in France, technology shifts in the Industrial Age, or even power dynamics in modern politics.

These examples show how concepts invite students to engage with content at a deeper level.

Designing Assessments for Deeper Learning

Assessment doesn’t have to mean multiple-choice recall. Instead, concept-based inquiry encourages authentic, real-world tasks.

For To Kill a Mockingbird, students might act as a historical commission analyzing Maycomb’s justice system. They could identify injustices, propose reforms, and present solutions as reports, PSAs, or even short documentaries.

Such assessments measure understanding, synthesis, and creativity—not just memory.

Fostering Transfer of Learning

One of the greatest strengths of concept-based inquiry is its ability to promote transfer. Students learn to apply abstract ideas across subjects:

Science: change in life cycles or chemical reactions
History: change in revolutions and social movements
Literature: change in character arcs and themes
Math: change in functions and transformations

By explicitly exploring concepts, students develop a flexible mental framework that helps them see patterns, make connections, and apply learning in new contexts.

Getting Started with Concept-Based Inquiry

Shifting to this model can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to. Here are a few simple steps:

Choose a concept tied to your unit (e.g., power, identity, interdependence).
Unpack the concept first—help students define and explore it outside the content.
Build guiding questions (factual, conceptual, debatable) that steer inquiry.
Design learning engagements where students apply the concept to your subject.
Plan authentic assessments that ask students to transfer knowledge into action.

Recommended resources include H. Lynn Erikson’s work on concept-based curriculum, Concept-Based Inquiry in Action by Rachel French & Carla Marshall, and professionallearninginternational.com for strategies and workshops.

Final Takeaway

Concept-based inquiry doesn’t abandon content knowledge—it builds upon it. Facts remain important, but when paired with big ideas, they become tools for understanding the world. This approach not only fosters student engagement and critical thinking but also equips learners with flexible, transferable skills essential for the 21st century.

So start small. Redesign just one unit around a big idea. Ask a conceptual question. See how your students respond. You might be surprised at how deeply they think—and how much more they remember.

Because when students learn the why, the learning lasts.

Suggested Resources: