Let’s Just Be Concrete!

By Jonah Lauff

Overview of Concrete Examples/Thinking

Did you know concrete examples and concrete thinking are used throughout everyday life? Concrete examples are defined as real-world, or illustrative, examples of an abstract or declarative concept (Rawson et al. 2015) (1). Concrete thinking is a very specific way of thinking. People from all ages use concrete thinking. From early childhood, concrete thinking is developed from when you are a baby until you are about the age of 7 (2). During the early years of school, specifically the ages from 7 to 12, concrete thinking is a major part of the way kids think when it comes to school at these ages (2). From age 12 until adolescence, kids begin to analyze, generalize, extrapolate, and empathize more (2). Lastly, from adolescence until adulthood, people are experienced when it comes to concrete thinking. People begin to use concrete thinking in their personal experiences and observations that will eventually lead to a solution about things that go on in their life and pertaining to school and work (2). When applying concrete examples and concrete thinking to studying, this makes people study more specific and to the point and apply examples to the concept that happens when studying for a class. Let’s use a concrete example in mathematics. For example, if you have six bananas and take two, you have taken one-third or 33.33% of the bananas. This takes a generalized problem and by someone using a concrete example, in this example it being bananas, and this helps them with remembering a simple math problem. Concrete examples and thinking are a good way for young incoming students in college to take an abstract concept that they may or may not know and apply it to a real-world, illustrative example that helps them better understand the course material.

Applying Concrete Examples/Thinking to Studying

When using concrete thinking to study, this will make a person not just worry about memorizing all of the information they may need to know for a quiz or test. According to Nebraska Medicine, it is better for students to use concrete examples for understanding more abstract ideas and extend the information retention in the student’s mind with the continued use of concrete examples (3). Concrete examples can vary from verbal descriptions, stories, actual objects, and models (4). Using concrete examples for studying will help with the information retention that may be needed for a big test that you will need to remember a good chunk of information. The more you use concrete thinking to help with studying will further help people out with not trying to memorize information in any given subject in school. It is not necessarily about memorizing information when it pertains to concrete thinking/examples, but by how well people can remember a generalized topic and apply other aspects to that topic and expand your knowledge by continually using concrete examples to do well on assessments. So, for an incoming freshman that did not necessarily have the greatest study habits in high school, the use of concrete examples and thinking will help them understand information that is a little confusing for them at first. Through continued use of concrete thinking/examples the student(s) will have a more specific way to retrieve the information that they will learn in their class by applying illustrative, real-world descriptions that can be connected to any subject that they may be learning. Need an example on how a student uses concrete examples in the real-world? An article talking about concrete examples states an example with how a concrete example is used and it states, “A concrete example of deindividuation might be when the anonymity of Internet chat rooms increases the willingness of an individual to be more candid than during face-to-face interactions. Since abstract concepts form a fundamental part of many disciplines of learning, including STEM subjects and Psychology (Hayes & Kraemer, 2017), there is a need for evidence-based approaches to facilitate their learning” (5). Concrete examples are a great way for hands-on learning for difficult or hard to understand concepts for students that have a tough time with the subject.  Students that are better with hands-on learning are better tactical learners because the more they touch and do, the more they are likely to grasp and demonstrate their understanding of a concept. Concrete examples make the concept real and you can actually see and touch the concept. Another example of the value of concrete examples is when students who are studying government have a tough time focusing on  the subject because the topic can be dry. If the student goes to the state capitol, the student can get a better understanding of what goes on in the state government and see the process in action versus just reading about it.  

Conclusion

Concrete examples are a real-world, illustrative way for incoming college students to analyze information about any given subject that may be given in college in their first year. Their normal study habits from high school may change with the use of concrete thinking/examples because concrete examples provide a more hands-on, tactical way to approach questions if a student is confused on the material. Concrete examples are a good way to help information retention and help put abstract concepts in a better understanding for retaining that information. Concrete examples/thinking can be applied to a variety of subjects, like math in using probability, applying concrete examples to government to get a more real-world view of what a government does by hands-on, tactical learning, just to name a few. Concrete thinking/examples occur from when you are little and beginning to start school all the way through adulthood. The use of concrete examples and thinking can carry your knowledge of how you can apply anything to what you may be doing and make a concept more specific for someone to understand.

References:

(1) Bašnáková, J., Čavojová, V., & Šrol, J. (2021, April 10). Does concrete content help people to reason scientifically? – science & education. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-021-00207-0 

(2) Instructional delivery: Concrete examples. Instructional Delivery | Concrete Examples. (n.d.). https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/LearnersFirst/concrete-examples.htm 

(3) Love, L. (2017, April 5). Wednesday wisdom: Enhancing learning using concrete examples (part 3 in Education Series). Wednesday Wisdom: Enhancing Learning Using Concrete Examples (part 3 in education series) | ConnectED Portal | University of Nebraska Medical Center. https://connected.unmc.edu/blog/2017/04/05/wednesday-wisdom-enhancing-learning-using-concrete-examples-part-3-in-education-series/ 

(4) Micallef, A., & Newton, P. M. (2022). The use of concrete examples enhances the learning of abstract concepts: A replication study. Teaching of Psychology, 51(1), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211058069 

(5) Stanborough, R. J. (2019, August 30). Understanding concrete thinking: What it is, Limitations & Benefits. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/concrete-thinking#stages