UNDERSTANDING

Understanding is defined as the human capacity and ability to comprehend. One should be aware of particular things while acting or perceiving some particular message. The same is true regarding comprehension of concepts even complex concepts.

The concept of understanding can be broadened and heightened to know about facets of understanding. There are six facets of understanding. These facets of understanding are equal and suggestive indicators of understanding and thus are used to develop, select, or critique assessment tasks and prompts.

We should keep in mind that these facets are all not hierarchical and one may use them according to the need and anticipating the level of his students. One may select and apply a particular facet to design his particular session for the teaching-learning process.

For example, an assessment in mathematics might ask students to apply their understanding of an algorithm to a real-world problem / real-life situation and explain their reasoning. In history, we might ask learners to explain a historical event from different perspectives. In a nutshell, we recommend that teachers should use and apply these facets in the teaching-learning process. The reason behind this is that these facets can provide appropriate evidence of the targeted understanding.

Facets of Understanding

The six facets of understanding, recapped and discussed below, provide helpful direction and guidance as we develop a blueprint to ensure a meaningful and deeper understanding of what is being studied.

(a) Explanation. Explanation invites the students to present their ideas and elaborate them with their perspective or point of view. The students become able to make connections, show their work, explain their reasoning, and induce a theory from data.

(b) Interpretation. Interpretation requires the student to make sense of stories, artworks, data, situations, or claims. Interpretation also involves translating ideas, feelings, or work done in one medium into another. The students develop a deeper understanding of the concepts.

(c) Application. Students who develop a deeper understanding of the concepts can use their knowledge and skills in new situations. This ability to apply knowledge and skills in new situations emphasize application in authentic contexts with a real or simulated audience, purpose, settings, constraints, and background noise.

(d) Perspective. Perspective is demonstrated when the student can see things from different points of view. Perspective enables students to articulate the other side of the case, see the big picture, recognize underlying assumptions, and take a critical stance about any perceived reality or situation.

(e) Empathy. Intellectual imagination is essential to understanding and it manifests itself not only in the arts and literature but more generally through the ability to appreciate people who think and act differently than us. Empathy develops the ability among students to put themselves into the shoes of others to get real feelings about the situation.

(f) Self-Knowledge. To ensure students are deeply aware of the boundaries of their own and others’ understanding. The students become able to recognize their prejudices and projections. Self-knowledge inculcates and fosters integrity among students and they become able and willing to act on what they have understood.

It is important to understand that these six facets of understanding is a non-hierarchical framework for understanding. It is made up of six ‘domains’ or ‘facets’ that are useful and clear-cut indicators of understanding. These six facets of understanding help instructional designers to design the coursework on these lines so that students have a deeper understanding of the idea or concept that is being taught. These facets provide a framework for instructional designers that systematically addresses the six levels of understanding. In a similar manner, teachers should also adapt the teaching strategy to cater the needs and demands of understanding.