What are some different levels of conceptual understanding?

“At a nominal level, a learner can recognize scientific terms.

At a functional level, a learner can apply scientific terms.

At a structural level, a learner demonstrates procedural knowledge by transferring concepts and describing them in his or her own words.

Last, at a multidimensional level, a learner can examine socioscientific issues and make decisions on the basis of his or her scientific understanding.”

Uno, G. E., & Bybee, R. W. (1994). Understanding the dimensions of biological literacy. Bioscience, 44, 553–557.