Skills in Applied Concept Mapping

Information Visualization, 2006

A research program at Cornell University that sought to study the ability of first and second grade children to acquire basic science concepts and the effect of this learning on later schooling led to the need for a new tool to describe explicit changes in children's conceptual understanding. Concept mapping was invented in 1972 to meet this need, and subsequently numerous other uses have been found for this tool. Underlying the research program and the development of the concept mapping tool was an explicit cognitive psychology of learning and an explicit constructivist epistemology. In 1987, collaboration began between Novak and Cañas and others at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, then part of the University of West Florida. Extending the use of concept mapping to other applications such as knowledge elicitation, and the integration of concept mapping with the World Wide Web (WWW) led to the development of software that greatly enhanced the potential of concept mapping, evolving into the current version of CmapTools now used world-wide in schools, universities, corporations, and governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Differences between concept maps and other knowledge representation tools, some of which built on early concept mapping studies, are described. The integration of concept mapping software programs with the WWW and other new technologies permits a new kind of concept map-centred learning environment wherein learners build their own knowledge models, individually or collaboratively, and these can serve as a basis for life-long meaningful learning. Combined with other educational practices, use of CmapTools permits a New Model for Education, described briefly. Preliminary studies are underway to assess the possibilities of this New Model.

2012

Concept maps consist of both content and structure. When working with concept maps, educators give instructions for the students to follow while working on concept mapping. These instructions are usually provided in terms of conditions on the structure and the content of the maps. While educators have expectations in terms of the result of the concept mapping activity, often they are not aware of how the conditions on content and structure that are given to the students often has strong effects on the type and quality of concept maps the students construct. In this paper we analyze how different conditions affect the concept maps constructed and discuss how educators must be aware of these possibilities and limitations when working with students and in particular during the assessment of their concept maps.

The first of two parts in this document is a student workbook which is designed to teach students how to construct a concept map, i.e., a graphic arrangement of the key concepts in a body of subject matter with connecting lines labelled to show valid and meaningful relationships between the chosen concepts. The workbook provides a discussion of concept maps and their purpose, examples of concept maps, and step-by-step instructions for constructing a concept map. The second part is a consultant/teacher guide, which also discusses concept maps and their purpose, and provides guidelines for the evaluation of student mapping exercises. Comment sheets and forms for recording the dates that mapping exercises are received from students and mailed back to them conclude the document. (DB)

2004

Concept maps were used in two different psychology courses taught at different levels. In one class, concept maps were used as advance organizers for lectures, and the learners constructed and modified some group maps for short text sections, as well as a midterm map. In the second class, students constructed concept maps of each text chapter as part of their course assignments. Concept maps were also used by a Social Work professor as a basis for class discussion.

The purpose of this study was to conduct an integrative literature review of all papers and posters presented at the 2004 and 2006 Concept Mapping Conferences. In this review, 322 papers and posters, written in both English and Spanish, were reviewed. Six researchers reviewed the papers and created a matrix outlining each research study, the methods, the findings, and the implications. This matrix was then used to conduct a meta-analysis and identify six overall themes of research presented at the 2004 and 2006. These themes were identified as 1. teaching and learning, 2. assessment and scoring, 3. knowledge development, 4. software development, 5. professional development, and 6. research methods. In addition, researchers propose directions for future research in concept mapping.

AJ Cañas, JD Novak, …, 2004

This paper describes a community of practice on concept mapping that has been established in Turin, Italy by DSCHOLA. The main purpose of the community is to differentiate the various forms of knowledge representation from each other and to recover the general function of the knowledge representation connected with the learning environment. As a starting point, the community defined and shared a set of founding documents, which includes the Manifesto and the Documentation template. The community aims at structuring and organizing selective criteria in order to produce and make available documentations dealing with good practices on concept mapping.

2010

Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, 2013

The creation of concept mapping and their subsequent evolution go together with the impressive work of Professor J. D. Novak. His works, from the doctoral thesis of 1958 to its current implementation of the more advanced methods to improve the learning process, and therefore the teaching, have pointed to a clear pedagogical approach. This special issue of the Journal represents a magnificent example of his influence, evidenced by the participation of relevant speakers relating their experiences in the fields of teaching, research, and management.

Tallinn University eBooks, 2008

Training beginners is critical to avoid the naive use of concept maps (Cmaps) in the classroom. The rewards for using concept mapping can be achieved in the context of appropriate, rather than frivolous, didactic activities. Using the theoretical background of concept mapping, educational methodology and classroom management, we devised a four-session activity for training beginners. Moreover, to foster deep changes in the traditional classroom dynamics, we explored the role of Cmaps as visualization tools for enhancing collaborative knowledge construction. Collaborative Cmaps respond to some of the new educational demands posed by post-industrial society and should be present in the 21 st-century classroom. We devised three innovative methodological strategies (half-structured Cmaps, expanded collaborative learning and propositional clarity table) to boost the training session. The favorable result shows that previously naive students could produce acceptable Cmaps after a short period of training (four classes).

Evaluation and Program Planning, 1989

Is concept mapping "science" or "art"? Can we legitimately claim that concept maps represent reality, or are they primarily suggestive devices which might stimuIate new ways to look at our experiences? Here, the scientific side of concept mapping is viewed as "soft science" and the artistic one as "hard art" to imply that the process has some qualities of both, but probably does not fall exclusively within either's domain, In the spirit of hard art, a "gahery" of final concept maps from twenty projects is presented, partly to illustrate more examples of the process when used in a variety of subject areas and for different purposes, and partly for their aesthetic value alone. In the spirit of soft science, two major issues are considered. First, the evidence for the validity and reliability of concept mapping is introduced, along with some suggestions for further research which might be undertaken to examine those characteristics. Second, the role of concept mapping is discussed, with special emphasis on its use in a pattern matching framework.