Concept Maps
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The purpose of this page is to serve as a home for discussion of Concept Maps and their application for learning in and out of the classroom, and to provide links to literature and software dedicated to concept mapping. --Amorozov 12:39, 20 Mar 2006 (Pacific Standard Time)
If you are interested in or have previously used concept mapping in a course, add your thoughts in the DISCUSSION section of this page!
Research
One of the best resources available to provide a detailed, comprehensive overview of the various types of concept maps and the associated theoretical foundations.
ABSTRACT: "This text is devoted to a literature review of concept maps and concept mapping. An overall idea emerges: on the one hand, concept maps are useful tools for designers, to structure their products, but, on the other hand, ready-made concept maps might not be so useful for learning. For the learner, the process of creating and/or modifying concept maps seems to be much better. Evidence is collected from different studies about advanced organisers and about hypertext design and uses for learning. According to these results, computer-based concept mapping tools provide very interesting possibilities."
ABSTRACT: "Hypertext is a valuable means of representing and organizing information, for both instructors and students. Hypertext can be used to create a set of presentation materials that can be easily shared with both students and colleagues. More importantly, those materials can also be used to help students build an explicit representation of their knowledge that helps them to understand complex concepts and their relationships. In this paper, we discuss our experience in the active use of hypertext in the development and teaching of a breadth-first introductory course."
Tools
Other Stuff
Interesting and stimulating activity, which has been implemented in the WSU Freshman Focus program by some CTLT staff.
Concept mapping is also useful when researching databases. Organizing similar concepts, related concepts, synonyms, broader terms, narrower terms, etc. are all useful exercises in preparation to conducting searches. From the concept map, one can easily build Boolean statements. This would be a natural place in FF cirriculum for librarians to assist with.