This is an old revision of the document!
Concept mapping is a cognitivist learning model developed by Joseph Novak and his colleagues in 1972 as they worked on understanding how children's knowledge of science changes1). First mind maps were proposed by some other authors as well2), concept maps in their almost final form were introduced by Novak in 19813). In Novak's words, concept map is “a visual representation of the relationships between concepts held by an individual, materials of a lecture, textbook, or laboratory exercise”4). Novak's works are based on Ausubel's assimilation theory.
Concept maps should help both sides in the educational process to learn more meaningfully.
Novak describes the concept map building process in following steps:
An example of a concept map about concept maps can be found here.
Novak, J. D. Introduction to concept mapping.
Novak, Joseph D. & Cañas, Alberto J. The Origin and Development of Concept Maps