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Concept mapping is a cognitivist instructional design model developed by Joseph Novak and his colleagues in 1972 as they worked on understanding how children's knowledge of science changes1). Some of the first concept maps were, however, proposed by some other authors as well2), but concept maps in their fullest form were introduced by Novak in 19813). In Novak's words, concept map is a
Novak's ideas were influenced by David Ausubel's assimilation theory5).
Concept mapping presents the process of building concept maps. In order to successfully build concept maps, their terminology needs to be clarified. Novak defines concepts as patterns or regularities in objects (things) or events (happenings).6)
For example, the concept “dog” is formed by a set of common characteristics of dogs. “Chihuahua”, a specific kind of dog, would here be an object. Every person has a different “dog” concept since the set of common characteristics forming it may vary from person to person and generally depends on experience, context and perspective. Still, these concepts are usually similar enough to enable people to successfully communicate and think in terms of concepts and change them over time.
On the visual level, a concept map is a hierarchical (general to specific) diagram containing nodes and links, both labeled with words or symbols. The most important concept is usually placed in the center of the map or at its top. Novak describes the concept map building process in following steps7):
Concepts maps were first meant to be used in science education. Today they are used in other areas as well, as they can help both teachers and students.
Concepts maps can help a teacher to identify and organize concepts he is about to teach and gain insight to what the students already know or how they view the topic from concept maps drawn by the students, so he knows what should be taught next. A teacher can also use them to8):
To students concept maps give the ability to organize and assess their own knowledge. Learning here is manifested by adding new concepts to the existing framework of the concept map. This process is, according to Novak9), often accompanied by positive feelings. A step-by-step example on how to introduce and work on concept maps with students in classes can be found in Michael Zeilik's article on concept mapping.
Another important property of concept maps is that learning through adding new concept to them is inherently meaningful learning, since it establishes clear connections with the existing knowledge. Rote learning on the other hand is the result of lack of established connections to prior knowledge and forgetting of the learned information in 4-6 weeks10).
A set of improvements to concept mapping has been suggested by Ahlberg11):
Concept maps were earlier drawn by hand, but today a number of computer applications like the free IHMC CmapTools can be used to enhance this process.
Concept mapping is a very well accepted and widely used method, but it:
Novak, J. D. Introduction to concept mapping.
Novak, Joseph D. & Cañas, Alberto J. The Origin and Development of Concept Maps.
Zeilik, M. Classroom Assessment Techniques: Concept Mapping.
Novak, Joseph D. & Cañas, Alberto J. The Origin and Development of Concept Mapping.