Concept Map Project

I am working on my masters thesis at Teachers College and chose to understand concept mapping more through research and actual classroom usage. The research will trace the history of concept mapping and how it can be used to support active learning or what Jonassen calls a Mindtool (link). I am convinced of the promise and there is considerable research that discusses the benefits - particularly for visualization and association by the brain. At the same time, there has been little written on practical experiences in the classroom.

Concept Map vs Note-taking
The promise of concept maps is that they are better than traditional note-taking. Concept map creation is non-linear and more malleable than text outlines. Students building concept maps in conjunction with a lesson are actively digesting the information and making sense of it in their own way. Contrast this with a class of students all creating essentially the same outline of information. There is little cognitive discourse as the notes are created. This means that students preparing for an assessment must heavily review them. Concept mapping creates more active learning during in the class, while standard notes require more processing after the class. A new generation of concept mapping tools is becoming available that support simultaneous use by different users. These collaborative concept maps hold even more promise.


Study Design
I am going to model concept map building for an 8th grade U.S. History class. The primary teacher will conduct his class normally and I will be building and reconfiguring the map in conjunction with what I see and hear. After a few days, I will ask for a few volunteers to try the concept mapping. I will create a backchannel (e.g., Edmodo, Etherpad, Google Docs, etc) for students to discuss design and content questions, as well as, ask me questions. At the end of a unit, I will review the different concept maps and ask the students about their experiences. I am interested in how the maps compare with one another. I am also interested in how the maps change from class to class.

Design Questions
I have many questions about the actual study that need to be addressed prior to the study:

• what is an appropriate level of scaffolding to provide? is a sandbox of terms enough?
• should images and relevant weblinks be provided or should students obtain them?
• do different level students create different sophistication levels of concept maps?
  

Future Research
The research will likely be the first of many research projects. In the future, I would like to investigate individual vs collaborative maps and if they are suitable for assessments.




References:
Concept courtesy of Cmap (link)