concept of concept map in learning

7/31/2019 Concept of Concept Map in Learning

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Concept ofConcept Map in Learning

Dr J R Sonwane

Associate Professor

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Bhavnagar, INDIA

Abstract

Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include

concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between

concepts or propositions, (indicated by a connecting line and linking word) between

two concepts. Linking words on the line specify the relationship between the two

concepts. Concept map is very effective tool for concept clarification and learning

new thing. keep in mind this thing this paper discusses concept of concept map and its

use. This paper provides background of concept map and It discusses some tools

about concept map.

Keywords. Concept map, Learning

Introduction

Concept maps are graphical tools for

organizing and representing knowledge.

They include concepts, usually enclosed in

circles or boxes of some type, and

relationships between concepts indicated

by a connecting line linking two concepts.

Words on the line, referred to as linking

words or linking phrases, specify the

relationship between the two concepts. We

define conceptas a perceived regularity in

events or objects, or records of events or

objects, designated by a label.

Several attempts have been made

to represent cognitive structure

graphically. For instance, the 'association

memory' of the information processing

theorists (Newell 1977), the 'entailment

structure' of conversation theory (Pask

1976), the 'frame-system' theory for

memory (Minsky 1977), and the networks

of semantics (Rumelhart 1977) all

integrate a means of representation aimed


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at understanding and modelling the

learning process, and each is set within a

theoretical program. However concept

mapping, which was first developed in

Cornell University (Novak 1979), differs

from these in being a practical strategy

aimed at increasing students' ability to

learn meaningfully (Ausubel, Novak and

Hanesian 1978), and at developing their

understanding of their own learning

approaches and knowledge base (Novak

1985).

Concept mapping is essentially apractical tool developed to assist teachers

and students with instruction and learning.

Essentially, a concept map is constructed

to represent the relationship between

concepts in the mind of a learner, teacher

or curriculum planner. It is structured

around nodes which identify concepts,

with these nodes being connected by lines

labelled to indicate the relationship

between neighboring concepts (Nersessian

1989).

Novak (1981) described a

procedure for helping students organize

concepts into meaningful structures

through use of the paper-pencil task called

concept mapping. As students make

concept maps they reorganize newly

acquired and existing concepts into ahierarchical network and represent

relationships among the concepts. At the

same time relationships are clarified and

integrated into larger knowledge

structures. The task requires a student to

think in multiple directions and to switch

back and forth between different levels of

thought (Ault 1985). Novak (1981)

defined concepts as regularities in events

or objects which are designated by a sign

or symbol. Concepts in a map relate to

each other by connecting lines that define

propositions or specific relationships

between concepts. The acquisition of such

relationships is the key element in

meaningful learning. Concept mapping

allows students to connect concepts in a

variety of relationships. Students increase

their understanding of subject content as

they search for personal meanings of

concepts, without which they cannot make

connections in the map.

Strategies for teaching studentshow to develop their own concept maps

have been described by Ault (1985);

Chandran (1985); Fensham, Gerrard and

West (1981);Malone and Dekkers (1984);

Novak and Gowin (1984); and Stewart

(1980). Using a few conventions for

drawing concept maps, students can

construct maps using concepts given by

the teacher, concepts taken from a text or

concepts from their existing knowledge.

Novak (1988b) contends that, in the

experience of his research colleagues,

"There is no domain of knowledge (or

'skills') for which concept maps cannot be

used as a representational tool." In much

of the research reported to date, concept

mapping has been investigated as a

strategy for meaningful learning (Novak &

Gowin 1984). Researchers have taughtstudents to construct their own concept

maps and have argued that concept

mapping assists learners to "know what

they know." The research also indicates

that concept mapping facilitates students'

abilities to solve new problems and to

answer questions that require application

or blend of concepts (e.g. Bascones &

Novak 1985; Novak, Gowin & Johansen1983; Pankratius & Keith 1987).


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Figure 1 Concept map

Source: http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/Fig1


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Uses of Concept Maps

Concept mapping has several potential

uses, as reported in the outcome of a

number of studies. It has been used as a

tool for research, particularly to investigatelearners' existing conceptions and changes

in conceptions (Cunliffe 1994; Dana

1993), for curriculum development

(Edmondson 1995; Pearson and Hughes

1986), for assessment (Schick 1991;

Schreiber and Abegg 1991), for identifying

difficulties in understanding (Songer and

Mintzes 1994;Trowbridge and Wandersee

1994), and for promoting meaningful

learning (Novak, Gowin and Johansen

1983)

Because of the flexibility of

concept maps, they can be used in a

variety of situations for several different

purposes as said above. Three such uses

are: (1) as curricular tools; (2) as

instructional tools; and (3) as a means of

evaluation.

Curricular Uses of Concept Maps.

Researchers have found that the Ausubel

model of learning emphasizing concept

acquisition coupled with a model of

curriculum posed by Johnson (1977) is a

powerful approach to curriculum

development. Within such a framework,

concept maps can take on an important

role. In Johnson's view, a curriculum is "asstructured series of intended learning

outcomes"( ILOs).The ILOs may be

affective, cognitive, or psychomotor in

nature, although for this paper we have

chosen to focus on the cognitive. This does

not mean that we feel skill and especially

affective ILOs are not appropriate in

biology teaching. A most significant

contribution of Johnson's model is the

distinction he makes between curriculum

and instruction.

Curricular focus is on selecting and

organizing the ILOs: those cognitions,

cognitive competencies, skills and affects

the curriculum developer most wants

students to "possess" as a result of the

curriculum. The appropriateness of the

examples might be determined by such

factors as time of year, geographic

location, and ease of manipulation. The

most important determinant should be the

backgrounds and interests of the students.

The choice of the examples in the Johnsonmodel is an instructional rather than a

curricular decision, unless of course the

examples are to be learned, and thus are in

fact also ILOs. As educators, we often get

bogged down in the "trees" of examples so

that our students do not see the conceptual

"forest." Johnson's distinction between

curriculum (choosing and organizing the

concepts and thus selecting ILOs) vs.

instruction (selecting the instructional,

content with which to explicate the

concepts) is important. How often in

evaluation of students do we test for the

knowledge of a particular example without

ever coming to grips with the question of

whether or not they understand the

underlying concepts? It is certainly

conceivable that one may know many

specific examples without having an

understanding of the conceptual

interpretations possible for those

examples. Where do concept maps fit into

these views of curriculum? Concept maps

can be an important tool to focus the

attention of the curriculum designer

(again,i deally, the instructor) on the

teaching of concepts and on the distinction

between curricular and instructionalcontent-that is, between content that is


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intended to be learned vs. that which will

serve as a vehicle for learning. A

completed concept map, including class

and major relational concepts, becomes in

the Johnson model the cognitivecomponent of the curriculum. Construction

of a concept map that portrays structure in

a discipline could thus be considered as

identical to the task of developing the

cognitive components of a curriculum.

Instructional Uses of Concept Maps.

When a map includes concrete

(instructional) examples to be used to

explicate the concepts and propositions tobe taught, then it becomes a guide to

instruction as well as to curriculum . There

are a range of possible instructional uses of

concept maps. Bogden (1976)

systematically used concept maps in a

college-level genetics course at Cornell

University. He constructed maps with

proportionally large instructional

components to correspond to the content of

individual lectures in the course, and then

used them as a focus for discussion

sections. Some students used these

sessions and thus the maps as supplements

to or substitutes for lectures, laboratories,

and readings; others considered the maps

valuablere view materials that helped to tie

different sections of the course together.

Some students felt the concept maps were

unnecessary, but the purpose in using them

was for the course instructors to provide an

additional pathway to the learning of

genetics concepts. Therefore, they did not

expect all students to choose the concept

map alternative as one they wished to use.

Concept maps are only tools, and a

functional approach should be taken with

them. Their value lies their flexibility and

utility, in instruction as well as incurriculum. A second instructional use of

concept maps is to have students construct

maps describing what they know about a

given subject area. It is recommended that

any student asked to do this be well versed

in what is expected of him/her andtherefore time must be spent beforehand

thoroughly introducing students to the

concept map idea, including what the

instructor wants represented by the two

dimensions of the map. It might also be

wise to ask only students who have a good

grasp of the subject to try and construct

maps of it. Constructing a concept map is

often a very difficult task for one who

knows the discipline well; a student with

vague knowledge is likely to be

overwhelmed and confused by the task if

s/he is not properly prepared. On the other

hand, the benefits in understanding are

likely to be very great to anyone who tries

to map a conceptual area with which s/he

is familiar even an "expert" who is

compelled to try to represent a discipline

in a new way must deliberately rethinkmany assumed relationships and may

enrich his/her" feel" for the subject by

carrying out a concept mapping exercise.

Concept Maps as Evaluative Tools. We

can view the process of evaluation of

knowledge as one which ends with the

ranking of students for such purposes as

assigning grades and helping to determine

admission to institutions of higher

learning, or pass/fail judgments made upon

mastery of a prescribed set of objectives.

Many methods are used to this end, and

the evaluative uses of concept maps we are

about to describe might be as appropriate

as any other for the purpose of ranking

students. We feel, however, that an at least

parallel aim of evaluation should be the

assessment of student knowledge or gapsin knowledge for the purpose of aiding


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instruction. Students thus become part of a

feedback system in which the results of the

assessment of their knowledge have

curricular and instructional implications. If

we think of evaluation as an assessment ofstudent knowledge, then it is importan to

focus in test design on what we think of as

the conceptual structure of biology. Once

again, a concept map, which is considered

to be the cognitive component of the

curriculum( portraying structure in the

subject matter), should be quite useful in

evaluating student knowledge of that

structure. Rowell used concept maps in

the area of energy, continuity of life, and

properties of matter in trying to gain

knowledge of second graders'

understandings of those concepts. His

evaluative format was a partially

structured Piagetian-type interview, and he

found that having a concept map in front

of him as he interviewed children helped

to keep his questions focused on the

concepts and relationships in which he wasinterested. Bogden used a genetics concept

map to structure an integrative final

examination question for a college

genetics course. He constructed what he

felt was an ideal answer, made a concept

map from it, and then mapped student

answers. The degree of correspondence

between the "ideal" map and student maps

was the basis for each student's grade on

the questions. In using concept maps in

this way, however, one must be careful in

translating from answers to maps it is easy

to turn this method into a "key word" sort

of analysis, and lose track of the substance

of answers. Since Bogden in usingt his sort

of evaluative method was actually engaged

in ranking as opposed to assessing, any

"holes" or missing parts of answers,

although impossible to interpret, were still

a part of the evaluation and thus the grade

The CmapTools Software Toolkit

The CmapTools (Caas et al., 2004)

software (available for download at:

http://cmap.ihmc.us) developed at the

Institute for Human and Machine

Cognition brings together the strengths of

concept mapping with the power of

technology, particularly the Internet and

the World Wide Web (WWW). The

software not only makes it easy for users

of all ages to construct and modify concept

maps in a similar way that a word

processor makes it easy to write text, it

allows users to collaborate at a distance inthe construction in their maps, publish

their concept maps so anybody on the

Internet can access them, link resources to

their maps to further explain their contents,

and search the WWW for information

related to the map.

The software allows the user to

link resources (photos, images, graphs,videos, charts, tables, texts, WWW pages

or other concept maps) located anywhere

on the Internet or in personal files to

concepts or linking words in a concept

map through a simple drag-and-drop

operation. Links to these resources are

displayed as icons underneath the

concepts. Clicking on one of these icons

will display a list of links from which the

user can select to open the linked resource.

Using CmapTools, it is possible to use

concept maps to access any material that

can be presented digitally, including

materials prepared by the mapmaker. In

this way, concept maps can serve as the

indexing and navigational tools for

complex domains of knowledge, as will be

illustrated later with NASA materials on

Mars (Briggs et al., 2004). By facilitatingthe linking between concept maps, learners


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can construct Knowledge Models (Caas et

al., 2003; Caas et al., 2005), which are

collections of concept maps with linked

resources about a particular topic,

demonstrating that their understandingabout a domain is not limited to a single

concept map.

Discussion

In short, it can be concluded on the base of

above discussion, concept maps are a

powerful tool to help students learn about

the structure of knowledge and the process

of knowledge production. The visualnature of concept maps helps in the

process of concept formation and

assimilation.Concept maps are good

conceptual benchmarks from which

students can construct richer meanings. It

provides them with the opportunity to

analyze their prior knowledge, plan for the

addition of new information, guide inquiry

from what is known toward what is not,

and encourage the recognition of

relationships in content areas . One must

remember that we live in a world of

concepts rather than a world of objects,

events, and situations and there are many

internal factors that influence concept

learning. We must also remember that the

goal of concept mapping is not to produce

a pretty graphic but to enrich the

meaning of a learners educationalexperience.

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Paper Received on 10 May, 2012

Paper Reviewed on 12 June, 2012

Paper Accepted on 25 June, 2012

concept of concept map in learning

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