VizThinkToronto 4 – Concept Mapping

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Tonight’s Agenda

7:15 Before we do any Concept Mapping Seeing knowledge: to communicate using pictures Construction as meaningfully engage what you already know

7:20 Explore your disciplinary view Assigned a discipline Express visually in your discipline Neighbour: Interpret what you see When is this easier / harder?

7:25 Debrief 7:35 What is concept mapping anyway?

Examples Instructions

7:45 Your turn 8:30 Recap 8:45 Review others models 9:00 Beer at Shoeless Joes.

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Why Concept Mapping?

Concept Mapping helps meaningfully composite knowledge

Organized knowledge is more easily understood

Meaningful Leaning is better Anchor new ideas or concepts

using previously defined knowledge

Constructivism rejects the notion that one can simply pass on information to learners, expect that a understanding will result, and that a lasting impression will be made.

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Who uses Concept Mapping?

Panama Government- Every School by Constitutional mandate

NASAWeather systems theoryExplaining the MARS Lander

Martin!

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Let’s explore the concept of a car…

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Through the eyes of a discipline

Environmentalist

Mechanic

Sociologist

Economist

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Each work on your picture around your table

If a picture speaks a thousand words…

No writing (including discipline)

No talking

No looking

Draw: Major ideas of the discipline as related to Cars

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Rotate diagrams with you neighbour

Neighbour: Annotate with your interpretation

DrawWrite

No talking

Repeat to the next neighbour

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Discuss!

1. Are the annotations correct?

2. What’s difficult to interpret?

3. Are some disciplines easier to represent?

4. How much shared thinking did you come in with?

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Debrief

Communicating via pictures is much easier when You share perspective You share a level of abstraction You can annotate with words

Your table had very little of this shared context

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Now that you have brainstormed by yourself

Find your like-minded team members 4 per team so you all talk Now can think about Concept Mapping!

Environmentalist 1

Economist 1

Economist 2

Sociologist 1

Sociologist 2

Mechanics 1 Mechanics 2

Environmentalist 2

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But first, what is a Concept Map?

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Or, more simply

Concepts: Concept Map Linking phrases Relationships Concepts

Propositions A concept map is composed of

linking phrases A concept map identifies

relationships Relationships are what is

between concepts A concept map is composed of

concepts

2 or more concepts connected with other words

to form a meaningful statement.

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A Sheridan Student’s Concept Map on 1946

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A Sheridan Student’s Concept Map on the Kyoto Protocol

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Used in Commercial applications

J. Novak 10-18-00

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CONCEPTCONCEPT

CONCEPTCONCEPT

RELATIONRELATION

PropositionProposition

KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

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CONCEPTFRAMEWORK

Most inclusiveMost inclusive

Least inclusiveLeast inclusive

HIE

RA

RC

HY

HIE

RA

RC

HY

GENERALIZATIONGENERALIZATION

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So far…

Brainstormby yourself

Collaborate

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Now that you have brainstormed

Find your like-minded team members Pick a corner of a room 4 per team so you all talk

Hierarchical structure the most• inclusive, most general concepts at

the center top of the map• the more specific, less general

concepts arranged hierarchically below.

Use string!Keep the model flexible!

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Understand

Cars: Enviro

nmentalists View

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Recap

Brainstorm

Collaborate

Understand &

Innovate!

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In Summary, why concept map?

Constructing Concept Maps enables you to Relate new concepts to existing

concepts and ideas – improves understanding

Reorganize knowledge Make explicit descriptions of concepts

and their interrelationships Deeply process knowledge – promote

better remember / retrieve & apply

This is important because the world is spinning faster Make sense of all this information being

generated, e.g. on wikis and blogs The Semantic Web is coming!

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Reflect… over a beer?

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Acknowledgements and thanks: http://ited.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/Mindtools/conceptmap/conceptmap5.ppt http://www.codata.org/06conf/presentations/F1/F1_Messerotti.ppt

(Mauro Messerotti, INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste)