FIFTH
INTERNATIONAL
CONCEPT
MAPPING
CONFERENCE
CMC2012 is the Fifth International Concept Mapping Conference which will be hosted in
Malta during September, 2012 under the auspices of the University of Malta along with the
collaboration of the Institute for Human Machine & Cognition (IHMC), Florida. This
conference is held biennially and counts on an attendance of the world’s leading exponents of
Concept Mapping. The primary aim of this conference will be to showcase and promote
prevalent research and innovation with the use of Concept Mapping from all over the world.
Concept Maps convey at a glance how learners are developing their understanding. They are a
powerful and effective metacognitive tool so as to empower active student participation
during the learning process. When working with Concept Maps in the classroom, teachers
and students alike will become aware of what the learners know, whether they have any
misconceptions and how well they are developing their understanding. In this way, teachers
would be in a better position to mentor and coach the development of the learner rather than
shape the learner into a one-size-fits all learning environment. Consequently, this would be
challenging the transmission model of education and the passive role of learners therefore
contributing to learners becoming reflective and creative thinkers. It is also worth mentioning
that Concept Maps are not only used in educational settings such as for teaching strategies, a
means of evaluation or assessment, a curricular or research design tool but also in
organisations and businesses such as decision-making companies, science and technology,
medical education, engineering, in military settings, government such as the US Defence
Department and even space explorations by NASA. All of these sectors will be represented
during the conference. Concept Maps are highly effective in organising knowledge which is
necessary for organisations/industry, to capture, manage, create and transfer information and
knowledge.
CmapTools
For the past couple of years the IHMC (Institute for Human Machine and Cognition, Florida –
www.ihmc.us) has been developing CmapTools, a client-server based software kit that is
designed to facilitate and support the construction of Concept Maps by users of all ages and to
enable collaboration and sharing during that process. This software facilitates the construction
of Concept Maps just as a word processor supports the task of writing a text. It allows
different kinds of resources such as, images, videos, word documents, web pages etc to be
added to the Concept Map and is available in many languages and is used extensively
throughout the world. What makes it even more worth investing in is that its use is absolutely
free!
Preliminary Programme for the Conference
Monday, 17 September: Workshops in the morning by experts from IHMC. Opening ceremony,
inaugural speeches and a welcome reception in the evening. The Welcome reception will be
held at Verdala Palace.
Tuesday, 18 September: Registration of participants. Paper and poster presentation.
Wednesday, 19 September: Paper and poster presentation followed by a Banquet in the evening
at Villa Arrigo, San Pawl tat-Targa.
Thursday, 20 September: Paper presentations and closing ceremony.
A pre-conference trip to Sicily between 13 & 16 September and
a full social programme and a post conference day trip to Gozo on Friday 21 September are
being organised.
Conference venue: University of Malta, Msida.
CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://cmc.ihmc.us
Invited guest speakers will be:
Prof. Alberto J. Cañas: Co-founder and associate director at Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition. He is a research scientist and one of the developers of CMapTools software.
For many years, Prof. Cañas has been involved in the use of technology in education,
specifically in the K-12 area. Before going to UWF, Prof. Cañas was the Director of IBM's Latin
American Education Research Centre in Costa Rica. Prof. Cañas is interested in understanding
the pedagogical aspects of using technology, and taking advantage of his Computer Science
background to come up with innovative solutions. He is interested not only in the theoretical
aspects, but also in the implementation details and scalability of the use of computers in
education. His research includes uses of computers in education, knowledge management,
knowledge acquisition, information retrieval, and human-machine interface. He is currently
involved in research projects at IHMC in: Knowledge Modeling and Sharing, Performance
Support Systems with Embedded Training, Collaborative Tools for Education and for
Research, Multimedia-based Knowledge Construction and Browsing Tools, Distance
Education, and Corporate Memory. Prof. Cañas has published extensively and has lectured
throughout many countries in North and Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Prof. Joseph Novak is currently Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, and Senior Research
Scientist at IHMC. He is author or coauthor of 29 books and more than 140 book chapters and
papers in professional books and journals. His Learning How to Learn (with Gowin) published
in 1984 is now in 8 other languages and is widely read. He has consulted with more than 400
schools, universities and corporations, including recent work with Procter and Gamble,
NASA, Dept. of Navy, and EPRI. His recent book, Learning, Creating, and Using Knowledge:
Concept Maps as Facilitative Tools in Schools and Corporations (Routledge, 2010) is currently being
translated into three languages.
Prof. Novak is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who's Who in Medicine and Health, and Who's
Who in Science and Engineering and Who's Who in the World. He has received a number of
awards and honours including a 1998 Honorary Doctorate from The University of Comahue,
Nuquen, Argentina, Honorary Doctorate, Public University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain,
2002, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Urbino in 2006, and the first award for
contributions to science education from the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.
His current research work includes studies on students’ ideas on learning and epistemology,
and methods of applying educational ideas and tools (such as concept mapping) in corporate
settings and distance learning programs. Present work includes the development of 'expert’
concept maps to ‘scaffold' learning, using Cmapping with Internet and other resources,
providing A New Model for Education.
Dr Ian Kinchin is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education within King's Learning Institute. He
taught science in a variety of secondary schools before becoming an Initial Teacher Training
tutor at Surrey University and then Brunel University. He holds a BSc and MPhil in Zoology
and a PhD in Science Education. His current research interests are focused on the applications
of concept mapping to improve the quality of teaching and learning as part of an authentic
pedagogy for Higher Education, and as a tool to initiate dialogue between teacher and student.
He has published research in zoology and in science education.
Dr Kinchin is on the editorial boards of Journal of Biological Education and School Science Review.
He is also an advisory member for the series of International Concept Mapping Conferences
(Pamplona, Spain 2004; San Jose, Costa Rica 2006; Helsinki, Finland / Tallinn, Estonia 2008),
and is a member of the Executive of the European Learning Styles Information Network
(ELSIN).
16 May, 2012