A Curious
Compendium
of Concept
Maps for
Teaching
Media
Rick Instrell
AMES Conference, 31 May 2014
www.deep-learning.co.uk
info@deep-learning.co.uk
1
Mind maps
• A mind map is a diagram with words, ideas, actions, etc.
linked and arranged radially round a central keyword or
idea e.g. spider map
• Good for brainstorming and first stage of planning media
content etc.
• Mind maps tend to be unorganised and personal
• But we can help learners by use of mind map templates
• Examples:
– brand/product mind maps
– compass diagram
2
Brand/product mind maps
Products
Price
Service
Quality
BRAND/
PRODUCT
Weaknesses
USPs
Access
Reputation
3
Example of brand mind map
Products:
Big Mac,
fries, …
Service:
fast, child
friendly
Price:
cheap,
promotions
Quality:
consistent
Weaknesses:
predictable,
unhealthy
USPs:
fast,
cheap,
childfriendly
Access:
24/7, malls
Reputation:
charities
4
Compass diagram
Purpose/ target
audience
Research
1
Cultural
codes
2
8
Internal/
external
opportu3 nities
/constraints
Technical
7
codes
4
6
Style
Media/
Genre
5
Content
5
What is a concept map?
• Graphical representation of knowledge in form of a
network with nodes and links
• Nodes are concepts usually in the form of words
• Links have labels with words or symbols that specify the
relationship between the concepts
• Linked nodes form meaningful statements (propositions)
• Arrow on link indicates direction of relationship (may be
two way)
• A table also can be a good concept map
• Based on a finite set of structures that the brain uses to
represent the world cognitively
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Concept map of concept maps
OUTCOMES
CONCEPT MAP
• Meaningful teaching &
learning
• Graphical representation of knowledge in
the form of propositions
• Metacognition
• Lifelong study skill
APO
APO
Node = concept
• Can be
word(s)/symbols
• Represent
objects/ideas/events
/states
Cluster
• Show as set
or bulleted list
Key:
AKO = is a kind of
APO = is a part of
AFO= is a feature of
AFO
Link
=Relationship
Structure
• Can be
word(s)/symbols
AKO
AKO
Contrast
• Show as
table
AKO
AKO
Chain
AKO
Sequence
• Show as scale,
numbered list,
sequence of boxes
Tree = Hierarchy
AKO
Cycle = Helix
• Show as loop
AKO
AKO
Kind Tree
=Taxonomy
Part Tree =
Partonomy
• Show as tree
diagram
• Show as
tree diagram
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Word fields
• Word Fields =Semantic Fields=Lexical Fields
• A word field is a set of relations between concepts or
word(s)
• It is a conceptual structure e.g.
– City/country is a word field unified a relation of
opposite meaning
– Hamlet/village/town/city is a word field organised on a
scale of increasing size
• Alan Cruse has performed a systematic overview of
word fields – his terminology has been simplified here
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Clusters
•
Word field with low degree of contrast e.g.
–
–
–
–
•
amble, stroll, saunter, …
brave, courageous, fearless, heroic, plucky, …
rap, tap, knock, slap, crack, bang, thump, …
odd, queer, strange, weird, alien, …
Best represented as a set or as a bulleted list (next
slide)
rap
•
tap
knock
In concept maps a cluster can be a set of features
associated with a concept which has no apparent
structure – best shown as bulleted list
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Example: voice quality
Voice quality
• tense/relaxed
• loud/soft
• high/low
• rough/smooth
• breathy/non-breathy
• vibrato/plain
• nasal/non-nasal
Voice quality
AFO
tense/relaxed
OR
loud/soft
high/low
rough/smooth
breathy/non-breathy
vibrato/plain
nasal/non-nasal
Key: AFO = is a feature of
Adapted from Speech, Music, Sound, T van Leeuwen (1999London: Palgrave Macmillan, p151
10
Contrasts: opposites
• Complementaries: e.g.
– dead: alive; true: false
• Converses: e.g.
– buy:sell; parent: child
• Polar opposites: e.g.
– long: short; high: low; hot: cold
• Reversives: e.g.
– rise: fall; dress: undress; open: close
• Best shown as a table with features of each opposite
listed underneath
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Example: conceptions of media
Model
Market model
Public service model
Conception
Private companies selling products
Public resources serving the public
Main Purpose
Profit for owners & shareholders
Active citizenship via information, education &
social integration
Audience
Consumers
Citizens
Service
Entertainment, ads
Information & education about the world
Innovation
Innovation threatens profitable standardised
formats
Innovation way of engaging audiences
Diversity
Strategy for reaching niche & upmarket
audiences
Represents range of public’s view and tastes
Public interest
Whatever is popular
Diverse, substantial, innovative content even if
not always popular
Regulation
Perceived as interference
Protecting public interest
Performance
criteria
Profit
Serving public interest
Example
Sky
BBC
Adapted from The Business of Media, D Croteau and W Hovnes (2001) Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, p37.
Q. Are Sky and BBC really polar opposites? What about ITV, C4, Five?
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Concepts and conceptions
•
•
•
•
Scholars may agree over the usefulness of
concepts such as ‘media’, ‘institution’,
‘audience’ and society
However they may have different conceptions
of these concepts
Concepts unify a field of study but rival
conceptions divide it
Different conceptions of a concept can be most
economically shown in a contrast table rather
than a diagram i.e. a conception map
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Example: sociological theories
Conception
Marxism/Conflict theory
Functionalism
Symbolic Interactionism
View of
Society
Society is a social arena in which
diverse groups with conflicting
values and interests compete for
scarce resources: wealth, power,
and prestige.
Economic base; superstructure;
social class; class consciousness;
vested interests; alienation; power;
coercion; domination; negotiation.
Society is a social system
made up of interdependent
parts, all
of which must fulfil certain
functions to operate properly.
Organic analogy; manifest and
latent functions; equilibrium;
dysfunctions.
Society is like a stage where
people define and redefine
meaning as they interact with
one another.
View of
Media
Media are tools of power that help
maintain the status quo, cultivate
consumers, and disseminate info
that serves interests of wealthy
and powerful people/corporations
that own/control the media.
Media perform many social
functions: dissemination of
information/ideas; provision of
instantaneous world-wide
communication.
Strengths
Macrolevel analyses; social
stratification; inequality.
Macrolevel analyses; structure;
institutions.
Weaknesses
Microlevel analyses; ignores
cooperation.
Microlevel analyses; ignores
conflict and diversity.
Major
Concepts
and Ideas
Meaningful symbols;
definition of the situation;
looking-glass self; symbolic
interaction; dramaturgical
analysis; labelling.
Media provide most effective
methods of defining the
situation to promote products
through ads; politicians stage
media events to promote
agendas and careers; activist
organizations use websites.
Microlevel analyses; face-toface interaction; day-to-day
activities.
Macrolevel analyses; ignores
structure and larger social
forces.
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Chains
• Chains: series of terms that can be placed on a line e.g.
– Stages in time e.g.
• birth, life, death; nursery, primary, secondary; events as source,
path, goal
– Sequences in space e.g.
• elbow, forearm, wrist, hand; core, mantle, crust
– Measures e.g.
• bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, terabyte
– Ranks e.g.
• teacher, principal teacher, depute head, head
– Cycles (or helices): e.g.
• spring, summer, autumn, winter
• Best represented as a linear sequence or a cycle
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Example: 4-act structure
Time
Stage
Film:
(Prologue)
Act 1: Setup
Turning point
Act 2: Complicating action
Turning point
Act 3: Development
Turning point
Act 4: Climax
(Epilogue)
Adapted from Storytelling in the New Hollywood, K Thompson (1999) Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
16
Example: The Hero’s Journey
The Hero(ine)’s Journey is used by
scriptwriters as a template for many
mainstream Hollywood movies.
Adapted from The Hero with a Thousand Faces, J Campbell (1949) Novato, CA: New World Library.
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Trees (or hierarchies)
• Kind tree (taxonomy) – categorisation using
superordinate and subordinate categories
• Part-tree (partonomy) – breaking a whole into its main
parts and sub-parts
• How you categorise or partition depends on educational
context (subject, age, stage)
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Part-tree (partonomy)
BODY
APO
APO
APO
Limbs
APO
Leg
AKO
Shoulder
Head
APO
APO
Arm
APO
Upper Arm
Face
Trunk
APO
APO
Ears
Hair
APO
Elbow
Bold words are basic level categories: words
we most commonly use and the first we learn
Note that this would be better represented by a
labelled diagram of a human body.
Key: APO = a part of
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Problem of tree ‘spread’
BODY
APO
APO
APO
Limbs
APO
Leg
APO
APO
Arm
Head
APO
Face
Trunk
APO
APO
Ears
Hair
APO
Thigh
Shoulder
Knee
Upper Arm
Shin
Elbow
Calf
Forearm
Ankle
Wrist
Foot
Hand
Key: APO = is a part of
At the foot of a tree use a ‘ladder’
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Example: print ad elements
headline
copy
images (photographs, pack shot of
product, graphics)
slogan (strapline)
logo
Kind-tree (taxonomy)
TABLEWARE
AKO
AKO
AKO
Cutlery
AKO
Fork
AKO
Crockery
AKO
Knife
AKO
Teaspoon
AKO
Spoon
Cup
AKO
AKO
Soupspoon
AKO
Plate
Table linen
AKO
AKO
Bowl
Napkin
AKO
Table cloth
Tablespoon
Bold words are basic level categories: words
we most commonly use and the first we learn
Key: AKO = is a kind of
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Example: differential decoding
Key:
AKO = is a kind of
AEO = is an example of
AUDIENCE
DECODINGS
AKO
Dominant
decoding
= preferred
reading
- agrees with
intended preferred
meanings
AKO
Negotiated decoding
- agrees with some of
preferred meanings &
disagrees with others
Oppositional
decoding
- understands preferred meanings
but disagrees with
them
AEO
AEO
AEO
Uncritical acceptance
of Muller Little Stars
ad’s message
AKO
Understandiing the ad’s
message about health
properties of yoghurt but
thinking that its sweet taste
will not be beneficial
Viewing ad as
promoting unhealthy
addictive food as well
as consumerist
ideology
AKO
Aberrant decoding
- misunderstands
preferred meaning(s)
because of different
cultural background/lack of
knowledge
AEO
Child viewing ad and
thinking product comes
straight from the field
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Constrained concept maps
• Can have many links so it is a good idea to apply
Occam’s razor (parsimony) to the types of link:
• e.g. restrict links to around 5 types:
– is a kind of (AKO)
– is part of (APO)
– is a feature of (AFO)
– is an example of (AEO)
– arrowed line with no link word (leads to)
• Parsimony works well in subjects such as computing
but is less easy in media studies and other social
sciences
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Planning constrained maps
• AKO: for each concept think of superordinate and
subordinate categories
• APO: for each concept think of superordinate and
subordinate parts
• AFO: what are the key features that pupils need to
know?
• AEO: think of real world example in pupils’ experience
• Questions: should you place a kind-tree and a part-tree
on the same map?
• Questions: might a part-tree be better represented as a
labelled image?
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Applications of concept maps
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clarification of one’s own conceptual understanding
Unifying departmental approaches
Advanced organisers and summaries
Better for poor readers
Diagnosis of conceptual misunderstandings
Encourages deep meaningful learning rather than surface rote
learning
Encourages students to create and reflect on their own maps
Shows how concepts are stored in experts’ minds
Can use graphics as well as words and colour to help understanding
on concept map
Encourages metacognition and lifelong learning
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Concept map integrating KAs
TECHNOLOGY
TEXTS
Categories
Language
Narrative
Representations
create/
encode
construct
mode of address
& preferred
meanings
UGC: user-generated content
MEDIA
INSTITUTIONS
with purposes
feedback
used by/
decoded by applying
cultural knowledge
AUDIENCE
differential
decoders with
needs
MONEY
influences
SOCIETY
Institutions,
relationships &
culture (lived
cultures + texts)
influences
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Circuit of meaning expanded
TEXTS
CATEGORIES: purpose, medium,
form, genre, tone, style. …
create/encode
INSTITUTION
LANGUAGE: technical/cultural
codes & their motivations &
interactions e.g. anchorage.
Construct:
NARRATIVE: content
organisation; narrative structure
& narrative codes
Preferred
meanings
Mode of
address
REPRESENTATIONS: stereotypes
& non-stereotypes; ; hegemony;
dominant/oppositional ideologies
• creative personnel,
deadlines, resources
MEANING
AUDIENCE
create UGC
• financial controllers
(budget, income from
sales, subscription,
advertising; license fee)
used by/decoded
by applying
cultural knowledge
• target audience
• needs, uses & pleasure
feedback
TECHNOLOGY
• technologies of
production,
distribution &
consumption
• ownership & purposes
(commercial, public
service, alternative)
•controls (legal &
regulatory compliance,
market)
• differential decoders
(personality, gender, age,
class, ethnicity, religion,
nationality, taste, cultural
capital)
• producers
CAPITAL
SOCIETY
influences
• institutions, relationships &
culture (lived culture + texts) at
specific times in specific places
influences
Time
Bibliography
Bordwell, D. (1989) Making Meaning: Inference Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapter 5 contains an accessible
summary of Cruse’s ideas.
Cruse, D. A. (1986) Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Key text
on semantic fields but has a lot of difficult terminology.
Cruse, D. A. (2000) Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. University level linguistics text book.
Finch, J. (2006) Inspiration in the Classroom: Curriculum-based Activity Plans.
Beaverton, Or: Inspiration Software Inc. Purchase from www.inspiration.com
website.
McQuail, D. & Windahl, S. (1993) Communication Models for the Study of Mass
Communication (2nd edition). London: Routledge.
Novak, J. & Gowin, D. B. (1984) Learning How to Learn. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Key text on concept mapping.
Novak, J. (1998) Learning, Creating and Using Knowledge: Concept Maps as Facilitative
Tools in School and Corporations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Novak, J. D. & Cañas, A. J. (2006) The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to
Construct Them. Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Available at:
http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.p
df
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