Gabe Mydland & Mark Geary
TIE09
CONCEPT MAPS
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN A
STUDENT SAYS, I UNDERSTAND?....
DOES IT MEAN THE SAME THING
TO HIM OR HER THAT IT DOES
TO ANOTHER STUDENT OR TO
YOU?..…
HOW CAN YOUR STUDENTS
DEMONSTRATE THEIR
UNDERSTANDING TO YOU?
 Requires negotiated meaning for meaningful
learning.
 Adults and kids in two different worlds
 “Hardware handshake”
 Common vocabulary
 Recalled information may appear in slightly
different form.
Students
 Often are
challenged with
 Summarizing
critical
information,
 Describing
concepts,
and/or
 Organizing
ideas in useful
ways
New Subject Matter
 Many times
leaves students
without any
way to relate
new
information
with existing
knowledge
Constructivist Learning Theory
 The understanding
of content is linked
with the ability to
appreciate the
interrelationships
between different
kinds of information
AND
 Integrate this data
into the students
existing knowledge
framework
Successful Students
 Can distinguish
the differences
between things
AND
 Understand the
relationships
between ideas
or concepts
Concept Maps
 Show the
relationships
between
ideas
 Link
concepts
(nodes) with
lines to
represent
relationships
(proposition
s)
Concept Maps
 Provide us with a
“window into students’
minds.”
Concept Maps
 Replicate how
information is
organized and
represented in memory
Concept Maps…
 Transform student s into
an active learner
 Encourages students to
become self-directed
learners
 Result in greater
confidence in the
comprehension of new
material, and
 help to shrink the gap
between theory and
practice in clinical
settings
Concept Maps
 Develop skills in the
areas of
 Critical thinking,
 Organization of
information,
 Understanding of
complex relationship,
and
 Integration of theoretical
knowledge
Concept Maps
 Require
students to
 Extract and
focus on
important
ideas,
 Think about
how these
concepts are
related, and
 Organize such
information
into an
“integrated
structure.”
References
 De Simone, C. (2007). Applications of Concept
Mapping. College Teaching , 55 (1), 33-36.
 Harpaz, I. B. (2004). Concept Mapping: An
educational strategy for advancing nursing
education. Nursing Forum , 27 -- 36.
 Kinchin, I. (2006). Concept mapping , PowerPoint,
and a pedaogy of access. Jouranl of Biological
Information , 40 (2), 79-83.
 Shaverlson, R. J., Ruiz-Primo, M., & Wiley, E. W.
(2005). Windows into the Mind. Higher
Education, 49, 413-430.
Concept Map resources
 The following slides represent some of the
best we have seen from other presentations.
 They are not the work of Mark or Gabe. When
we find the source, we’ll share it.
Stages in the Construction
of a Concept Map
Brainstorming Stage
Organizing Stage
Layout Stage
Linking Stage
Revising Stage
Finalizing Stage
Brainstorming Stage
 List any and all terms and concepts associated with
the topic of interest.
 Write them on bubbl.us, one word or phrase per
note. Or use cmap.ihmc.us to search for a concept
map from around the world.
 Don't worry about redundancy, relative importance,
or relationships at this point.
 The objective is to generate the largest possible
list.
Organizing Stage
 Spread concepts on a table or blackboard so that all can be
read easily.
 Create groups and sub-groups of related items. Try to group
items to emphasize hierarchies.
 Identify terms that represent higher categories and add them.
 Feel free to rearrange items and introduce new items omitted
initially.
 Some concepts will fall into multiple groupings. This will
become important in the linking stage.
Layout Stage
 Arrange terms so that they represent your collective
understanding of the interrelationships and connections
among groupings.
 Use a consistent hierarchy in which the most important
concepts are in the center or at the top.
 Within sub-grouping, place closely related items near to each
other.
 Think in terms of connecting the items in a simple sentence
that shows the relationship between them.
 Feel free to rearrange things at any time during this phase.
 Do not expect your layout to be like that of other groups.
Linking Phase
 Use lines with arrows to connect and show
the relationship between connected items.
 Write a word or short phrase by each arrow
to specify the relationship.
 Many arrows can originate or terminate on
particularly important concepts.
Revising Stage
 Carefully examine the draft concept map.
 Rearrange sections to emphasize
organization and appearance.
 Remove or combine items to simplify.
 Consider adding color or different fonts.
 Discuss any aspects where opinions differ
Finalizing the Concept Map
 After your group has agreed on an
arrangement of items that coveys your
understanding, convert the concept map into
a permanent form that others can view and
discuss.
 Be creative in a constructive way through
the use of colors, fonts, shapes.
Evaluating Concept Maps
 Accuracy and Thoroughness. Are the concepts and
relationships correct? Are important concepts missing? Are
misconceptions apparent?
 Organization. Is the concept map laid out in a way that higher
order relationships are apparent and easy to follow? Does it have
a title?
 Appearance. Is the assignment done with care showing attention
to details such as spelling and penmanship? Is it neat and orderly
or is it chaotic and messy?
 Creativity. Are there unusual elements that aid communication or
stimulate interest without being distracting?
Uses of a Concept Map?
 Graphic organizer
 Displays hierarchy and connections among
ideas/objects/people, etc.
 Diagnostic tool
 Displays understandings and misconceptions through
placement of ideas/objects/people, etc. and the links
forged between them.
 Planning tool
 Displays a break-down of simple or complex
concepts/tasks/programs
Concept Map of Concept Mapping
Source: Learning How to Learn, Novak and Gowin
Background
 Grew from Joseph D. Novak’s research at
Cornell.
 Piagetian interviews
 Ausubel subsumption theory
 Constructivist?
 The more we learn and organize knowledge in a
given domain, the easier it is to acquire and use
new knowledge.
Practice

Novak’s instructions for building a concept map (Learning,
Creating, and Using Knowledge)
1.
Identify a focus question that addresses the problem, issues, or knowledge domain
you wish to map. Guided by this question, identify 10 to 20 concepts that are
pertinent to the question and list these. Some people find it helpful to write the
concept labels on separate cards or Post-itsTM so that they can be moved around. If
you work with computer software for mapping, produce a list of concepts on your
computer. Concept labels should be a single word, or at most two or three words.
2.
Rank order the concepts by placing the broadest and most inclusive idea at the top of
the map. It is helpful to reflect on your focus question to help decide the ranking of
the concepts. Sometimes this process leads to modification of the focus question or
writing a new focus question.
3.
Work down the list and add more concepts as needed.
4.
Begin to build your map by placing the most inclusive, most general concept(s) at the
top. Usually there will be only one, two, or three most general concepts at the top of
the map.
5.
Next select the two, three, or four subconcepts to place under each general
concept. Avoid placing more than three of four concepts under any one
concept. If there seem to be six or eight concepts that belong under a major
concept or subconcept, it is usually possible to identify some appropriate
concept of intermediate inclusiveness, thus creating another level of hierarchy
in your map.
6.
Connect the concepts by lines. Label the lines with one of a few linking words.
The linking words should define the relationship between the two concepts so
that it reads as a valid statement or proposition. The connection creates
meaning. When you hierarchically link together a large number of related ideas,
you can see the structure of the meaning for a given subject domain.
7.
Rework the structure of your map, which may include adding, subtracting, or
changing superordinate concepts. You may need to do this reworking several
times, and in fact this process can go on indefinitely as you gain new knowledge
or new insights. This is where Post-itsTM are helpful, or better still, computer
software for creating maps.
8.
Look for crosslinks between concepts in different sections of the map and label
these lines. Crosslinks can often help to see new, creative relationships in the
knowledge domain.
9.
Specific examples of concepts can be attached to the concept labels (e.g.,
golden retriever is a specific example of a dog breed.)
10.
Concept maps could be made in many different forms for the same set of
concepts. There is no one way to draw a concept map. As your understanding of
relationships between concepts changes, so will your maps.

Streamlined instructions
Brainstorm concepts and individualize. Words or
images will work.
2. Organize the concepts in terms of hierarchy of
general to specific.
3. Map the concepts on paper with labeled links
between them, adding or subtracting as needed
to paint as complete a picture of understanding
as possible.
1.