Using Concept Maps to Promote Conceptual Understanding Olusola O. Adesope Educational Leadership, Sport Studies, Educational /Counseling Psychology Faculty-Led Workshop January 27, 2015

2 Outline  Overview of My Research and Teaching Interests  What Is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research Program in Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-analysis of concept maps (RER)  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

My Interests Educational Psychology Self-Regulated Learning STEM Education Multimedia Learning & Adaptive Systems Research Methods (Meta-Analysis) Knowledge Representation (Concept Maps)

Overview 4  What is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research on Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

What Is Concept Mapping?  A strategy for organizing and representing information  A true concept map must include  Concepts as nodes – usually enclosed in circles or boxes  Relationships among concepts as labelled links Illustrated by lines and arrows connecting concepts Labels on those lines that highlight the nature of the relationship

Concept Maps  Variations of Concept Maps  Knowledge maps  Semantic networks Ontologies Graph Theory – Directed or Indirected Graph  Topic maps

Example Concept Map Node label

Types of Concept Maps  a concept map can take many forms, provided it includes concepts and illustrates relationships through BOTH lines AND proposition statements:  spider, with information organized outward around a central topic

Types of Concept Maps  hierarchy, with information structured from most to least important; or from most inclusive and general to less inclusive and specific

Activity 1  Arrange the following three terms and connect them with arrows using these link labels ( caused by ; treated with ; kill ) Bacteria Pneumonia Antibiotics

BacteriaPneumonia Antibiotics Caused by Treated with Kill A Mini Concept Map

BacteriaPneumonia Antibiotics Caused by Treated with Kill Variations on a Theme BacteriaPneumonia Can cause Treatment for Killed by By reversing the arrows, changing the linking words, and adding color, the focus and emphases change. Antibiotics Bacteria Pneumonia Antibiotics Can cause Treatment for Kill

Overview 13  What is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research on Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

Highlights of Research Program in Concept Mapping  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Published in the Review of Educational Research (RER) in 2006  Cited 436 times by other researchers, as of today  One of the most frequently read articles in RER  Set the stage for a program of research on visual displays, especially with concept map

Do Researchers Care about Concept Maps?

Do Student Like Concept Maps?  Bahr & Dansereau (2001). Studying bilingual maps vs lists  ease of learning.48  satisfaction with presentation format.46  motivation and concentration.26  confidence in future performance.44  Reynolds & Dansereau (1990). Studying hypermap vs hypertext  satisfaction.87*  frustration and confusion (reversed).80*

Are Concept Maps Effective for Learning?

Meta-Analysis: Studies comparing maps to other learning methods Effect size (g) NkM All5, * Maps constructed3, * U.S. and Canada1, * Africa1, * Taiwan Maps studied2, * U.S. and Canada2, * Other *

Interpreting the Meta-analysis  Maps more effective for students with lower verbal ability  Especially ESL students  Maps more effective for central ideas than detail ideas  Concept maps are generally more effective for learning than texts and outlines

The Downside of Maps  Constructing concept maps  Students need practice to benefit from concept mapping  Require software to make complex maps  And the biggest problem is … COMPLEXITY IN READING MAPS!!!

How do I Read this Map?

My Research Program  Software that integrates concept mapping with document annotation for learning  gStudy  Animated concept maps to reduce map shock and cognitive load

Meta-Analysis Informed Experimental Studies  Concept and Knowledge Maps  Proposed animated concept maps to reduce complexity in reading static maps and cognitive load associated with map shock Nodes and links are sequentially added Published 6 studies on the effects of concept maps Over 10 conference presentations on different experiments on concept maps Two studies under preparation

Overview 24  What is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research on Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

25 Strategies: Complete Fill-in  fill-in blanks in pre-structured map from a list of concepts  helps students to consolidate understanding of concepts and relations among them

26 Strategies: Partial Fill-in

Strategies: Fill-in-the-Propositions

29 Strategies: Pre-Selected Term Mapping  Design a concept map to show your understanding of CO2, a greenhouse gas, and its past and future effect on climate. Use the following concepts:  fossil fuels  deforestation  clouds  atmospheric water vapor  ocean  CO2  Industrial Revolution  longwave solar radiation  global warming  human activity  evaporation  transpiration  greenhouse gas concentrations  ice  albedo  photosynthesis  feedback loops  shortwave solar infrared radiation

Strategies: Seeded Term Mapping  also called "micro-mapping"  provide students with a list of "starter" or "seed" terms (5-6)  students must use these terms in their map AND use another 5-6 terms from their own knowledge of the topic

Strategies: Advanced Organizer  develop an expert map of a course topic  provide to students as an advance organizer prior to teaching and for review purposes

Strategies: Advanced Organizer

Strategies: Unguided Maps  Once students are familiar with concept mapping processes, they can also be asked to do unguided maps, e.g.  After reading a section of text,  At the end of a topic.  At the end of the course.  This helps with identifying and tying together core concepts, and also acts as a learning tool for test revision.

Overview 34  What is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research on Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

Software Tools for c_Mapping  Kidspiration  Inspiration  MatchWare OpenMind  Microsoft Visio  SmartDraw  cmapTools

cmapToolscmapTools – Free online tool built for collaborative concept mapping, can attach video, images, files, links, and other external resources, export function cmapTools

Overview 37  What is Concept Mapping?  Highlights of Research on Concept Mapping for Teaching and Learning  Meta-Analysis of Concept Maps  Empirical (Experimental) Studies  Strategies for Using Concept Maps in the Classroom  Software Tools to Support Concept Mapping  Activity  Q & A

Stages in the Construction of a Concept Map  Brainstorming Stage  Organizing Stage  Layout Stage  Linking Stage  Revising Stage  Finalizing Stage

Activity 2  Using the following concepts and labels, draw a concept map of the human nervous system  Central nervous system  Somatic nervous system  100 billion neurons  Voluntary movements  Human nervous system  Parasympathetic system  Spinal cord  Hand waving  Peripheral nervous system  Involuntary actions  Autonomic nervous system  Brain  Sympathetic system  Heart beat  Three pounds for adults  LABELS  consists of  weighs  includes  controls  such as

Activity 3  Draw a concept map describing yourself and what makes you unique from others

Q & A Sola Adesope