1. John Connolly by way of Joseph D. Novak Cornell University and Institute for Human and Machine Cognition www.ihmc.us Theory and Rationale Underlying Concept Mapping

2. David Ausubel (1968): If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle I would say this: The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.* * Epigraph, Educational Psychology: A cognitive view

3. Key idea: Each person must construct her/his own meanings for concepts and propositions from experiences over time, building her/his knowledge structure New Theory of Learning

4. Concept: A perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label A Theory of Knowledge

5. Proposition: Two or more concepts combined to form a statement about something: a unit of meaning A Theory of Knowledge

6. Concept Map about Concept Maps

7. Learning Denny, a six year old, is asked to draw a map that shows his understanding of 8 common concepts Concepts: Water Solid River Vapor Steam Ice Liquid Gas Evaporate Denny’s knowledge does not include a meaning for vapor

8. Learning We can easily teach Denny the meaning of “vapor” and a new concept, “evaporate”, by showing how they relate to his current knowledge. Concepts: Water Solid River Vapor Steam Ice Liquid Gas Evaporate

11. A concept map on the US Government

12. Does the use of concept maps improve high school student’s performance on problem solving tests in physics?

13. High school physics students who make concept maps outperform students in traditional classes

14. Using computers, CmapTools, “expert” concept maps, Internet resources, and guided classroom and field experiences, we can now educate in ways never before possible. We have had textbooks to help teachers and students learn Since 1460 Today

15. A concept map that could be used to orient teachers

16. A Theory of Education Meaningful learning underlies the constructive integration of thinking, feeling, and acting leading to empowerment for commitment and responsibility. J. Novak

17. A few references