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Concept of Concept Map in Learning

The document discusses concept maps, which are graphical tools used to organize and represent knowledge through concepts and relationships between concepts. Concept maps can be used for concept clarification and learning. They have several potential uses including as curricular tools to help develop curriculum, as instructional tools to guide teaching, and as evaluation tools to assess understanding. The document provides background on concept maps and discusses how they can be constructed and used in education.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
422 views9 pages

Concept of Concept Map in Learning

The document discusses concept maps, which are graphical tools used to organize and represent knowledge through concepts and relationships between concepts. Concept maps can be used for concept clarification and learning. They have several potential uses including as curricular tools to help develop curriculum, as instructional tools to guide teaching, and as evaluation tools to assess understanding. The document provides background on concept maps and discusses how they can be constructed and used in education.
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Concept of Concept Map in Learning

Dr J R Sonwane Associate Professor Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar, INDIA

Abstract

Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts or propositions, (indicated by a connecting line and linking word) between two concepts. Linking words on the line specify the relationship between the two concepts. Concept map is very effective tool for concept clarification and learning new thing. keep in mind this thing this paper discusses concept of concept map and its use. This paper provides background of concept map and It discusses some tools about concept map. Keywords. Concept map, Learning

Introduction Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in

events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label. Several attempts have been made to represent cognitive structure graphically. For instance, the 'association memory' of the information processing theorists (Newell 1977), the 'entailment structure' of conversation theory (Pask 1976), the 'frame-system' theory for memory (Minsky 1977), and the networks of semantics (Rumelhart 1977) all integrate a means of representation aimed
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at understanding and modelling the learning process, and each is set within a theoretical program. However concept mapping, which was first developed in Cornell University (Novak 1979), differs from these in being a practical strategy aimed at increasing students' ability to learn meaningfully (Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian 1978), and at developing their understanding of their own learning approaches and knowledge base (Novak 1985). Concept mapping is essentially a practical tool developed to assist teachers and students with instruction and learning. Essentially, a concept map is constructed to represent the relationship between concepts in the mind of a learner, teacher or curriculum planner. It is structured around nodes which identify concepts, with these nodes being connected by lines labelled to indicate the relationship between neighboring concepts (Nersessian 1989). Novak (1981) described a procedure for helping students organize concepts into meaningful structures through use of the paper-pencil task called concept mapping. As students make concept maps they reorganize newly acquired and existing concepts into a hierarchical network and represent relationships among the concepts. At the same time relationships are clarified and integrated into larger knowledge structures. The task requires a student to think in multiple directions and to switch back and forth between different levels of thought (Ault 1985). Novak (1981) defined concepts as regularities in events or objects which are designated by a sign

or symbol. Concepts in a map relate to each other by connecting lines that define propositions or specific relationships between concepts. The acquisition of such relationships is the key element in meaningful learning. Concept mapping allows students to connect concepts in a variety of relationships. Students increase their understanding of subject content as they search for personal meanings of concepts, without which they cannot make connections in the map. Strategies for teaching students how to develop their own concept maps have been described by Ault (1985); Chandran (1985); Fensham, Gerrard and West (1981); Malone and Dekkers (1984); Novak and Gowin (1984); and Stewart (1980). Using a few conventions for drawing concept maps, students can construct maps using concepts given by the teacher, concepts taken from a text or concepts from their existing knowledge. Novak (1988b) contends that, in the experience of his research colleagues, "There is no domain of knowledge (or 'skills') for which concept maps cannot be used as a representational tool." In much of the research reported to date, concept mapping has been investigated as a strategy for meaningful learning (Novak & Gowin 1984). Researchers have taught students to construct their own concept maps and have argued that concept mapping assists learners to "know what they know." The research also indicates that concept mapping facilitates students' abilities to solve new problems and to answer questions that require application or blend of concepts (e.g. Bascones & Novak 1985; Novak, Gowin & Johansen 1983; Pankratius & Keith 1987).
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Figure 1 Concept map


Source: http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/Fig1

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Uses of Concept Maps Concept mapping has several potential uses, as reported in the outcome of a number of studies. It has been used as a tool for research, particularly to investigate learners' existing conceptions and changes in conceptions (Cunliffe 1994; Dana 1993), for curriculum development (Edmondson 1995; Pearson and Hughes 1986), for assessment (Schick 1991; Schreiber and Abegg 1991), for identifying difficulties in understanding (Songer and Mintzes 1994; Trowbridge and Wandersee 1994), and for promoting meaningful learning (Novak, Gowin and Johansen 1983) Because of the flexibility of concept maps, they can be used in a variety of situations for several different purposes as said above. Three such uses are: (1) as curricular tools; (2) as instructional tools; and (3) as a means of evaluation. Curricular Uses of Concept Maps. Researchers have found that the Ausubel model of learning emphasizing concept acquisition coupled with a model of curriculum posed by Johnson (1977) is a powerful approach to curriculum development. Within such a framework, concept maps can take on an important role. In Johnson's view, a curriculum is "as structured series of intended learning outcomes"( ILOs).The ILOs may be affective, cognitive, or psychomotor in nature, although for this paper we have chosen to focus on the cognitive. This does not mean that we feel skill and especially affective ILOs are not appropriate in biology teaching. A most significant contribution of Johnson's model is the

distinction he makes between curriculum and instruction. Curricular focus is on selecting and organizing the ILOs: those cognitions, cognitive competencies, skills and affects the curriculum developer most wants students to "possess" as a result of the curriculum. The appropriateness of the examples might be determined by such factors as time of year, geographic location, and ease of manipulation. The most important determinant should be the backgrounds and interests of the students. The choice of the examples in the Johnson model is an instructional rather than a curricular decision, unless of course the examples are to be learned, and thus are in fact also ILOs. As educators, we often get bogged down in the "trees" of examples so that our students do not see the conceptual "forest." Johnson's distinction between curriculum (choosing and organizing the concepts and thus selecting ILOs) vs. instruction (selecting the instructional, content with which to explicate the concepts) is important. How often in evaluation of students do we test for the knowledge of a particular example without ever coming to grips with the question of whether or not they understand the underlying concepts? It is certainly conceivable that one may know many specific examples without having an understanding of the conceptual interpretations possible for those examples. Where do concept maps fit into these views of curriculum? Concept maps can be an important tool to focus the attention of the curriculum designer (again,i deally, the instructor) on the teaching of concepts and on the distinction between curricular and instructional content-that is, between content that is
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intended to be learned vs. that which will serve as a vehicle for learning. A completed concept map, including class and major relational concepts, becomes in the Johnson model the cognitivec omponent of the curriculum. Construction of a concept map that portrays structure in a discipline could thus be considered as identical to the task of developing the cognitive components of a curriculum. Instructional Uses of Concept Maps. When a map includes concrete (instructional) examples to be used to explicate the concepts and propositions to be taught, then it becomes a guide to instruction as well as to curriculum . There are a range of possible instructional uses of concept maps. Bogden (1976) systematically used concept maps in a college-level genetics course at Cornell University. He constructed maps with proportionally large instructional components to correspond to the content of individual lectures in the course, and then used them as a focus for discussion sections. Some students used these sessions and thus the maps as supplements to or substitutes for lectures, laboratories, and readings; others considered the maps valuablere view materials that helped to tie different sections of the course together. Some students felt the concept maps were unnecessary, but the purpose in using them was for the course instructors to provide an additional pathway to the learning of genetics concepts. Therefore, they did not expect all students to choose the concept map alternative as one they wished to use. Concept maps are only tools, and a functional approach should be taken with them. Their value lies their flexibility and utility, in instruction as well as in curriculum. A second instructional use of

concept maps is to have students construct maps describing what they know about a given subject area. It is recommended that any student asked to do this be well versed in what is expected of him/her and therefore time must be spent beforehand thoroughly introducing students to the concept map idea, including what the instructor wants represented by the two dimensions of the map. It might also be wise to ask only students who have a good grasp of the subject to try and construct maps of it. Constructing a concept map is often a very difficult task for one who knows the discipline well; a student with vague knowledge is likely to be overwhelmed and confused by the task if s/he is not properly prepared. On the other hand, the benefits in understanding are likely to be very great to anyone who tries to map a conceptual area with which s/he is familiar even an "expert" who is compelled to try to represent a discipline in a new way must deliberately rethink many assumed relationships and may enrich his/her" feel" for the subject by carrying out a concept mapping exercise. Concept Maps as Evaluative Tools. We can view the process of evaluation of knowledge as one which ends with the ranking of students for such purposes as assigning grades and helping to determine admission to institutions of higher learning, or pass/fail judgments made upon mastery of a prescribed set of objectives. Many methods are used to this end, and the evaluative uses of concept maps we are about to describe might be as appropriate as any other for the purpose of ranking students. We feel, however, that an at least parallel aim of evaluation should be the assessment of student knowledge or gaps in knowledge for the purpose of aiding
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instruction. Students thus become part of a feedback system in which the results of the assessment of their knowledge have curricular and instructional implications. If we think of evaluation as an assessment of student knowledge, then it is importan to focus in test design on what we think of as the conceptual structure of biology. Once again, a concept map, which is considered to be the cognitive component of the curriculum( portraying structure in the subject matter), should be quite useful in evaluating student knowledge of that structure. Rowell used concept maps in the area of energy, continuity of life, and properties of matter in trying to gain knowledge of second graders' understandings of those concepts. His evaluative format was a partially structured Piagetian-type interview, and he found that having a concept map in front of him as he interviewed children helped to keep his questions focused on the concepts and relationships in which he was interested. Bogden used a genetics concept map to structure an integrative final examination question for a college genetics course. He constructed what he felt was an ideal answer, made a concept map from it, and then mapped student answers. The degree of correspondence between the "ideal" map and student maps was the basis for each student's grade on the questions. In using concept maps in this way, however, one must be careful in translating from answers to maps it is easy to turn this method into a "key word" sort of analysis, and lose track of the substance of answers. Since Bogden in usingt his sort of evaluative method was actually engaged in ranking as opposed to assessing, any "holes" or missing parts of answers, although impossible to interpret, were still a part of the evaluation and thus the grade

The CmapTools Software Toolkit The CmapTools (Caas et al., 2004) software (available for download at: http://cmap.ihmc.us) developed at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition brings together the strengths of concept mapping with the power of technology, particularly the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW). The software not only makes it easy for users of all ages to construct and modify concept maps in a similar way that a word processor makes it easy to write text, it allows users to collaborate at a distance in the construction in their maps, publish their concept maps so anybody on the Internet can access them, link resources to their maps to further explain their contents, and search the WWW for information related to the map. The software allows the user to link resources (photos, images, graphs, videos, charts, tables, texts, WWW pages or other concept maps) located anywhere on the Internet or in personal files to concepts or linking words in a concept map through a simple drag-and-drop operation. Links to these resources are displayed as icons underneath the concepts. Clicking on one of these icons will display a list of links from which the user can select to open the linked resource. Using CmapTools, it is possible to use concept maps to access any material that can be presented digitally, including materials prepared by the mapmaker. In this way, concept maps can serve as the indexing and navigational tools for complex domains of knowledge, as will be illustrated later with NASA materials on Mars (Briggs et al., 2004). By facilitating the linking between concept maps, learners
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can construct Knowledge Models (Caas et al., 2003; Caas et al., 2005), which are collections of concept maps with linked resources about a particular topic, demonstrating that their understanding about a domain is not limited to a single concept map. Discussion In short, it can be concluded on the base of above discussion, concept maps are a powerful tool to help students learn about the structure of knowledge and the process of knowledge production. The visual nature of concept maps helps in the process of concept formation and assimilation.Concept maps are good conceptual benchmarks from which students can construct richer meanings. It provides them with the opportunity to analyze their prior knowledge, plan for the addition of new information, guide inquiry from what is known toward what is not, and encourage the recognition of relationships in content areas . One must remember that we live in a world of concepts rather than a world of objects, events, and situations and there are many internal factors that influence concept learning. We must also remember that the goal of concept mapping is not to produce a pretty graphic but to enrich the meaning of a learners educational experience. References
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Paper Received on 10 May, 2012 Paper Reviewed on 12 June, 2012 Paper Accepted on 25 June, 2012

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