BECOME A MEMBER! Sign up for TIE services now and start your international school career

GORDON ELDRIDGE: LESSONS IN LEARNING

Can Concept Mapping Raise Achievement?

By Gordon Eldridge, TIE Columnist
01-Jun-16


We all know that the depth of understanding students are likely to reach depends on the extent to which they are able to connect information both to previous knowledge and to key concepts in the domain they are studying. There is a large body of research indicating that if we can help our students achieve such connected understanding, they are both more likely to retain information and more likely to be able to transfer their understanding to new contexts. Our challenge as teachers is to structure the learning experiences so as to ensure that students have the support and scaffolding that will guide them towards understanding, but also the space that will allow them to put the pieces together for themselves.
Chei-Cheang Chiou from the National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan explored the possibilities of using concept mapping as a strategy to achieve this.
One hundred twenty-four students from two classes in advanced accounting courses participated in the study. The classes were assigned randomly to function as an experimental and control group. In the experimental group, students received an explanation as to the potential power of concept mapping as a learning strategy and then received three hours of training in the construction of concept maps. The procedures for concept mapping were drawn from Novak and Gowin (1984). These procedures include the familiar method of constructing concept nodes that are then built into a network using connecting phrases. The Novak and Gowin procedures also include explicit invitations to consider hierarchical relationships and to look for cross-links among the various hierarchies and relationships. The teacher taught using teacher-constructed concept maps but using the same textbook as the control group. On completion of each chapter, the students constructed their own individual concepts maps to show what they had learned. They then received feedback on their concept maps and any misconceptions that had been identified were then dealt with in class. Students then reconstructed their concept maps based on the this feedback. They used their revised concept maps as ongoing review tools. The experimental condition lasted a total of 12 weeks, during which six chapters of the textbook were covered.
In the control group, the teacher taught material from the same textbook, but without the use of concept maps. On completion of each chapter, students were asked a set of review questions. They received feedback on their answers and incorrect answers were reviewed in class. They covered the same six textbook chapters across the 12 weeks as the experimental group.
What were the results of the study?
• The concept mapping group demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in performance over pre-test scores than the control group.
• In a survey of students in the concept-mapping group, 97 percent indicated that the concept mapping strategy had helped them learn and 95 percent indicated that concept mapping stimulated them to learn and think independently.
• In the same survey only 58 percent of students indicated that concept mapping was a strategy they could adapt to easily.
• Prior to receiving teacher feedback, student concept maps often contained numerous invalid relationships and misconceptions.
• The teacher and researcher found the concept maps to be a useful tool for both easily identifying student misconceptions and for understanding the conceptual change students underwent.
What might this mean for our classrooms?
As Chiou points out, concept maps not only identify what a student knows, but also how that knowledge is organized and connected. Concept maps can help students “organize their cognitive frameworks into more powerful integrated patterns” (Chiou 2008). This is what makes them such a powerful learning tool.
While concept maps are a commonly used tool in international school classrooms, I have rarely heard of them being used in such a systematic way. The power of the way concept maps were used in this study seems to have come from the fact that they were used
• as a teaching tool,
• as a way for students to develop their theories of how the important concepts connect, and
• as a means of diagnosing student conceptions and misconceptions and giving feedback to build on the conceptions and challenge the misconceptions.
Interestingly, while the students perceived the power of the strategy and felt that the use of concept maps allowed them to become more independent in their learning, they did not find it an easy strategy to adopt. This suggests that we may need to invest significant effort in modeling the construction of concept maps and supporting students in developing the competency to use them effectively in constructing and reconstructing their theories.
The research: Chiou, Chei-Chang,. (2008) "The effect of concept mapping on students’ learning achievements and interests." Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 375 - 387.
Novak, J.D. & Gowin, D.B. (1984) Learning How to Learn. New York: Cambridge University Press




Please fill out the form below if you would like to post a comment on this article:








Comments

There are currently no comments posted. Please post one via the form above.

MORE FROM

GORDON ELDRIDGE: LESSONS IN LEARNING

What Are the Elements of an Effective Global Citizenship Curriculum?
By Gordon Eldridge, TIE Columnist
Mar 2021

Designing Curriculum for Global Citizenship
By Gordon Eldridge, TIE Columnist
Dec 2020