Concept Mapping
Concept Mapping is a strategy that is used to organize concepts, topics, and vocabulary; and examine how they are related to one another, (Beal, Bolick, and Martorella, 2009). In order to generate a concept map, students must first identify the main concept that all others are organized around. This could be a large concept like Civil Rights, Feudalism, Population growth, the Revolutionary War, etc. The main concept should either be placed at the top of a concept map, or in the center. From the main concept, it branches out to smaller concepts. Those then branch out even more, visually showing how ideas, concepts, people and events are related to one another.
For example, in the picture below, the main concept is Population and the Planet. It is at the center and has several other concepts branching out from there, such as ways to increase population, impacts, ways to decrease population, exponential growth, etc. Each off these is then broken down into smaller concepts. The ways to increase population concept branches off to show medicine, sanitation, agriculture and technology.
For example, in the picture below, the main concept is Population and the Planet. It is at the center and has several other concepts branching out from there, such as ways to increase population, impacts, ways to decrease population, exponential growth, etc. Each off these is then broken down into smaller concepts. The ways to increase population concept branches off to show medicine, sanitation, agriculture and technology.
Instead of having a main concept, you can also organize a concept map around a focus question. Then the other pieces are titled 'parking lots.' The 'parking lots' are smaller concepts that go around the focus question. Students are often given the parking lots, to organize to correctly show relationships between concepts. Sometimes a concept map will also include a 'expert skeleton.' This is a portion of the concept map started by the teacher. The student must use the model already started to add the concepts from the parking lot, to correctly show links and relationships, (Novak and Cañas, 2008).
According to Teaching and Learning with Concept Maps (2014), the benefits of concept mapping include:
Sample lesson: Concept Mapping to Improve Writing Organization 1. In Ancient History, a major theme is the growth of civilizations around river systems. For students unit final, they are to write a 5 paragraph essay over the following focus question: Rivers provide several advantages and influences to civilizations. Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and India are located around major river systems. A. Identify three different ways that river systems influenced the life of people during Ancient Times. B. For each way, provide examples from 2 of the 4 civilizations that exhibit that concept. C. Explain how each of those examples have impacted that society. 2. Before students begin writing they are to look back through their books, notes to get ideas of all the different ways people used the rivers during ancient times. 3. Model for students how to create a concept map, starting with rivers as the main concept. 4. Have students work in small groups to generate branches out from rivers. These should be all the different ways that rivers influence life. This could include branches such as: religious activities, economic gain, resources, etc. At least 3 of these are needed. Each one will be the topic of each of the body paragraphs. Once they have generated at least 3 they are to add examples to each concept. 5. Once students have finished their concept map, this will form the organizational piece for laying out their body paragraphs to the reader. This meets the Common Core's standard of building research knowledge. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. Resources to create concepts maps: References: Beal, C., Bolick, C. M., & Martorella, P. H. (2009). Comprehending, Communicating, and Remembering Subject Matter. Teaching social studies in middle and secondary schools(5th ed., ). Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson. katmil2020. (2007, October 19). Concept Mapping: How to Start Your Term Paper Research. YouTube. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhgxuNvbNrA Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.htm SoutheastPsych. (2013, May 2). The Mind Matters Show - Becky on the Concept Map.YouTube. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmncg-Kzhq8 Teaching and Learning with Concept Maps. (2014, January 1). How to use a Concept Map to organize and comprehend information. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning/concept-mapping |
Concept Mapping: How to Start Your Term Paper ResearchIn this video, the concept mapping strategy is used to help brainstorm ideas, and organize those ideas, and establish their relationships to other ideas for the purpose of writing a term paper. Writing a paper isn't just assessed through it's content and length alone; it is also based on organization. This is why this example of concept mapping is useful to help students successfully generate ideas and organize them.
The Mind Matters Show - Becky on the Concept MapThe video empowers learners to use concept mapping to be active participants in their studying. Concept maps are benefitial in this way, because it helps students to condense and organize information in a meaningful way. It also allows them to see the direct connections between them. The video also shows the different steps to developing your own concept map:
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