Showing papers on "Concept map published in 1996"

Problems and Issues in the Use of Concept Maps in Science Assessment.

Abstract: The search for new, authentic science assessments of what students know and can do is well under way. This has unearthed measures of students' hands-on performance in carrying out science investigations, and has been expanded to discover more or less direct measures of students' knowledge structures. One potential finding is concept mapping, the focus of this review. A concept map is a graph consisting of nodes representing concepts and labeled lines denoting the relation between a pair of nodes. A student's concept map is interpreted as representing important aspects of the organization of concepts in his or her memory (cognitive structure). In this article we characterize a concept map used as an assessment tool as: (a) a task that elicits evidence bearing on a student's knowledge structure in a domain, (b) a format for the student's response, and (c) a scoring system by which the student's concept map can be evaluated accurately and consistently. Based on this definition, multiple concept-mapping techniques were found from the myriad of task, response format, and scoring system variations identified in the literature. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the reliability and validity of these variations. The review led us to arrive at the following conclusions: (a) an integrative working cognitive theory is needed to begin to limit this variation in concept-mapping techniques for assessment purposes; (b) before concept maps are used for assessment and before map scores are reported to teachers, students, the public, and policy makers, research needs to provide reliability and validity information on the effect of different mapping techniques; and (c) research on students' facility in using concept maps, on training techniques, and on the effect on teaching is needed if concept map assessments are to be used in classrooms and in large-scale accountability systems. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The Chemistry Classroom: Formulas for Successful Teaching

Abstract: Introduction: the people - my most memorable students, the many faces of failure, gender bias, an invitation to participate a framework for discussion - what constitutes understanding?, variables that affect learning, summary eternal verities - principles of learning, closing remarks, your own list of aphorisms Part 1 Some useful theory: intelligence - models for intelligence, measuring intelligence, summary how we learn - schemas schema construction, summary implications for teaching - expository teaching, co-operative learning, constructivist models for teaching, the teacher's role, summary Part 2 How to teach chemistry: problem-solving - what is a problem? completing exercises and solving problems, types of problems, general processes in problem-solving, where students go wrong, working memory and M-demand, summary, solutions to problems teaching problem-solving - teaching students to understand problems, teaching students to represent problems, teaching the solution process, teaching verification strategies, advice to problem-solvers, general suggestions, summary concept learning - formal concepts, naturally learned concepts, return to schemas, the importance of instruction, summary, exam on concept analyzing concepts to clarify their meaning - concept analysis, concept analysis of concept, practice exercises, what concept analysis can reveal, classes of science concepts, summary difficulties in teaching concepts - instructional decisions in concept learning, pedagogical content knowledge, special problems with abstract concepts detecting understanding, important properties of test items, analyzing test results, implications of learning theory, summary and discussion relationships among concepts - propositions, principles and rules - concept maps, mapping tools, principles and rules, summary the role of language in teaching chemistry - how we understand language, language problems in chemistry, other impediments to comprehension, learning chemical language, general language development, summary generalized intellectual skills - scientific reasoning, current understanding of intellectual development, research on misconceptions in chemistry, educational response to Piagetian research, summary scientific reasoning - formal operations, issues concerning the teaching of reasoning, summary teaching generalized intellectual skills - general considerations, example I - proportional reasoning disembedding logic from its context, example II - an interview with Fae, example III - using the laboratory, summary Part 3 Things in the affective domain (Part contents)

Concept Maps in Chemistry Education.

Abstract: This article presents and illustrates a proposed application of concept maps in chemistry teaching in high schools. The students were provided with the "concept lables" necessary for map building in three different ways. The analysis of the students' maps at different stages of the learning process led to the recognition of the three types of cognitive events which seem to correspond to the same number of restructuring stages in the conceptual organization. This can enable the teacher to characterize the changes produced in the learners' conceptions by teaching / learning activities. Three examples of the use of concept maps in chemistry teaching are reported and discussed with reference to: atomic structure, oxidation-reduction and thermodynamics.

Construct Validation of an Approach to Modeling Cognitive Structure of U.S. History Knowledge

Abstract: This research applied evolving conceptions of learning to tackle the difficult problems of how students' and experts' cognitive structures might be represented and evaluated. A diverse sample of high school students was selected to complete several tasks purporting to measure domain-specific knowledge of the Great Depression period of U.S. history, including prior knowledge, written explanation, similarity ratings, and concept mapping tasks. In this study, the technical characteristics of a method for scoring student concept maps were explored by comparing directly the quality of student maps with expert maps. Results showed that experts' concept maps could be used to score students' concept maps reliably. Further analyses showed that students who judged similarities of pairs of concepts, facts, and events from the Great Depression era in an expert-like manner constructed more correct links for those same pairs in their concept maps. MIMIC (multiple indicators, multiple causes) structural modelin...

Background Knowledge and the Construction of a Situational Representation from a Diagram.

Abstract: Comprehension of a diagram requires viewers to construct from its graphic constituents a mental representation that captures the situational entities and relationships referred to by the diagram. However, this implies viewers possess appropriate background knowledge concerning the depicted situation. Meteorologists' and non-meteorologists' mental representations were investigated using a three-stage card sorting task during which subjects generated hierarchical groupings of the graphic elements of an Australian weather map diagram. Cluster analysis indicated that the two subject groups differed fundamentally in the basis of their sorting behaviour. Subjects' justifications of the groupings suggested that non-meteorologists' mental representation of the diagram elements was primarily based upon domain-general, visuospatial characteristics whereas in meteorologists' representations, these characteristics were subservient to a domain-specific, situational interpretation of the graphic array. The findings indicate that background knowledge deficiencies may make it difficult for learners beginning study of a domain to construct suitable mental representations from domain-related diagrams.

The internal consistency of a concept mapping scoring scheme and its effect on prediction validity

Abstract: This study examines the internal consistency of Novak and Gowin's scoring scheme and its effect on the prediction validity of concept mapping as an alternative science classroom achievement assessment. Data were collected in three typical situations: very limited concept mapping experience with free‐style concept mapping; some concept mapping experience with questions provided; extensive concept mapping experience with a list of concepts provided for. It was found that Novak's scoring scheme was not internally consistent, and therefore there was generally no significant correlation between students’ scores on concept mapping and students’ scores on conventional classroom achievement assessments. The need for a new scoring scheme when concept mapping is used as an alternative science assessment is discussed.

Concept Maps In The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

Abstract: In this paper concept maps, a pedagogical tool which improves the effectiveness of lectures and helps students achieve a higher level of understanding, will be discussed. Concept maps are a visual representation of ideas designed to illustrate the relationships between the ideas. There are a variety of ways concept maps can be used in the mechanical engineering curriculum. They can be used to help students understand the structure of the curriculum, the relationship between courses, and the material within a course. The reaction of students to the use of concept maps has been enthusiastically positive.

Using concept maps with trainee physics teachers

Abstract: The technique of Concept Mapping described here is useful for identifying gaps in trainee teachers' knowledge, which may then be addressed to help those who must nowadays teach Science outside their own specialism.

Concept mapping: a job-performance aid for hypertext developers

Abstract: Concept mapping is a powerfid alternative to outlining and other techniques for planning information structures. Until now, cognitive psychology and science education have used concept mapping, mainly to focus on clear hierarchical structures for hardcopy information. This paper examines the use of concept mapping for planning information structures for electronic material, in particular, for hypertext. It presents hierarchical and alternative structures. Introduction Controlled, empirical studies show that concept mapping is an effective technique for planning and revising hardcopy information. In a collabordive study between the corporate and academic worlds, we found that writers who used concept maps more quickly produced and revised drafts than writers who used alternative organizational planning techriq~es (Crandell, IUeid, and Soderston, 1996). Also, readers found the concept-mapped drafts easier to understand than drafts produced using alternative organizational planning techniques. This is not suqxising, because the literature on learning stressesthe importance of organization structure, and the elicitation, explanatio~ and demonstration of meaningful relationships in information that is to be learned (Ausubel, 19(53; Bransford, 197% LorcL Lorch, and Morgan. :198% Meyer, 1987; Resnick, 1983). It also stressesthe importance of tying new information to existing Permissionto copy without fee all or paxtof this material is grantedprovidedthat thecopiesm not madeor distributed fordimct conunemialadvantage,theACM copyright notice and the title of thepublication andits dateappear,andnotice is given thatcopying is by permissionof theAssociationfor Computing Machinery.To copy otherwise,or to republish, requiresafeeand/orspecificpenuission. @ 1996 ACM 0-89-791-799-5)96/0179 $1.50 information structures already within the learner’s knowledge framework (Just and Carpenter, 1992 Clark and Haviland. 1977; Soderston and German. 1988). These are exactly the functions that concept mapping supports. Originally developed by Novak and Gowen (1984), concept mapping is a graphical technique that identifies concepts, ideas, facts, and examples, and shows the interrelationships among them. The maps are a two-dimensional way of showing the interrelationships among a group or set of related concepts. You can use concept mapping in two wayx to plan and organize new informatio~ and to analyze, diagnose. and revise existing information. It is an instructional strategy that bridges what we know about how people learn and what information sequences should ease the lemming task. In this paper, we do three thing~ First, we briefly review the literature and explain the theoretical bases for the effectiveness of concept mapping. Second, we provide a brief tutorial on how to map concepts. Third, we explore how concept mapping can be used by information planners, writers, editors, and evaluators particularly in planning and revising on-line hypertext information. 1. The Theoretical Bases for the Effectiveness of Concept Mapping Concept mapping was first developed in the 1970s as part of a research project in science education conducted by Joseph Novak and his graduate students at Cornell University. Novak’s work embodies the assimilation learning theory of cognitive psychologist David Ausubel-what concepts we already know and understand are key to the integration of new, related concepts. Integrating new material leads to the development of a more complex mental framework and a deeper, more thorough understanding of the phenomenon. Research shows that human memory is most likely organized as a network (Collins and Loftus, 1975) or a hierarchy (Smith, Shoben. and Rips, 1974) of linked

Concept mapping and synthesizers: instructional strategies for encoding and recalling.

Abstract: The process of knowledge acquisition requires that nursing students obtain concepts which must be encoded, stored, and later recalled from long-term memory. To assist students with these processes, teaching strategies that structure content should be used throughout the curriculum. This article describes how the instructional strategies of concept mapping and synthesizers were used to facilitate nursing students' encoding and recalling of pharmacology concepts in an undergraduate pharmacology course.

The Information in Relations in Biology, or The Unexamined Relation Is Not Worth Having

Abstract: Designing good relations is a challenge, as is using them consistently in the context of constructing knowledge representations. Further, the ability to generate and use relations effectively is a feature that clearly distinguishes between good and poor biology students. Fortunately, the SemNet software makes it possible for teachers to diagnose individual student problems in creating and using relations and to provide pencil and paper exercises to build missing skills. Assignments for students engaged in generating or using computer-based knowledge representations are significantly more powerful, in our opinion, when they are designed to prompt student thinking about using and applying knowledge to solve problems rather than to organize textbook knowledge in a relatively inert format. Finally, there are many problems in knowledge representation strategies for science students that remain to be solved.

Probing Personal Knowledge: The Use of a Computer-Based Tool to Help Preservice Teachers Map Subject Matter Knowledge

Abstract: This paper reports on the use of a HyperCardTM-based tool to create and modify concept maps about science related subject matter. The tool was trialed with seventy-one preservice teachers who were planning to teach a science topic to a primary school class. Data gathered from interviews, journals and analysis of concept maps indicated that the concept mapping tool was easy to use because it generated little cognitive load and quickly became transparent to the users. This allowed preservice teachers to focus their attention upon the construction of their maps and to organise their cognitive frameworks into more powerful integrated patterns. It was also found that the process of concept map construction may enhance preservice teacher thinking about effective teaching.

The effects of incorporating concept mapping into computer-assisted

Abstract: A study was carried out to determine the effects of incorporating concept mapping into computer-assisted instruction. There were 37 boys and 54 girls from a Special Assistance Plan school who participated in this study. The students received computer-assisted instruction on the topic "organic chemistry" for about 7.5 hours. They were randomly assigned to three different groups. In the Partial Map group, the students were given partial concept maps in the program and they were assigned the task of constructing complete concept map after each topic. In the Complete Map group, the students were provided with complete concept maps and they performed note-taking activities during the lessons. In the Menu-selection group, the students used traditional menu-selection system and they also performed note-taking activities. The following test and instruments were then administered to the students: Chemistry Achievement Test, Attitudes towards Chemistry, Attitudes towards Computer-assisted Instruction and concept mapping exercise. The results and their implications will be discussed in this paper. THE EFFECTS OF INCORPORATING CONCEPT MAPPING INTO COMPUTER-ASSISTED

Probing Understanding: The Use of a Computer-Based Tool To Help Preservice Teachers Map Concepts

Abstract: (1996). Probing understanding: The use of a computer-based tool to help preservice teachers map concepts. Journal of Science Teacher Education: Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 283-293.

Concept mapping : an effective instructional strategy in science with kindergarten students

Abstract: This study investigated the claim made by kindergarten teachers that concept mapping, as described in the Developmental Approaches in Science, Health, and Technology (DASH) Program, is an effective instructional strategy to use with their students. Classroom evidence was sought to verify this claim. A questionnaire designed to determine the reasons for this claim was sent to all DASH trained kindergarten teachers. The most common reasons and ideas among the 160 teachers who responded were identified. A list of research areas on the effectiveness of concept mapping and potential evidence for each was compiled from the responses. A review of the literature supported many of the reasons suggested by the teachers. Six case studies were conducted at three geographically diverse locations. The video tapes, field notes, photographs, and interviews from the case studies were then analyzed for supporting evidence of the teachers' reasons for the effectiveness of this strategy. All the most often mentioned reasons identified from the questionnaire were validated in the case study data. This study found that kindergarten students did organize information and make connections between ideas on concept maps. Both class concept maps and individual student interviews, exhibited several levels of categorization and showed connections between ideas. Kindergarten students did supply the teacher with information about their prior knowledge and their on-going learning on concept maps. Video tapes, field notes, and class concept maps provided evidence of students sharing their prior knowledge and experiences and teachers recording them. Concept

Using concept maps on the World-Wide Web to access a curriculum database for problem-based learning.

Abstract: Development of medical school curriculum databases continues to be challenging. Representation of the instructional unit is becoming increasingly difficult due to characteristics of the problem-based learning (PBL) curricula. Curriculum databases may be used to store materials for the PBL curricula, and also to provide a delivery mechanism for those materials. However, in order to take advantage of the curriculum database as a tool for PBL, methods for accessing the curriculum database that are better suited to the information needs of students, faculty, and administrators must be developed. Concept maps are directed graph representations of conceptual relationships, and may be used to represent the content of a curriculum database. In this paper, we describe a Web application that uses Java-based concept maps was the user interface to a curriculum database.

Concept Mapping - An Instructional Strategy

Abstract: Concept Mapping unlike conventional method is an instructional strategy that can help the students learn meaningfully whatever is taught to them without taking refuge to rate learning. In this paper, the nature of concept mapping, and how this strategy can be meaningfully employed at all levels of education have been dealt with. The paper also gives some guidelines to teachers regarding the activities they should take while teaching through concept mapping in the classroom. Apart from being an instructional strategy, it has got certain educational implications which have been briefly dealt with in this paper. This novel strategy can be further developed for instruction by conducting further researches. Therefore, a brief survey has been made regarding what research activities have already been done in this area, and, the scope of future research.

An Exploratory Study of the Concept Map as a Tool To Facilitate the Externalization of Students' Understandings about Global Atmospheric Change in the Interview Setting.

Abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two different types of post-instruction concept interviews: one that did and one that did not embed a concept mapping process as means of eliciting students' post-instruction conceptual understandings about the nature of, source of, and problems caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) . The study also tried to determine any effect by the addition of the independent variable, student to expert Pathfinder Network Similarity Index (PFNSI) on the prediction of the criterion measure of accordance (ACCORD) . The study also sought to elicit students' perceptions of the process instituted in the interviews to determine what they know. Data was collected from eighth grade physical science students and their teacher using open-ended interviews. Findings indicate an interview that embedded a concept mapping process (compared to an interview that excluded this process) did not affect statistically significant changes in the externalization of students' conceptual understandings. Another finding was that PFNSI had predictive validity for performance in the interview on the measure of ACCORD and proved to be a reliable confirmatory measure of the degree to which students held an ideal post-instructional understanding. Contains 67 references. (JRH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *

EPIGAME: a software environment for learning structures and strategies to guide inquiry

Abstract: This paper analyses the use of epistemic games in creating a computer-based environment called EPIGAME that teaches learners how to actively organize and construct their knowledge. In the process, EPIGAME also teaches them knowledge in a particular domain. This work fits in the paradigm in which computers are used as cognitive tools to help learners recognize, judge and organize patterns of information. We adopt the concept of epistemic games and forms as discussed in Collins and Ferguson (1993). Epistemic games act as structured concept maps that help organize information. EPIGAME teaches epistemic games in the context of discussing some domain of interest. Faced with a task for organizing or creating knowledge, the learner is first presented with the epistemic form and then guided to fill in the epistemic form in order to organize or create knowledge. Her moves will be constrained by the rules of the game. In this paper, we propose and discuss the design of EPIGAME. Our software architecture for implementing EPIGAME provides a flexible framework that ensures reusability and extensibility, and that allows teachers or instructors to edit domain knowledge embedded in the system.

A Practitioner's Look at Research: Experientially Based Practitioner-Friendly Program Assessment Measurement Tools.

Abstract: School-based outdoor and experiential programs face an increasing demand from outside interests for research-based accountability. This paper suggests that both research and practice are strengthened by researcher-practitioner partnerships and by practitioners conducting their own research. Three modest qualitative research designs are explored as viable tools for practitioner research. In the first study, concept mapping was used to examine students' experiences in the conventional school setting and in the Community Environmental Leadership Programme (CELP), an integrated outdoor experiential program in a Guelph (Ontario, Canada) high school. Students constructed concept maps of their perspectives on schooling before and after CELP. Concept maps are unique in providing researchers with complex information for program assessment while remaining a student-controlled activity. This tool's effectiveness may lie in the fact that concept maps allow students to reflect on their experiences with the personal language that they have constructed. The following year, CELP students wrote short stories about themselves and school, at the beginning and end of the program. With both approaches, student responses were honest and stimulating for the teacher, but concept mapping appeared to be more fun and more liberating for students than the story approach. In the third study, an experiential practitioner who had collected student journal work for 10 years realized that the work was data and could be used to save his program from cutbacks.