Concept maps were developed in 1972 in the course of Novak’s research program at Cornell where he sought to follow and understand changes in children’s knowledge of science (Novak & Musonda, 1991).
Concept maps are graphical tools used for organizing and representing knowledge. The concept maps are used in a manner to represent associations between images words and ideas in a structured form. These maps start with a key idea, word or phrase which are associated to another and linked back to the original word or idea.
Concept maps are constructed to reflect organization of the declarative memory system, they facilitate sense-making and meaningful learning on the part of individuals who make concept maps and those who use them.
The use of concept maps is ideal for the design phase of projects in the manual arts classrooms. This gives the students a focal point in this phase which can be quite difficult of some. Once the focal point has been established, ideas can flow quickly, be built on and shared by others.
Above is a concept map i have constructed using the bubblus web site.
Hi Simon,
ReplyDeleteI think mind maps would be a great idea in your classroom. You could start with getting students to think of a project or an end project, and then work backwards with all the stages and required materials, etc. Then they can go on to do a plan of what they will do in which order and by what timeframe etc. This could even be done in small groups or as a whole class project.
:) April
I I agree with April, concept maps are a great way to provide students with direction for tasks. They are also a valuable resource to consider during assessment as they show thought progression and can be used as a draft to make sure students have completed their own work.
ReplyDeleteCheers Jess