SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA.

DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY,

FACULTY OF EDUCATION.

ASSIGNMENT ON:

CIT 832: THEORIES OF INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING.

TOPIC: A LITERATURE REVIEW ON ‘CONCEPT MAPPING’.

NAME: OMOROGHOMWAN OSAYIMWENSE

MATRICULATION NUMBER: PG/EDU1613832

PROGRAM OF STUDY: M.ED. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

MAY, 2017.
ABSTRACT

This work is a literature review on Concept Mapping. In this work, I discussed the meaning of a
concept map and concept mapping. I also briefly x-rayed the history of concept mapping.
Drawing from literature, I also discussed the philosophy of concept mapping in this work, how
to build one and when to use one. Also in this work, you will find the characteristics of a
concept map, its advantages and disadvantages.

INTRODUCTION

Used as a learning and teaching technique, concept mapping visually illustrates the
relationships between concepts and ideas. Often represented in circles or boxes, concepts are
linked by words and phrases that explain the connection between the ideas, helping students
organize and structure their thoughts to further understand information and discover new
relationships. Most concept maps represent a hierarchical structure, with the overall, broad
concept first with connected sub-topics, more specific concepts, following.

Concept maps were developed in 1972 in the course of Novak's research program at Cornell
University where he sought to follow and understand changes in children's knowledge of
science (Novak & Musonda, 1991). During the course of the research effort, it became clear
that concept maps were useful not only to represent the change in children's understanding of
a topic, but they were also an excellent tool for the participating graduate students to express
their understanding of their courses. The popularity of concept mapping soon spread and now
it’s used all over the world as a means to represent a person's knowledge about a domain of
knowledge, by users of all ages and in all domains of knowledge.

WHAT IS A CONCEPT MAP?

A concept map or conceptual diagram is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships

between concepts. It is a graphical tool for organizing and structuring knowledge.

A concept map typically represents ideas and information as boxes or circles, which it connects
with labeled arrows in a downward-branching hierarchical structure. The relationship between
concepts can be articulated in linking phrases such as causes, requires, or contributes to.

A concept map is a type of graphic organizer used to help students organize and represent
knowledge of a subject. Concept maps begin
with a main idea (or concept) and then
branch out to show how that main idea can
be broken down into specific topics.

MEANING OF CONCEPT MAPPING

Concept Mapping is a teaching and learning technique for visualizing the relationships among
different concepts of a knowledge. Noyd (1998) defined Concept Mapping as a general method
that can be used to help any individual or group to describe their ideas about some topic in a
pictorial form.

According to Novak (1998), Concept Mapping is essentially a structured process, focused on a

topic or construct of interest, involving input from one or more participants, that produces an
interpretable pictorial view (concept map) of their ideas and concepts and how these are
interrelated.

HISTORY OF CONCEPT MAPPING

Concept mapping as a method was developed by Joseph Novak and a team of researchers at
Cornell University in the 1970’s. Dr. Novak was searching for a new tool to describe explicit
changes in children’s conceptual understanding.

Both he and his colleagues at Cornell had studied psychologist Jean Piaget’s theories on
cognitive operational stages. Piaget and other experts assumed that children weren’t capable of
comprehending abstract concepts, like the nature of matter, before the age of 11. Dr. Novak
decided to launch a research project that would observe minute changes in the way children
learned new ideas. He was inspired by a theory from David Ausubel, a proponent of Piaget’s
theories.

Ausubel wrote:

“If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, I would say this:
the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already
knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly” (Ausubel, 1968, p. vi)

With this idea as their guiding light, the Cornell team developed a new tool during their
longitudinal study: the concept map. These maps were simple—just one or two words to
represent the main idea, and lines showing linking words that created a meaningful statement.
The most general concepts were grouped at the top of the map and the most specific ones at
the bottom. Novak taught students to build concept maps to demonstrate their knowledge on
focus questions such as “What is water”.

The research team explained:

“We found that a 15- or 20-page interview transcript could be converted into a one-
page concept map without losing essential concept and propositional meanings
expressed by the interviewee. We soon realized this was a very powerful and concise
 knowledge representation tool, a tool that changed our research program from this
point on.”

Since 1972, concept mapping has become extremely popular, as specialists in fields from
education to healthcare realize the unique benefits of this type of diagram.

PHILOSOPHY/THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF CONCEPT MAPPING

Concept maps are based on Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory and Novak’s Theory of Learning,
which discuss how people learn new information by incorporating new knowledge with
knowledge they already posses. Novak stated, “Meaningful learning involves the assimilation of
new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures.”

Through meaningful learning, discussed more below, the integration of new concepts into our
cognitive knowledge structure occurs through linking the new knowledge to concepts already
understood. A concept map provides a visual demonstration of these relationships between
concepts in our cognitive structure. The origin of concept maps stems is based in
constructivism, which discusses how learners actively construct knowledge.

HOW TO BUILD A CONCEPT MAP

Concept maps are typically hierarchical, with the subordinate concepts stemming from the
main concept or idea. This type of graphic organizer however, always allows change and new
concepts to be added. The Rubber Sheet Analogy states that concept positions on a map can
continuously change, while always maintaining the same relationship with the other ideas on
the map.

1. Start with a main idea, topic, or issue to focus on.

A helpful way to determine the context of your concept map is to choose a focus question—
something that needs to be solved or a conclusion that needs to be reached. Once a topic or
question is decided on, that will help with the hierarchical structure of the concept map.

2. Then determine the key concepts

Find the key concepts that connect and relate to your main idea and rank them; most general,
inclusive concepts come first, then link to smaller, more specific concepts.

3. Finish by connecting concepts--creating linking phrases and words

Once the basic links between the concepts are created, add cross-links, which connect concepts
in different areas of the map, to further illustrate the relationships and strengthen student’s
understanding and knowledge on the topic.

WHEN TO USE A CONCEPT MAP

 When presenting concise overviews of a field

 When absorbing information while studying for an exam
 When assessing a student’s grasp of a particular topic
 When consolidating knowledge during the learning process
 When demonstrating an acceptable level of understanding on a subject
 When defining knowledge that exists in your head but hasn’t been formally documented

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCEPT MAPS

Concept maps have specific characteristics that distinguish them from other knowledge
representation tools. These are some of the key characteristics of concept maps.

1. Propositional Structure

Concept maps express explicitly the most relevant relationships between a set of concepts. This
relationship is depicted by means of the linking phrases forming propositions. When
constructing a concept map, one needs to be careful that every two concepts together with
their linking phrases form a unit of meaning, a claim, a short sentence. On occasions, a
proposition will span across three or more concepts, but we try to avoid this to the extent
possible. Thus a concept map consists of a graphical representation of a set of propositions
about a topic.

2. Hierarchical Structure

Within any domain of knowledge, there is hierarchy of concepts, where the most general
concepts are at the "top" of the hierarchy and the more specific, less general concepts are
arranged hierarchically below. Concept maps tend to be represented in a graphically
hierarchical fashion following this conceptual hierarchy.

3. Focus Question

A good way to delineate the context for a concept map is to define a Focus Question, that is a
question that clearly specifies the problem or issue the concept map should help to resolve.
Every concept map responds to a focus question, and a good focus question can lead to a much
richer concept map.
 4. Cross-Links

Another important characteristic of concept maps is the inclusion of cross-links. These are
relationships or links between concepts in different segments or domains of the concept map.
Cross-links help us see how a concept in one domain of knowledge represented on the map is
related to a concept in another domain shown on the map.

5. Theoretical Foundation

Concept maps have a strong psychological and epistemological foundations, based on Ausubel's
Assimilatioin Theory (Ausubel, 1968, 2000) and Novak's Theory of Learning, which explain that
people learn new things by using their current knowledge and, to a greater or lesser degree,
seeking ways to integrate new knowledge and related knowledge already known. When
learning meaningfully, the integration of new concepts into our cognitive knowledge structure
takes place through. linking this new knowledge to concepts we already understand. Thus a
concept map is a graphical representation of these relationships between concepts in our
cognitive structure.

6. Meditating Representation Between Humans

Concept maps are meant to be used by users of all ages, from pre-school children to scientists,
and are not meant to be interpreted by computers --they are a form of communication
between humans.

BENEFITS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

1. Concept Mapping help students brainstorm and generate new ideas through high-level
thinking.
2. It encourages students to discover new concepts and the propositions that connect them
3. Concept Mapping allows students to more clearly communicate ideas, thoughts and
information
4. Concept Mapping helps students integrate new concepts with older concepts
5. Concept Mapping enables students to gain enhanced knowledge of any topic and evaluate the
information
6. Concept mapping is a powerful way for students to reach high levels of cognitive performance.
7. A concept map is also not just a learning tool, but an ideal evaluation tool for educators
measuring the growth of and assessing student learning. As students create concept maps, they
reiterate ideas using their own words and help identify incorrect ideas and concepts; educators
are able to see what students do not understand, providing an accurate, objective way to
evaluate areas in which students do not yet grasp concepts fully.
8. The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it processes text. Designed as a tool to
organize and represent knowledge, concept mapping can help you visualize relationships
between various concepts and test your understanding of complex subjects.
9. Thinking through and visually representing relationships between ideas forms mental
connections that allow for better retention of knowledge.
10. Synthesizes information by integrating new and old concepts to better grasp the big picture
11. This diagram is a popular way to capture understanding of a topic for work, school, or personal
study. It therefore facilitates comprehension with its visual format.
12. Fosters discovery of new concepts and their connections
13. Provides clear communication of complex ideas
14. Promotes collaborative learning
15. Snapshots your current knowledge to assess understanding
16. Identifies areas that need further knowledge or review

CONCLUSION

In this paper we have tried to present the theoretical foundations and the origins of what we
call concept maps. While at first glance concept maps may appear to be just another graphic
representation of information, understanding the foundations for this tool and its proper use
will lead the user to see that this is truly a profound and powerful tool. It may at first look like a
simple arrangement of words into a hierarchy, but when care is used in organizing the concepts
represented by the words, and the propositions or ideas are formed with well-chosen linking
words, one begins to see that a good concept map is at once simple, but also elegantly complex
with profound meanings. Concept mapping has been shown to help learners learn, researchers
create new knowledge, administrators to better structure and manage organizations, writers to
write, and evaluators assess learning.

Concept maps are an optimal learning tool for students and educators, whether the
contributors are enrolled in school, teaching or tutoring a subject, or developing new skills on
their own. The process of connecting ideas in a tangible space can solidify your topical
knowledge, as well as clarify which areas need a little work.

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