29th April 2013, Home, Karachi
What is Concept Mapping?
Concept mapping is a technique for representing knowledge in graphs. Knowledge graphs are networks of concepts. Networks consist of nodes (points/vertices) and links (arcs/edges). Nodes represent concepts and links represent the relations between concepts.
Concept mapping can be done for for several purposes:
- to generate ideas (brain storming, etc.);
- to design a complex structure (long texts, hypermedia, large web sites, etc.);
- to communicate complex ideas;
- to aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge;
- to assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding.
Phases During Concept / Mind Mapping
Brainstorming Phase: From your memory, (which you can jog by
going through your notes and related course material) identify facts, terms,
and ideas that you think are in anyway associated with the topic. Make a list
of these items and print them neatly on small Post-It® notes, one per
note, in very brief form, i. e. a single word or short phrase. This is a
brain-storming process, so write down everything that anybody in your group
thinks is important and avoid discussing how important the item is. Don't worry
about redundancy, relative importance, or relationships at this point. Your
objective here is to generate the largest possible list you can. Before your
group completes this step, you may have more than 50 items.
Organizing Phase: Spread out your concepts (Post-It® notes)
on a flat surface so that all can be read easily and, together, create groups
and sub-groups of related items. Try to group items to emphasize hierarchies.
Identify terms that represent those higher categories and add them. Feel free
to rearrange items and introduce new items that you omitted initially. Note
that some concepts will fall into multiple groupings. This will become
important later.
Layout Phase: On a large sheet of paper, try to come up with an
arrangement (layout) that best represents your collective understanding of the
interrelationships and connections among groupings. Feel free to rearrange
things at any time during this phase. Use a consistent hierarchy in which the
most important concepts are in the center or at the top. Within sub-grouping,
place closely related items near to each other. Think in terms of connecting
the items in a simple sentence that shows the relationship between them. Do not
expect your layout to be like that of other groups. It may be advisable to meet
outside of class to work on this assignment and plan for its completion.
Linking Phase: Use lines with arrows to connect and show the
relationship between connected items. Write a word or short phrase by each
arrow to specify the relationship. Many arrows can originate or terminate on
particularly important concepts.
Finalizing the Concept Map: After your group has agreed on an
arrangement of items that coveys your understanding, you need to convert
the concept map into a permanent form that others can view and discuss. Be
creative in a constructive way through the use of colors, fonts, shapes, border
thickness, etc. to communicate your group's understanding. Give your concept
map a title. If you want to construct your final concept map on a computer, try
using PowerPoint. In reviewing your concept map, consider the following
attributes:
- Accuracy and Thoroughness. Are
the concepts and relationships correct? Are important concepts missing?
Are any misconceptions apparent?
- Organization. Was the concept
map laid out in a way that higher order relationships are apparent and
easy to follow? Does it have a title?
- Appearance. Was the assignment
done with care showing attention to details such as spelling and
penmanship? Is it neat and orderly or is it chaotic and messy?
- Creativity. Are there unusual
elements that aid communication or stimulate interest without being
distracting?
Recommendations to my students:
Download the software from http://cmap.ihmc.us and start focusing your ideas. Then with the help of this software try to make the Mind Maps and upload on your Blogs.
Good Luck
