Concept Maps
Instructor's Guide

Skills Students Need

This module addresses communications skills, and requires active use of writing, speaking, and other forms of self-expression.   The activities provide an opportunity for information gathering, synthesis, and analysis in solving problems and in critical thinking.

Students should have the following skills prior to using this module:

• ability to send and receive e-mail
• ability to access and use the Penn State Course Management System, ANGEL
• ability to use a network browser and access to the Internet

The instructor should identify local resources that can provide these students with the skills they need to complete this module. Some examples of these resources include:

• computer labs
• seminars
• periodic training sessions
• peer tutoring

Identification of students lacking these skills and providing them with learning opportunities to acquire these skills is a critical necessity. This module will not provide this instruction. It will only provide the opportunity for students to utilize these resources in a meaningful, relevant manner.

ANGEL

The instructor should explain that the content for this module resides in ANGEL and ask students to read the content, and complete any relevant activities prior to any in-class instruction.   Provide students with the following information:

• Computer resources available, including any constraints such as lab hours, number of computers, etc.
• Who will assist students with technical help (Learning Center tutors, lab attendants, etc.).
• Who will assist students with subject matter help (in most cases this is the instructor).
• A definite completion date, keeping in mind the constraints students must operate under to access the module in ANGEL.
• Lab hours when the instructor will be available to serve as a facilitator.

Quizzes, Reflective Questions and Activities

Each module contains activities designed to help students learn and practice the concepts presented.   Reflective questions help students recall what they already know about the topic as well as to work through new ideas and concepts.   Worksheets and tip sheets supplement the instruction and give students an opportunity for additional practice.   Quizzes provide yet another means for students to practice as well as to check to be sure they have read and understand the materials.

The modules all have a standard layout. When you import a module into your ANGEL group or course a folder with the module's name will be added under the "Lessons" tab (course) or the "Content" tab (group). This folder can be moved and placed within another folder if desired.

To start the module, students should open the first file in the list inside each module's folder. This file has the word lesson as part of its name and contains the links to other parts of the lesson.

Open the first file in the module folder to begin the lesson.

This "master" file contains descriptions of the purpose, goals, and objectives, as well as instructions for completing the module, references to materials used in designing and developing the content of the module, a summary of the important points in the module, and a survey for students to complete after finishing the module. (Survey results are available to editors in the group or course through the on-line grade report tool.)

The rest of the files in each module's folder are accessed through links embedded within the content. As the student reads the content and completes the activities, other files from the folder will be used.   Some students may become confused if they try to complete the module by working their way down the list and viewing each file without reading the accompanying materials.   Instructors may want to make a point of announcing in class and/or putting directions in the syllabus about how to complete each module.

Note: The module will not work correctly if the student does not begin with the "master" file and work through the activities using the embedded links.

Scores for quizzes are recorded in ANGEL and can be accessed through the on-line grade report tool. Responses to reflective questions using the "My Notes" tool are accessible only to the person who types them - they are not available to the group or course editors. If you, as the instructor, want to see the answers to the reflective quesitons, you will need to have the students use a word processor to record their answers instead of the "My Notes" tool.

In addition to the quizzes and activities already written into each module, owners/editors may want to add discussion (message) boards, chat rooms, surveys, links, etc. These are all tools that are available within ANGEL. Instructors also have the option of editing and adding or deleting quiz questions and/or quizzes.

As the instructor, you will need to choose which assignments students are to complete, determine if and how credit will be given for the assignments, and establish due dates and submission methods for the assignments.   Including this information in your course syllabus will make it readily available to students.

Following are the assignments embedded in the Concept Maps module:

Activity 1: Quiz

Activity 2:   Quiz

Activity 3:   Create a concept map

Handout:   Concept Map Checklist

Activity 4:   Evaluate your concept map

Activity 5:   Quiz

Relationship to Other iStudy Modules

This module should be used after any modules on problem identification and data collection, because you must have a conceptual base (built by data collection) from which to build a concept map.

Suggested In-class Methods of Presentation

Lecture

• Explain the purpose/intent of the module.
• Explain general information about concept maps, and why concept maps are important.

Discussion

• Reinforce the basic concept map material as listed in the Key Points section later in this document.
• Provide examples of how concept maps can be used in topics that are relevant to the students.

OPTIONAL - Have students work in small groups to interpret a concept map on a local or current event topic.

OPTIONAL - Have students work in small groups to construct a simple concept map on a local or current event topic.

Note : This is an excellent opportunity to utilize and reinforce the cooperative learning techniques found in the Cooperative Learning Module.

Key Points

These points are covered in the iStudy ANGEL module, but should be emphasized in any discussions.

What is concept mapping?

What are the components of concept maps?

(Show examples)

Steps in developing a concept map.

 

Assessment

Jonassen (1996) provides examples of how concept maps in general can be used to assess learning. If the students create a concept map for your assessment, use the following information to assess the concept maps. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is no "right" concept map. Each student, or group of students, will likely build a different map, based upon their personal experiences. It is also important to understand that assessment of a concept map must be consistent with the needs of the content domain. For example cause and effect relations may be the focus in a physics course, while a biology course may emphasize hierarchical relationships between concepts (Jonassen, et.al, 1997).

• Assess the change in the student's map at various stages of the course. Concept maps can be a dramatic way to view how a student's knowledge changes as a result of instruction. Concept maps that the student creates at the beginning and end of the course provide evidence of changes to the student's knowledge structure. Concept maps created at regular intervals during a course can be used to monitor student progress.
• Compare the student's concept map to the concept map of an expert. The student's concept map can also be compared to the concept map of an expert, most likely the course instructor. This model allows the instructor the opportunity to assess if the student's knowledge structure is becoming more similar to his or her own. Before selecting this model, however, it is important to understand that one of the major advantages of concept maps is that they allow students to represent knowledge through their personal experiences. This model, therefore, somewhat compromises an important advantage of concept maps.
• Compare the student's map to the goals of the course. A third model is to compare the student's concept map to the course goals of the course. Reviewing individual concept maps will provide evidence of how much the individual student progressed toward these goals. Closer examination of the concept maps drawn by the entire class concept maps may point to opportunities to improve the course.

  • Criteria for assessing concepts, also referred to as nodes include:
    • Accuracy of concepts. Is the student's perception of the content domain accurate? Are the concepts correctly labeled?
    • Breadth of concepts. Does the concept map reflect the breadth of the content domain? A greater number of nodes reflect breadth.
    • Depth of concepts. Does the concept map reflect the depth of the content domain? The depth of the map is measured the number of levels of concepts.
    • Relative importance of concepts. Are major and minor concepts represented as such? Is greater weight given to more important concepts?

  • Criteria for assessing relations, also referred to as links include:
    • Validity of links. Are the relationships established between concepts or nodes valid? If the map is hierarchical, are hierarchical links established? Likewise, is the map is causal, are causal links established?
    • Preciseness of link labels. Are the labels used to describe the exact nature of the relationship? Here are some examples of types of links:
    • Economical use of links. Are links established in the most economical way possible, without becoming too general in nature?

Inclusion Links	Subset: is included in, is contained in, is example of, is part of Superset: include, contain, consist of, has example, has part of
Characteristic Links	has characteristic/is characteristic of has attribute/is attribute of has type/is type of
Action Links	Function: cause/is caused by function as/is used for Operation: act on/is acted on by generate/is generated by regulate/is regulated by determine/is determined by increase/is increased by
Process Links	has process/is process in has input/is input to has output/is output of
Temporal Links	precede follow has step/is step in
Similarity Links	is similar to is like is opposite to

• Minimization of dead end nodes. Are the amounts of nodes that are linked to only one concept minimized?

Evaluation of Activities and Assignments

The following assessment criteria was used in developing this module and may be useful to instructors in evaluating student performance.