Simone C. O. Conceição, PhD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

1. Effective Learning, Teaching, and Research Strategies Using Concept MapsLearning Strategies (Cont.)May 2018 Simone C. O. Conceição, PhD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Beijing Normal University Beijing, China

2. Outline

3. PRESENTING Concept Map

4. Observation and Feedback • Focus on map reader • Map reader did not participate in the creation of the map and is not familiar with the content • Map reader has time constraints to read the map • Perceptual organization • Working memory capacity is limited • It can help if you chunk information • Map layout • Organize map in a way that is easy to read • Content flow and clarity • Helps reader follow your thinking process

5. Map Layout • Gestalt principles of perceptual organization Proximity SimilarityContinuity Pragnanz Closure Figure-ground Derbentseva, N., & Kwantes, P. (2014). Cmap readability. Concept Map Conference. Santos, Brazil.

6. Let’s Review the Concept Maps • How many concepts does the map have? • What type of map is this? • Does the map have clear propositions? • Does the map have clear linking words? • How many cross links does the map have? • Is the map layout organized in an easy way to read? • Does the content flow well? Is it clear?

7. Concept Map Self-Reflection • After creating the concept map, did you see relationships among concepts in the article that you did not see before? • What was the easiest relationship among concepts to depict? Why were they difficult? • What were the most difficult relationships to depict? Why were they easy or hard to depict?

8. (Brookfield, 1995)

9. Visual, Auditory, Tactile/Kinesthetic Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Kolb’s Learning Styles UnderstandingOurownlearningstyle

10. Visual, Auditory, Tactile/Kinesthetic Learning Styles Visual:learnthroughseeing Auditory:learnthroughlistening Tactile/Kinesthetic:learn through moving, doing, and touching

11. Gardner’sMultipleIntelligence

12. Kolb’s Learning Styles (Diagram from Litzinger& Osif, 1992, p. 79)

13. What kind of a learner are you? • Auditory Learners: Hear • Visual Learners: See • Kinesthetic Learners: Touch

14. Helping Our TeachersLearn From Their Students (Brookfield, 1995)

16. What is a Learning Strategy?

17. What is a Learning Strategy? • SOURCE: http://psychologydictionary.org/learning-strategy/

18. Studies Showing Use of Concept Maps in Different Disciplines

19. Adult Education (Conceição, Baldor, & Desnoyers, 2009) Concept maps to synthesize knowledge from theory, research, and models

20. Adult Education(Conceição, Baldor, & Desnoyers, 2009) • Online course with 5 modules using individually constructed cmaps within a collaborative learning context: • Group discussions • Creation of cmaps • Team project • 30 students – 3 graduate courses • Students analyzed concepts, theories, and research in distance education

21. Adult Education (Cont.)Research Questions • What factors related to social presence affect student individual construction of knowledge in an asynchronous collaborative online learning environment? • What factors related to cognitive presence affect student individual construction of knowledge in an asynchronous collaborative online learning environment? • What factors related to instructor presence affect student individual construction of knowledge in an asynchronous collaborative online learning environment?

22. Adult Education (Cont.) Data Collection • Online discussion transcripts • Students self-reflections • Concept maps Data Analysis • Group discussion transcripts (only the first and the last course modules) • Concept map reflections were analyzed based on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward their individual construction of knowledge as a way to triangulate data

23. Adult Education (Cont.) Findings • Prioritizing Information • Students felt that creating concept maps assisted them in organizing their thoughts • “…it wasn’t until I created my concept map that the connections became clear to me.” • “The concept map gave me the ability to organize my thoughts.” • Integrating Concepts • Students were able to integrate information better once they created their individual concept map.

24. Adult Education (Cont.)Findings • Confirming Knowledge • Creating concept maps forced the students make their own connections and confirm what they had learned. • “…the process of creating a concept map refreshed my memory about the discussion and reconfirmed my understanding.”

25. Adult Education (Cont.)Findings • Constructing New Knowledge • Students discovered several relationships among concepts that they didn't see before. • “When you see everything you are thinking about put into a diagram, it becomes clear how everything inter-relates to one another.”

26. Adult Education (Cont.)Implications • Reflection • After completing the concept map, often students refined and expanded their knowledge by rethinking and recreating their original concept map. • Student Understanding • The process of creating the concept map made it clear to students the knowledge they had acquired through readings and the connections they made through interactions with others in the online discussion.

27. Adult Education (Cont.)Implications • Positive Attitudes • Students experience a sense of comfort and order when participating in collaborative learning activities. • Theory • The use of concept maps can be especially effective when students are learning new theories because students can critically analyze complex concepts and connect them with previous knowledge. • The skill of critical thinking gained through creating concept maps can help students make use of knowledge meaningfully in other situations.

28. Adult Education (Cont.)Conclusions • When students work in a community of learning and inquiry in an asynchronous online environment, individual learning occurs when cognitive strategies that involve individual construction of knowledge such as concept maps are present. • Community of learning and inquiry was a good base for the design of collaborative and interactive aspects of the course. • Collaborative and individual strategies proved to be effective to facilitate individual construction of knowledge in an online environment: • Collaborative community: explore different ideas and concepts • Concept maps: refined and expanded knowledge and construct personal meaning

29. Economics Education (Marangos & Alley, 2007) Concept maps used in lecture and tutorial

30. Economics Education(Marangos & Alley, 2007) • Purpose: evaluate use of cmaps as a teaching and learning tool in microeconomics courses in Australia and USA. • Lecture most common instructional strategy with support of blackboards/whiteboards and overheads, textbooks, and classroom discussion. • Two one-hour lecture • One-hour tutorial (mini-lecture session or lab) presented by a Graduate Assistant

31. Economics Education (Cont.)Procedure • Concept maps were incorporated into the teaching material in courses • Students introduced to cmaps in the first lecture: meaning, usefulness, and building • In the first tutorial, GA emphasized the usefulness and use in tutorial exercises • At the end of the semester, students completed a survey about the use, effectiveness, and accessibility of cmaps

32. Economics Education (Cont.)Procedure • Students constructed cmaps from concepts provided by the question before the class in a presentation • Fellow students would comment, agree or disagree with the linkages, or provide own alternative cmap • Same instructor for both classes

33. Economics Education (Cont.)Findings Australian Class (n=120) USA Class (n=101) Tutorial with 60 students Students were asked to voluntarily form groups due to the size of the class Students valued cmaps relatively less Link between collaborative student-study-groups and construction of cmaps was broken due to class size • Tutorial with 20 students • Students spent more time constructing the map individually and during tutorial sessions • Small number of students used cmaps for exam preparation or in other subjects • Students found cmaps as a tool for understanding concepts in economics

34. Economics Education (Cont.)Conclusions • Positive response by students in both groups to the introduction of cmaps in lectures and tutorials • Class size can be an issue when implementing cmaps with groups

35. Science Education (Hilbert & Renki, 2008) Concept maps used to learn from newspaper articles on stem cells

36. Science Education(Hilbert & Renki, 2008) • Purpose: examine interindividual differences between learners constructing concept maps as a strategy to learn from texts. • Sample: 38 German students average age 23.8 years old volunteered to participate in study • Six short newspaper articles on stem cells with a total of 2,116 words, from 80 to 1,029 words each article

37. Science Education (Cont.)Methodology • Cmapexperiences, questionnaire, and demographic data • Intelligence-Structure-Test 2000 for: • Verbal abilities: 20 tasks tested to be completed in 6 minutes • Spatial abilities: 20 problems to be completed in 9 minutes • Answer stem cell question to assess prior knowledge

38. Science Education (Cont.)Procedure • Students were given 6 newspaper articles to read in 15 minutes • After reading, they revised answers to stem cell question • Then, produced a concept map about stem cells – they received an introduction to cmapping and an example of a cmap – 30 min • Students used think-aloud during cmapping • Students used newspaper articles during cmapping and verbalized anything that came to mind during cmap construction • Once completing the cmap, students revised answers to stem cell question again

39. Science Education (Cont.)Findings and Implications • The more learners labeled the links in their cmaps, the better were they able to integrate knowledge about stem cells from different articles • The more unlabeled links learners included in cmap, the worse was their achievement in the integration test • Implication: important to recognize nodes are related and type of relationships between concepts

40. Science Education (Cont.)Findings and Implications • Students who reflected more often on relationships between concepts did not show a higher increase of knowledge, but performed better on integration test • Implication: the greater amount of correctly labeled links in cmaps is associated with better knowledge acquisition

41. Science Education (Cont.)Findings and Implications • Students who thought more frequently about the type of relationships between concepts labeled their links more often correctly • Students who expressed comprehension difficulties achieved poorer results in integration test • Implication: the comprehension problems hindered students from articulating the relationships between concepts and this impaired the integration of knowledge

42. Science Education (Cont.)Conclusions • Students often cannot integrate information from multiple texts. Cmapping can be a useful tool to foster learning that involves multiple sources • To be successful in cmapping, students need to plan the mapping process and during mapping they have to concentrate on the connections between the nodes and how to label them. They also need to monitor progress. More experienced learners achieve better results

43. Nursing Education (Adema-Hannes & Parzen, 2005) Concept maps used to promote meaningful learning in a clinical setting

44. Nursing Education (Adema-Hannes & Parzen, 2005) • Purpose: Facilitate student’s ability to think critically and link theory to practice • Help student focus on interrelationships of their client rather than being task focused • Visual learners benefit the most in terms of organization, processing, and prioritization of information in a creative fashion • Linear thinkers can be pushed to a higher level of thinking • Help students identify and clarify misunderstandings before new learning is built on incorrect assumptions

45. Nursing Education (Cont.)Procedure • Students spent approximately 2 hours the night before clinical preparing for the next morning • Students collected data from the unit before clinical based on template provided • A cmap was created using the data • During clinical, tutors discussed with students relationships in client data, use and response of medications, diagnostic test/results medical regimen, and client responses incorporated in the plan of care • Cmaps were updated and refined throughout the shift to reflect more knowledge and increased understanding

46. Nursing Education (Cont.)Findings • Students rated their ability to link lab values, medications, pathophysiology, and patient issues as improved • Students rated their clinical reasoning as improved

47. Nursing Education (Cont.)Implications • Cmap served as a visual tool to prepare and understand the complex interconnectedness of client data • Students were motivated to be self-directed on their learning • Cmap helped students organize thoughts, plan the care of their patient, prioritize, and critically think

48. Homework • Select one article from the list in “03 Teaching Strategies Using Concept Maps” folder. • Read article before class on Monday.

49. Debriefing

50. Debriefing and Q&A • What was the most important thing you learned today? • What will be your next steps? • Questions