Through my work with concept mapping, I have learned that it is a great way to outline a lot of information in an organized and strategic way. Instead of learning via a lecture or PowerPoint style, concept maps are a great way to present all of the information in a “building up” sort of way. Another take away from my work with concept mapping is that you don’t have to necessarily be teaching content with a concept map, but they are a great way to help brainstorm or organize initial ideas (U of G Library 2017). Lastly, one more new insight I have from working with concept maps is there are a lot of steps to constructing a concept map, from determining the topic, to brainstorming concepts related to the topic, labeling key relationships between concepts, and then creating the final layout (Tomaswick and Marcinkeiwicz 2018). Concept maps can be utilized for a number of reasons, but they will only be useful if the proper thought and planning goes into their creation. One way I could integrate concept maps into my future classroom would be to compare and contrast two or more characters from a story we are reading. This way, students will be able to understand the true characteristics of these different characters, and how they relate and differentiate from each other within the story. Another way I could integrate concept maps into my future classroom would be to show the growth or evolution of a process, say the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Students will be able to visualize and understand the step by step process, and see how each step builds off of the other. One remaining question I have about concept mapping is, is it more effective for a student to create their own concept map after learning about a topic, or for the teacher to create their own concept map to teach information to their students, or does it depend on the situation?
References:
Tomaswick, L., & Marcinkiewicz, J. (2018, March 30). Active Learning - Concept Maps. Retrieved October 06, 2020, from https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/file/Teaching%20Tools%20In%20a%20Flash%20-%20Concept%20Maps.pdf
U. (Director). (2017, April 27). How to Create a Concept Map [Video file]. Retrieved October 6, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZJj6DwCqSU