Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities

1. Concept mapping could have great influences on student learning within a classroom. Difficult concepts to understand such as complex math topics, plate tectonics, or the formation of the United States can be displayed with this technology. By setting up the map with arrows, colors and descriptions, the student may gain an understanding of the main points of the topic and not feel overwhelmed as if I explained it verbally. Students often feel overwhelmed when they are given a lot of information at once. Concept maps allow a great summary tool to display the information in the simplest way possible to eliminate this frustration. These maps also help to ensure that all learning styles are being taught to. The visual learners will benefit from the pictures and visual cues connecting the ideas, the auditory learners may benefit from the addition of sounds and explaining of the map, and the kinesthetic learners may learn best by the sorting of items in an interactive concept map. The maps may also benefit the student learning by displaying visual examples of the concept. If learning about bears, the map would include pictures of different types. The students could learn what different types look like and internalize that image for future recognition.

2. I do not think it would take much time to feel comfortable with concept mapping. I tend to get frustrated with the smallest tasks so I would be a struggle for me at first. The amount of effort it takes for the smallest task, say including a picture from the internet, seems to be way higher than it should be. That is my own personal problem though. As compared to other technologies, this program is very user-friendly and I'm sure I would have minor problems with it. It would definitely be worth the effort to learn how to use this technology. It is always important to use variety in one's teaching, so testing this out in a classroom would be beneficial.


Here is an example.