Bringing Closure to Problems

Concept MappingHal White

Dept. of Chemistryand Biochemistry

Saturday 8 October 2005

about

by

from the

who uses

presented on

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What does it mean when a student says, I understand?....

Does understanding mean the same thing to that student that it does to

another student or to you, the professor?..…

How can students demonstrate their understanding to others?

Good Assignments Provide

Accountability

Students can demonstrate what they understand.

Instructors can assess how well students understand.

Considerations for PBL Assignments

• Individual or group response?

• Course/problem content objectives?

• General education and PBL goals?

• Graded or not?

• Difficulty? (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

• Interest level for students?

• Form of the response?

PBL Problem Assignments

Visual Assignment

Prepare a concept map incorporating the major issues related to this problem.

What is a Concept Map

“a general method with which one can clarify and describe people’s ideas about some topic in a graphical form”

Katsumoto 1997

a pictorial representation that shows the relationships between and among a connected set of concepts and ideas

Purposes for Concept Mapping

• Generate ideas (brainstorming)• Design complex structures (long texts, web-sites)• Communicate complex ideas• Aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old

knowledge• Assess understanding or diagnose

misunderstanding

Short Assignment

Arrange the following three terms and connect them with arrows and

linking phrases

Bacteria Pneumonia Antibiotics

BacteriaPneumonia

Antibiotics

Caused by

Treated with

Kill

Variations on a Theme

Bacteria Pneumonia

Can cause

Trea

tmen

t forKilled by

By reversing the arrows, changing the linking words, and adding color, the focus and emphasis changes.

Antibiotics

Bacteria Pneumonia

Antibiotics

Can cause

Treatment for

Kill

History of Concept Mapping

• Developed by Joseph D. Novak at Cornell University in the 1960’s

• Based on the ideas of David Ausubel who stressed the importance of prior knowledge for constructing new understanding

WORDS

SYMBOLS

CONCEPT LABELS

CONCEPTS

PERCEIVEDREGULARITIES

EVENTS OBJECTS

CONCEPT MAPS

LINKING WORDS

PROPOSITIONS

COGNITIVESTRUCTURE

RELATIONSHIPS

HIERARCHYCONTEXT

DEPENDENT

MOST GENERAL

MOST IMPORTANT

MOST SPECIFIC

LEAST IMPORTANT

ROTE

KNOWLEDGECLAIMS

LEARNING

MEANFUL

RAININGEXPLOSIONPHOTOSYNTHESIS

DOGLEAFWOMAN

Can be

have

have have

are

To form

To form

is

are

areare

Related to

Can beM

emorized by

Achieved by

of

from

to

Perception is

are

in in

e.g. e.g.

are repr

esen

ts

Are stored inform

As stored in are

for

Concept Map Showing Key Concepts in Concept Mapping

Adapted from: Joseph Novak (1991) Clarify with Concept Maps, The Science Teacher 58(7), 45-49.

Concept Maps

IdeasPropositions

Concepts

Research & Assessment Tool

Misconceptions

Feelings &Values

Affective Objectives

Learning

Interest

Enjoyment

Motivation

Learning Effectiveness

LearningProcesses

Metacognition

Study & Revision AidLinear Text

ClassroomTeachers

Adapted from K. S. Taber (1994) Physics Education 29(5) 276-281

ofincreasing

mayincrease

awarenessof

maydevelop

used

as

alte

rnat

ive

torelate

related by

consists of

suitable for

reveals

may

ad

dres

s

used as

to assess

to do with such as increasing

improving

CONCEPT MAP OF CONCEPT MAPPING

A Concept Map Based on the Proposition:Without the industrial chemical reduction of

atmospheric nitrogen, starvation would be rampant in third world countries.

FOOD

Human Healthand Survival

Contains

Required for

Leading to

Requiring more

Essential Amino Acids

Animals

Made from

Such as

Madeby

Plants

Grains Legumes

Required forgrowth of

Symbiotic Bacteria

“Fixed” Nitrogen

Possess

That produce

Agricultural Practices

Population Growth

Politics

Economics

Distribution

Climate

Starvation and Famine

Malthus 1819

Eastern Europe

India

Africa

Deprivation leads to

Can be limited by

and

Such as in

Pesticides HerbicidesGenetics & Breeding

Irrigation

Fertilizer Which significantly supplements naturally

Such as

Predicted by

Can be increased by

NH3 By

reducing Atmospheric N2

Protein

Includes

Eatenby

Use

d by

hum

ans

as

Haber-Bosch ProcessIn theJ. Chem. Educ. 82:1570 (2005)

Academic Metabolismin the Sciences

H.S. Graduate

M.S.

Ph.D.

Asst. Prof.

Assoc. Prof.

Full Prof.Chairperson

B.S.

Postdoc

IndustryCareer ChangeLaw, Medicine,Computer Science,Organic Farming

$

$

Poverty

No TenureDuPont Hercules Shunt

Publications

Publications

Thesis

Disillusionment

Frustration

Govt Lab Director

Golden Handshake

Higher Administration

Walk-on-H2OLetters

FriendsEnemies

Publications

Publications, Awards

‡

‡ Unstable intermediate often with sequential states

*

Job Offers

Grad. Students

DegradedGrad. Students

Grants

* Nonobligatory Intermediate

# Microscopic Reversibility Questioned

#

Stages in the Construction

of a Concept Map

Brainstorming Stage

Organizing Stage

Layout Stage

Linking Stage

Revising Stage

Finalizing Stage

Brainstorming Stage

• List any and all terms and concepts associated with the topic of interest.

• Write them on Post It Notes, one word or phrase per note.

• Don't worry about redundancy, relative importance, or relationships at this point.

• The objective is to generate the largest possible list.

Organizing Stage

• Spread concepts on a table or blackboard so that all can be read easily.

• Create groups and sub-groups of related items. Try to group items to emphasize hierarchies.

• Identify terms that represent higher categories and add them.

• Feel free to rearrange items and introduce new items omitted initially.

• Some concepts will fall into multiple groupings. This will become important in the linking stage.

Layout Stage

• Arrange terms so that they represent your collective understanding of the interrelationships and connections among groupings.

• 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.

• Feel free to rearrange things at any time during this phase.

• Do not expect your layout to be like that of other groups.

Linking Stage

• Use 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.

Revising Stage

• Carefully examine the draft concept map.

• Rearrange sections to emphasize organization and appearance.

• Remove or combine items to simplify.

• Consider adding color or different fonts.

• Discuss any aspects where opinions differ

Finalizing the Concept Map

• After your group has agreed on an arrangement of items that coveys your understanding, 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.

Peer Evaluation of Concept Maps

Compare the concept maps and rank order them with respect to the following criteria:

Accuracy and Thoroughness. Are the concepts and relationships correct? Are important concepts missing? Are misconceptions apparent?

Organization. Is the concept map laid out in a way that higher order relationships are apparent and easy to follow? Does it have a title?

Appearance. Is 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?

Problem-Based Learning

Cooperative Learning Groups

Concept Mapping

ProcessSkills

ContentObjectives

Learning Goals

Library & Internet Resources

Real WorldOpen-endedComplex

Individual Learning

LeadershipCommunicationConflict ManagementSharing InformationAccepting InformationPeer Evaluation

Writing Assignments Divide and Conquer

Strategies

Scholarly SynthesisOrganizationDisciplinary RhetoricStudent Voice

Term PapersPBL ProblemsCase Studies

IndividualAccountability

Grades Problems

Revision

FacultyStudentsSociety

Academic Dishonesty

Examinations

uses

working on

that are

to promote

depends on

reflected in

tied toexpected by has

Group Accountability

including

Peer Evaluation

based on

GroupAssignments

need

achieved with

should limitseen in

such as

including

such as

that displaythat access

that addressand minimize

that

inco

rpor

ate

Peer Feedbackinformed by

reflected in

Where does Concept Mapping Fit Into PBL?