© 2015 Assessment Technologies Institute, LLC Page 1

Concept Mapping

What is Concept Mapping: It is a method used to organize a set of concepts and how they relate to each other.

Purpose: To provide an interactive method for students to master content by using higher level thinking skills. Benefits/Advantages: Students discover how a set of concepts inter-relate to one another giving them an opportunity to improve their critical thinking/clinical reasoning/clinical judgment skills. Students apply this knowledge that is gained in the classroom and connect it to clinical and practice.

Requires students to be actively involved. Assists in transferring information into long term memory. Provides a framework to organize details and knowledge. Helps students to gain an understanding of how concepts are related. Helps students to understand the priority of concepts. Links new concepts to old ones. Eliminates students copying and pasting from textbooks. Appeals to visual learners. Can facilitate large or small group discussion. Can facilitate the ability to use Socratic questioning. Helps faculty evaluate the student’s knowledge level and thought process. Improves students’ critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment. Concept maps in clinical can replace traditional care plans and decrease time spent in

developing care plans, prioritizing and connecting concepts. Required/Suggested Materials:

Textbooks (course, diagnostic procedures, pharmacology resources) Case study to develop concept map from Identified health alteration

Instructions for Implementation:

Pre-Class assignment/activity: o Assign the template to be completed prior to class.

Example: Pharmacology Course: Assign the medication template Provide directions regarding the category of medication to be used to

complete the template (i.e. calcium channel blocker, ACE inhibitor, beta blocker).

o Use completed template as a ticket into the classroom.

In-class activity/exercise: o Identify template that best matches exemplar or health alteration content to be

reviewed. o Complete template during class. o Promote student participation and group discussion to complete template.

© 2015 Assessment Technologies Institute, LLC Page 2

Additional Activity (may use as a pre-class or in-class activity): o Students may complete independently or in small groups. o Reverse Concept Map:

Provide a short 2 – 3 sentence scenario. Include the medications in the system disorder template.

For beginning students, include no more than 1 - 2 medications. Keep in mind that beginning students do not typically have strong

clinical reasoning skills and may struggle. Be prepared to demonstrate and guide them through the process the first time.

For advanced students, increase the number of medications in the template to increase the level of difficulty.

Increasing the number of medications allows students to demonstrate their ability to move from simple to complex concepts.

Active Instructional Strategies for the clinical setting:

Assign completion of a template in conjunction with plan of care. o Each student may be assigned a different template based upon their personal

strengths and weaknesses.

Complete Systems Disorder Template during post clinical conference to promote clinical reasoning

o Ask a student to provide a full report on their assigned client to their clinical group. o Have each student participate in identifying appropriate information to be included

in the template. o Be sure to facilitate group discussion as the template is being completed by the

group. Active Instructional Strategy for remediation of content by the student:

Remediation assignment o Assign completion of proctored or practice assessments; assign student desired

number of template(s) for remediation purposes. o Have students choose the appropriate templates(s) based upon areas identified for

topic review. Challenges to Consider:

Requires additional time in the beginning. o Faculty & students must learn to organize concepts

Auditory learners may have difficulty with concept mapping o Use in the classroom can facilitate large or small group discussions to accommodate

auditory learners

© 2015 Assessment Technologies Institute, LLC Page 3

References

Atay, S. & Karabacak, U. (2012). Care plans using concept maps and their effects on the critical

thinking dispositions of nursing students. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 18, 233-

239.

Billings, D. M. & Halstead, J. A. (2012). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty. St. Louis, MO:

Elsevier.

Harrison, S., & Gibbons, C. (2013). Nursing student perceptions of concept maps: From theory to

practice. Nursing Education Perspectives. 34(6), 395-399.

Pottier, P., Hardouin, J., Hodges, B., Pistorius, M., Connault, J., Durant, C.,… Planchon, B. (2012).

Exploring how students think: A new method combining think-aloud and concept mapping

protocols. Medical Education, 44, 926-935.