P, esearch in Science Education, 1983, 13, 9-17

CONCEPT MAPPING: STRUCTURE OR PP-,OCESS?

Margaret Brumby

!NTRODUC-[ 10 N

Over the last few years concept mapping has emerged internat ional ly as a

method for studying students' knowleOge and understanding of science. Much of this

development has been reported at ASERA conferences.

One of the earliest studies of the way students relatecl concepts was by word

association lists, such as Schaefer's (1979) studies on the concept of growth. Novak

(1976) was one of the f i rs t to cal l his schematic representations a concept map.

In i t ia l ly the focus was on the concepts used, and l i t t l e at tent ion was given to

describing the links. -[he importance of these links was appreciated by Novak (1980)

in his concept map of the ear. Fensham, Garrard and West (1981, 1982) also focussed

on the relationships between concepts, even providing part ic ipat ing students wi th a

l ist of possible l inking relationships to be used in developing their own maps about the

structure of matter. Several of these (e.g., 'is a member of') strongly suggested a

hierarchical classif ication instead of a broader concept map. Champagne et al.'s

(1981) descriptions of basic geological concept maps also had a strong hierarchical

ft avo ur.

At tempts have been made to quanti fy the size of the links. Gunstone (1980) used

path analysis methods in studying the relationships between force and mass. Schaefer

(1980) developed arbitrary axes for his categories of word associations and definit ions

of two concepts, health and environment. "[his la t ter method resulted in spatially

defined map areas. However the actual value of the units of measurements was not

clear. The importance of the nature of the l inks was clearly drawn out in recent

reviews of techniques used for concept mapping as a tool in research (Sutton 1980;

Posner and Gertzog 1982; White 1983).

Recent work, taking much broader areas of knowledge (e.g., genetics) has

resulted in enormous, idiosyncratic maps (Baird and White 1981), which are d i f f i cu l t

to interpret and impossible to compare. I t is therefore t imely to stop and consider

whether concept mapping is taking us anywhere, or whether i t is an interesting, but

l0

l imi ted, tool in research. What are our aims in using concept maps? Their

l imitat ions are obvious - they do not capture the students' thoughts as they develop

their own maps, they do not show the order in which the students workeO up their

maps, and at the end there is a static, f ixed structural representation of the

part icular area under study. Most researchers agree however, that human knowledge

is dynamic, and relationships between concepts are not fixeO in space or t ime but are

continually redefineO relat ive to a given topic. Can concept mapping be considered,

not as a structural representation, but asa processing of knowledge? If the latter is

possible, then can methods be developed to observe such processing more accurately?

A recent study, which involved a given biological concept map, provided

considerable information about qual i tat ive differences in the way students integrated

unfamil iar knowledge with their own existing knowledge. In this method, students

were required to describe a concept map of Immunity in their own (written) words

(Brumby 1982). An extension ot this method, using a careful ly prepared concept map

which was then described by a group of 32 f irst-year ter t iary medical students, forms

the basis of this paper.

METHODS

I. The task

A concept map based on 'in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer was prepared

for overhead projection (Figure I). Linking lines were urawn between the concepts,

which were problems associated with this new technique. The only links which were

labelled in any way were those where timing was crucial. A circle (unlabelled)

enclosed that part of the map representing the actual laboratory fertilization process.

This overhead (Figure l) was shown to a group of f i rst-year medical students

(n=32) during a regular class. At the time, the topic was receiving considerable

media publicity. The topic was br ief ly introduced as 'test-tube babies', then with a

definit ion ol ]VF and ET. The fol lowing instructions were given just before the

overhead was shown:

'I'm going to show you a diagram summarizing the key steps and

problems associated with In Vitro FertUization and Embryo Transfer

(IVF and El ) . [ want you to study the diagram for a couple of

minutes, in order to sort i t out in your own minds, and then, when I

say, I'd like you to explain IVF and ET, as clearly as you can, in your

own words.

The diagram wi l l remain on view al l the time, this is NOT a

memory test. I wil l not answer any questions after i t is on, because !

don't want to focus your thoughts in any way'.

Students were allowed up to 30 minutes to wri te out their description.

t [

13

NATURAL MOTHER

14

SURROGATE MOTHER

2

EGG

3 /

COLLECTION BY

LAPAROSCOPY

MATURITY

ULTRASOUND

,2ET

(- 48hr)

(-12h0 SPERM (i•

8

DETECT MOTILITY

6 URINARY LH

% 9

COLLECTION

, o / X HUSBAND

11

DONOR

FIGURE 1

IN VITRO FERTILIZATION and EMBRYO TRANSFER

12

2. Analysis of descript ions

Each point on the concept map was given a number. Fur ther symbols usecJ in

analysis of student descript ions were:

comparat ive s ta tement between two points not l inked on the map

+ addi t ional in fo rmat ion not on map

t re ference to t ime as shown at several points on the map

x er ror - a b io log ica l ly inaccurate s ta tement

Using these coded symbols students' descript ions were anal)sod

phrase-by-phrase. "[his resulted in a symbol ic and numer ica l t ranslat ion of the

students' descript ions. The numer ica l sequence revealed the d i rec t ion in which a

student worked through the map, and further~ showed any gaps where a student

omi t ted any port ion of the map.

F~ESUL1 S

1 Order ot processing. Dis t inc t ive pat terns of processing the concept map were

found, l h e fo l lowing two examples i l lus t ra te the var ia t ion. Analysis is shown below

each e x a m p l e .

(a) Approx imate ly ha l l the students broke the map into three spokes of a wheel,

then fur ther subdivided these spokes step-by-step, preserving the in terna l order of

the concepts, l hesedesc r i p t i ons resen lb teda l l o w s h e e t of t he lVF technique.

E.g., (a) 'I Using various methods such as ultrasound the matu r i t y of eggs in the

natura l mother's ovary is detected. A f t e r a mature egg is detected i t is

removed from the ovary 28 hours la ter by the m e t h o d o f laparoscopy.

2 Simultaneously mobi le sperm (1 x 106 ) are co l lected f rom the test ic le

e i ther of the woman's husband or donor.

3 Both sperm and egg are then contained separately for approx imate ly ]2

hours.

A f te r this 12 hours have elapsed the sperm and egg are introduced into a

single glass conta iner where fe r t i l i za t i on takes place and thus a zygote

forms.

48 hours a f te r the combining of the sperm and egg the embryo is then

transplanted into the uterus of e i ther the natura l or surrogate mother .

From then on development of the embryo continues as any other ' .

13

Analysis gave the fo l lowing code:

5 4 2 1 3 + 4 2 T 3 / 8 7 7 ' 9 + 10 i l / 7 2 1 / - I - 7 2 1 / ] 7 2 t2+ 1314+

(b) Several students disrupted the l inked order of the n,ap by orawing together

comparat ive concepts.

E.g., (b)

'in v i t ro te r t i l i za t ion ' occurs when the female zygote or egg is placeo into

contact wi th the male zygote or sperm cel l . Both must be co l lec ted a f ter

they have shown signs of matur i t y , in the case of the egg, and of m o t i l i t y in

the case of the sperm cel l . Depending on the circumstances behind the

natura l parents' inab i l i ty to produce normal gametes, a donor may be used to

compromise the lack of sperm or ovum. "this process of f e r t i l i za t i on takes

place in a v i t ro environment, s imi lar condit ions to that ol the uterus. A large

number of sperm are used in an a t tempt to fe r t i l i ze one ovum.

Once fe r t i l i za t i on of the two gametes has occurred, which must occur withiJ,

12 hours of the br inging together of the two gametes, the zygote ren~ains in

the given envi ronment for approx imate ly 48 hours. From here the embryo is

t ransported to the uterus of the surrogate mother, i f she is able to provide

sui table pregnancy condit ions otherwise the natural mother (who donated the

ovum?) is the provider of the si te of pregnancy, and here pregnancy gestat ion

period to l lows( 9 mon ths )

Analysis gave the fo l lowing code:

lx2~-~ 7,3 4-, 9,4 ~-~ 8, ++ 14~-*11(?)++2 '4 -~7 ' / I -I + ] 12 + 14~1-~13 + + +.

Near ly one third of t h e students' descript ions showed both step-by-step and

comparat ive statements.

2 Intes wi th exist ing knowledge. The instruct ions ' to describe [ the map~j as

c lear ly as you can, in your own words' do not exp l i c i t l y state that addi t ional

i n fo rmat ion should be used. One of the purposes of this task was to observe how

spontaneously Q.e. uncued) students did use thei r exist ing knowledge and re la te i t to

new concepts. Wherever addi t ional knowledge was used, a code symbol '+' was

recorded. The tota l number of +'s therefore indicated the degree of in tegra t ion wi th

exist ing knowledge.

For this task approx imate ly two- th i rds of students used no addi t iona l in format ion

at a l l , or only the two words 'pregnancy' and 'zygote'.

14

The remaining one-third used from ) - l l additional concepts, r ichly explaining

IVF as they understood i t . Example (a) above shows some integration~ example (b)

above shows considerable additional knowledge integrated into this description.

lhese two examples dellbollstrste that integration wi th exist ing knowledge appears

independent of the order of processing the concept map.

} ~.~__/~s. l h e parts of the map most frequently omit ted were ultrasound and urinary

LH. Other 'extremit ies' of the map, i.e. laparoscopy and mobi l i ty were omitted by

several students.

4 Errors. l w o main kinds of errors were found. 7he most common error involved

confusion about the ident i ty of the egg donor, whether i t was the natural mother or a

surrogate mother, l h i s problem seemed to occur because these students started at

the top of the map and worked hierarchical ly down.

l h i s order often led to the second main error, i.e. confusion about the details of

the egg, where i t matures~ when i t is coilect'ed~ and whether i t is an embryo before i t

becomes an egg['], lhese errors are i l lustrated in the fol lowing example (c).

E.g. (c)

'The formation of the test-tube baby involves several separate processes. At

least one million sperm from the husband (or a donor i f the husband can't

supply it) is collected, lhe unfertilized eggs from the mother (or a donor) are

transplanted by embryo transplantation into the test-tube. The embryo

transplant takes approximately 48 hours. The sperm is detected for motility

before being allowed to come into contact with the female cells. The sperm

are then brought into contact with the unfertilized cells for approximately 12

hours. The eggs are then collected by laparoscopy. Approximately 28 hours

later the eggs are detected for maturity by ultrasound or urinary LH.

Analysis gave the fol lowing code;

+ 7 ' 1 0 1 1 + 9 / 2 1 3 ? 1 4 x: 1 2 / T 8 7 2 T / 2 3 T 4 5 6 .

Other errors recorded were a mis-reading of inu t i l i t y for mot i l i t y (in which instance

the student added : 'presumably the irequency of mutations');, embryo 'transfer

became 'transport' or 'transplant'.

15

DISCUSSION

"[his task essentially required students to make sense of the links. The richness

of the descriptions and the industry with which they worked suggests that students

did not find the task obscure or tedious. "[hey also had to start at apo in t from which

a coherent description could be made. in this task this was not at the top, as is usual

in a hierarchy or in a flow chart.

Approximately half the students saw the map as three spokes radiating from a

central point. In their descriptions students proceeded along each spoke step-by step,

fa i thful ly preserving the order of the map and rarel~ omit t ing any points. These

descriptions often became flow-charts of the IVF process.

A small group of students disrupted this order by drawing out comparative ideas.

Several were possible: the gametes, their relat ive numbers, problems of collection,

detection of mot i l i ty and maturi ty, questions of surrogacy or donor sperm, and also

uncertainty in t iming at various stages. Many more omissions were found in these

'o isrupted' descriptions, which in general aid not resemble flow-charts.

"[he other large group of descriptions included both sequences along some spokes

and some comparative statements. ]hese findings on this IVF task are extremely

similar to an earl ier study using a concept map of Immunity (Brumby 1982), and which

suggests that concept mapping may eventually be included in the large body of

research into student learning known as cognit ive styles.

These patterns of processing were independent of whether the students used

addit ional knowledge in their descriptions. This point was easily detected because

the content concepts of the prepared map were clearly controlled. Such integration

of new with existing knowledge cannot be detected when completely free-style maps

are generated by students, and may be missed in card arrangement methods.

How useful then is concept-mapping in education and educational research? The

findings reported here cast doubt on attempts to quantify or measure the size of the

links between concepts. What could such quanti f icat ion, using arbitrary units, tel l

us? There is yet to be shown convincing evidence that the shorter the link, the closer

the relationship between the concepts. Furthermore, quant i f icat ion into actual

measured lengths may reinforce one of the major problems Jr, concept mapping - i.e.,

that the map is a fixed, static shape.

16

It should not be surprising that no one method can adequately reveal a student's

knowledge of and reasoning about a particular topic. Concept mapping alone may be

useful, but a series of additional techniques may provide greater insight. Describing

a prepared map may provide information on how a student processes a map. Al l

methods which have been reported have been shown to have the potential to reveal

misconceptions.

"[he greatest value of qual i tat ive concept mapping however may be in its use as a

teaching tool, for i t expl ic i t ly shows students the importance of making links between

new and existing knowledge. ]h is may require students to act ively re-sort iOeas, and

act ively relate new ideas, in preparing a concept map of a part icular topic being

learnt. Both these active processes are significant steps towards overcoming the

passive rote-learning of isolated 'bits' of knowledge, which seems such a feature of

many students' school learning.

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17

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