Participants in the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Program ranked concept maps of the meaning of the program's new vision and mapped their own perceptions. Differing perspectives were refined into a shared vision and highlighted the need for understanding client characteristics and the social climate of the program. (SK)

Examines and defines concept maps, describes how concept maps are constructed, and explains why concept mapping is a workable tool for meaningful learning and understanding. Compares concept maps with objective and essay exams and offers evaluation/scoring suggestions. (RS)

Investigates classroom environments and sense making within classrooms, using causal mapping techniques. Develops concept structures for classrooms, based on unbiased interviews. A homogeneous conception of classrooms is flawed, because participating fifth graders used highly individualistic concepts or labels to describe classroom environments.…

Describes two studies of college students that examined the effects of navigational aids on navigation and learning in hypertext. The first examined the effects of spatial maps and textual contents lists on students' ability to locate information; the second experiment compared a spatial map, a conceptual map and no aid on both navigation and…

The construction of concept maps and the writing of interpretive essays in mathematics courses for preservice and continuing teachers provide students with rich learning experiences. Provides examples of the use of concepts maps and interpretive essays in teacher education. Mentions their benefits to teachers and students and their uses in the…

The role common region (CR) plays in acquiring scientific information from node-link displays was studied by testing 88 subjects under conditions of knowledge maps demonstrating or not demonstrating CR. Field-dependent subjects scored better than the field-independent subjects for maps demonstrating CR, whereas the opposite was true for maps not…

Studied the influence of task characteristics on the characteristics of elaboration of conceptual knowledge in social interaction using 40 secondary school students working in dyads on a collaborative task in 1 of 4 conditions. A phase of individual preparation created better learning results. In the concept mapping condition, elaboration was…

Explores the effectiveness of concept mapping, the learning cycle, expository instruction, and a combination of concept mapping/learning cycle in promoting conceptual understanding of diffusion and osmosis. Concludes that the concept mapping/learning cycle and concept mapping treatment groups significantly outperformed the expository treatment…

Assesses the effectiveness of two generative learning strategies, concept mapping and laboratory experiments, to determine if one is more effective with individual learners or learning groups in science classrooms. Indicates that students starting with concept maps showed higher achievement than students beginning with laboratory experiments, and…

Discussion of multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders involved in the production of electronic learning materials focuses on a constructivist methodology for course design. Explains concept mapping that provided the basis for an electronic learning development project at the University of Surrey (United Kingdom) and includes examples of concept…

Developed a framework for examining cognitive validity claims and used it to evaluate the validity of a "connected understanding" interpretation of three concept mapping techniques used by two teachers and six high school students. Results show that the three mapping techniques provide different pictures of student knowledge and suggest that…

This case study examines the validity of 1 measure of representation and employs multiple measures to examine whether they provide mutually informative or independent pieces of information. These measures include (a) concept maps, which measure how individuals represent their content knowledge of a domain as a whole; (b) problem sorts, which…

Numerous scholars have applied conceptual graphs for explanatory purposes. This study devised the Remedial-Instruction Decisive path (RID path) algorithm for diagnosing individual student learning situation. This study focuses on conceptual graphs. According to the concepts learned by students and the weight values of relations among these…

Concept maps are graphical ways of working with ideas and presenting information. They reveal patterns and relationships and help students to clarify their thinking, and to process, organize and prioritize. Displaying information visually--in concept maps, word webs, or diagrams--stimulates creativity. Being able to think logically teaches…

Instructional design is an integral part of a balanced approach to teaching vocabulary instruction. The goal of this paper is to reflect on several lessons using research-based vocabulary strategies, and to present think-alouds that detail the steps in matching instructional design with those strategies in order to reach the learning outcome.…