Examines the effect of key concept mapping strategies on reading comprehension and writing performance of fifth grade students using basal reading materials. Concludes that key concept mapping enhances comprehension of factual/informative text, but has no effect on written composition. Finds that literary mapping strategies enhanced neither…

Students are most intellectually engaged when they help define lesson content, have time to pursue an interesting direction, are allowed different forms of expression, create original and public products, and accomplish a socially relevant task. Teachers can help engage and empower students by developing overarching goals, gaining insights through…

Describes how to teach students to plan and write reports using software designed to facilitate information organization. Creating outlines and concept maps is discussed, examples are provided that use "Inspiration" software, and a list of software titles for outliners and concept mappers is provided. (Contains two references.) (LRW)

Describes a study of U.S. Air Force design professionals that examined aspects of collaboration in multidisciplinary design teams and identified design experts' information needs that could be supported by information technology. Highlights include concurrent engineering, electronically networked communication, internal process in information…

Discusses telecommunications-supported cooperative learning environments for distance education. Topics addressed include computer-mediated communication; computer-supported cooperative work; distributed learning environments; frameworks for supporting telecooperation, including cognitive processes, social processes, and managerial processes; and…

Considers the ways that conceptual mapping as a classroom technique can help students reflect critically on complex conceptual relationships. Shows how teachers can use conceptual mapping in the classroom. (HB)

Asks whether theories of knowledge representation provide a basis for the development of theories of knowledge structuring in instruction. Discusses codes of knowledge, surface versus deep structures, semantic networks, and multiple memory systems. Reviews research on teaching, external representation of cognitive structures, hierarchical…

Discussion of structural knowledge assessment for large groups focuses on the features of a "KNOT" computer program which uses a network similarity index (NETSIM) to compare novice and expert concept maps. Treatment in three high school physics classes investigated reliability as well as content, construct, concurrent, and predictive…

One requirement of reflective conceptual change by teachers is the need to map classroom situations onto situations that are subjected to educational research. A classification of instructional-learning episodes is presented as an instrument to facilitate this mapping. Using the instrument in teacher training and educational research is discussed.…

Concept-map construction was tested as a means of increasing the conceptual learning of first-year, non-major college chemistry students (n=32). No significant differences between the control (essay-writing) and treatment (concept-map-constructing) groups were found on post-lab multiple-choice achievement tests. Interviews with students indicated…

Evaluates concept maps (n=36) spontaneously constructed by applicants in a medical school entrance examination for content of relevant terms and the number of interrelationships indicated. Finds that merely including the relevant concepts in a map has little effect on the comprehension of those concepts, but map complexity is strongly related to…

Reviews a special issue of The Journal of Research in Science Teaching dedicated to concept mapping. Describes four ways in which concept mapping can be of value in science education: (1) as a learning strategy, (2) as an instructional strategy, (3) as a tool in the instructional design process, and (4) as a means of assessing a student's…

Describes a study that used the ordered-tree technique to investigate knowledge change across the first semester of a college course in organic chemistry. Finds that over the course of the semester, students' knowledge trees became more similar to those of their professors. Discusses possible assessment uses for the ordered-tree technique.…

Indicates the reasons for the lack of success of lecture method among high school students. Compares the constructivist approach to the objectivist approach and discusses student learning differences. Makes recommendations for student learning needs. (Contains 37 references.) (YDS)

Describes a collaborative software system that allows students from distant schools to share claims derived from their concept maps. Sharing takes place by accessing The Knowledge Soup, a repository of propositions submitted by students and stored on a computer server. Students can use propositions from other students to enhance their concept…