A concept map is a visual way to organise thoughts and make a connection between those ideas. The concept maps can improve our ability to understand and remember the concept better because our brain processes visual faster and efficient than texts (1).

Concept maps were developed in the 1970s by Joe Novak (Novak & Gowin, 1984) and his research team at Cornell University to help determine how students advanced in their understanding of Science. later Novak concluded that “Meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures”(1)

Purpose of Concept Map –

There are various purposes and benefits of using concept map in visualising and understanding the ideas, we can divide all the purposes and ideas into 5 different categories (1) -

To generate ideas - brainstorming,

To design a complex structure in a simplified way

To communicate a complex idea

To aid learning by explicitly integrating the knowledge

To assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding

Concept mapping in education –

A concept map is a visual organizer and can be used to explain knowledge and the relationships between the different ideas and knowledge. This visual representation can enrich students’ understanding of a new concept. Using a graphic organizer, students think about the concept in several ways(1).

The concept map can be drawn from various sources ranging from pen and paper to computerized programs and the various software to draw complex concept maps Following is the YouTube video explaining how to make a process map, different components using a computerized software(2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XGQGhli0I0 

Concept of concept mapping

The above figures highlight the concept of a concept map, the arrows show the relationships and the direction of the various components of the concept mapping(3).

In simplified ways, the concept map can be prepared by following the steps below(1):

Step 1: Develop a Basic Skeleton Diagram

Step 2: Analyze and Categorize Data

Step 3: Analyze Nursing Diagnoses Relationships

Step4: Identifying Goals, Outcomes, and Interventions

Step 5: Evaluate

Concept map and the future –

Concept mapping is a tool used in academics because of the various purposes in the classrooms teaching. It is one of the most researched topics in artificial intelligence (AI) and education, however, there is still a lot of research are in pipeline regarding the using concept map in artificial intelligence. One of the most important ones is the use of concept map developing intelligent tutoring systems (ITS)(4)

Concept maps provide students with visualisation of the information and allow students to see relationships between concepts. In response to implementing this idea, the outcome of the concept map has shown high learning gains. However, it is also found that students creating maps from scratch every time is not the most efficient for the learning gains and has not seen such positive effects(5).

If we provide students with partially (Basic) filled in concept maps and students learn by building upon the basic map, which was provided by ITS. in this way concept mapping from the existing knowledge (or developed by the algorithm feed from the data collected by the other students) benefits students learning efficiency(5).

Additionally, the data collected from the students’ concept map preparation helps ITS to become stronger with logic and provide a basic framework to the students when they start the work. Another benefit of using concept maps for AI is, when students prompted questions, the ITC responds by highlighting the logical path through the student-created concept map(5).

Concept mapping is a very simple tool to visualize the information and find out the relationship between them but it provides the sound foundation of the concept knowledge and enhances the ability to think, act, reflect, evaluate, and synthesize thoughts at the metacognitive level.

Reference:

1. Kane, M. and Trochim, W.M., 2007. Concept mapping for planning and evaluation (Vol. 50, pp. 10-4135). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XGQGhli0I0
3. Basque, J. and Lavoie, M.C., 2006. Collaborative concept mapping in education: Major research trends.
4. Cañas, A.J. and Novak, J.D., 2014. Concept mapping using CmapTools to enhance meaningful learning. In Knowledge cartography (pp. 23-45). Springer, London.
5. Maass, Jaclyn & Pavlik Jr, Phil. (2013). Utilizing Concept Mapping in Intelligent Tutoring Systems. 7926. 880-883. 10.1007/978-3-642-39112-5_136.