Concept Mapping

Concept mapping is a type of knowledge representation in which the learner makes a graphical representation of the concept and the links, which represents a relationship between concepts, that connect the concepts to one another. The concept mapping technique came around the 1960s, when Joseph D. Novak studied the technique based on the theories of David Ausubel. Asubel stressed the importance of prior knowledge in being able to learn about new concepts. From studying Asubel’s theories, Novak concluded that meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures. So concept maps, simply put, are a way for us to visually represent our new learning and how it connects to our prior knowledge.

There are a lot of ways to incorporate the use concept maps in the classroom. You can have your students use them to brainstorm ideas, design complex structures, communicate complex ideas, aid learning, and assess understanding. There are many advantages to using concept mapping in your classroom. Concept mapping provides a visual representation of learning using minimal text, which makes it great for any grade level.

Check out this concept map maker!

Happy mapping!