Why Concept Maps Are Better Than Answering Questions
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses Marcie's explanation of why having students create concept maps is more effective for learning than simply answering comprehension questions.
Key Takeaways
- Concept maps reveal understanding - Creating connections between ideas shows deeper comprehension than answering isolated questions
- Active processing beats passive recall - Building a map requires students to organize and relate information, which strengthens learning
- A practical classroom strategy - Concept maps are easy to implement and provide rich data about student thinking
Transcript
But when it comes to concept maps, they're forced to think about the relationships between the different words.
And so there's not really a way to just copy it verbatim.
They really need to think about the relationships when constructing a concept map.
And in addition, because no two concept maps are the same, what can happen is that you give students time to independently create their concept maps and then have them share afterwards.
They have to do it on their own first though that's the key thing here, and then you have them share after.
And what ends up happening is that their discussions are rich because they're explaining why they connected one word in one way, whereas a student connected it in another way, even though they're both correct.
So it really encourages a rich discussion between the students.