The use of a concept mapping tool to develop students’ critical thinking ability

1. The Use of a concept
mapping tool to develop
students’ critical thinking
ability
Sheng-Shiang Tseng (Patrick)
Learning, Design, & Technology
University of Georgia

2. Purpose of this study
 This study intends to propose the use of a
concept mapping tool as a visual
representation tool to develop students’
critical thinking.
 A concept mapping tool – Popplet will be
introduced.

3. Critical Thinking (CT)
 Skills: conceptualizing, analyzing,
synthesizing, and evaluating
information
 Affective domain:Motivations to
achieve logical understanding and
judgment.

4. Problems
 Most students do not have critical thinking
◦ Cannot evaluate the quality and reliability of
information in the Internet
◦ Cannot synthesize, integrate, and evaluate the
information they found from the Internet
◦ Threatens their learning in classes
 Passive knowledge receivers

5. How to promote
Critical thinking?

6. Answers
Concept Mapping

7. Why Concept Mapping (CM)?
 CM can
◦ Organize information into a “big picture” of the
information “on one page
◦ Identify the relationships between information
◦ The graphic natures of concept mapping tools
facilitate the process of collecting and connecting
information to be analyzed, synthesized, and
evaluated

8. Concept mapping tool
Popplet

9. Adding videos

10. Sharing

11.  Prons
 Require little installation
 Clean interface
 Easy to create concept maps
 Customized concept maps using videos, images, texts, and
drawing.
 Easily to add videos from youtube website
 Allow users to share concept map through Facebook/Twitter
or make it public
 Allow users to create/edit concept map together
 Cons
 Only allow five Popplets to create for free version
 No tutoring videos. Only examples provided
 No discussion platforms for users to discuss their concept
maps

12. Another Concept Mapping
tools?
 Mindomo (https://www.mindomo.com/)
 Unique features of Mindomo
◦ Search videos and images from Google
and Youtube
◦ Allows users to give comments on
concept maps

13. Conclusion
 This paper advocates using concept
mapping tools to facilitate students’
critical thinking. It is hoped that this
paper can provide K-12 teachers or
college teachers with an alternative -
using concept mapping tools, to teach
critical thinking.

14. Thanks for your coming
pattseng@uga.edu