This document discusses concept mapping. It defines a concept map as a representation of spatial relationships between concepts, rather than physical space. Concept maps show an individual's psychological structure of knowledge through nodes representing concepts, lines representing relationships between concepts with arrows indicating direction, and labels describing the nature of the relationship. Concept maps can differ for individuals based on their conceptual understanding of a topic and can be structured hierarchically or as a non-hierarchical network.

1. E- LEARNING
GOKUL K S
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF TAMILNADU

2. CONCEPT MAPPING
What is a concept map?
Like all maps, concept maps are representations of spatial relationships.
Rather than portraying the physical structure of space, concept maps reflect the
psychological structure of an individual’s knowledge.

3. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
The structure of knowledge
Theoretically, knowledge is structured as a semantic network (Collins & Quillian,
1969). Thus, learning is not only the acquisition of new concepts but the
construction of meaningful links among concepts (Ausubel, 1968).
Concept maps show what individuals know and how their knowledge is structured.

4. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
All maps have 3 components
Nodes: represent concepts
Lines: represent relations between concepts, arrowheads indicate direction.
Labels: on the lines describe the nature of the relationship.
Combined, these three components create propositions or meaningful statements.

5. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
Map structures can differ
 Because concepts are perceived regularities in events or objects, individuals can
have different conceptual understandings of the same topic.
 Thus, concept maps can be intrinsically different without being “wrong”.

7. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
Two options for Arranging concepts
 You can structure your map hierarchically by placing the most inclusive, most
general concept(s) at the top and less important concepts at the bottom.
 You may also create a non-hierarchical network. In this case, there is no
superordinate concept; the map is structured like a web.

8. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
Creating propositions
 Think about which concepts are related. Connect related concepts with lines.
 Label the lines with one or a few linking words. Linking words should define the
relationship between the two concepts. For example, “involves” and “such as” are
linking words. Each pair of linked concepts should read like a sentence.

9. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
Indicating the direction of the relationship:
 Add arrowheads to the lines between the concepts to indicate the direction of the
relationship
 Depending on the concepts’ relationship, lines can have single or double
arrowheads. Causal relationships are one-directional. Mutually influential
relationships require double-headed arrows.

10. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
 Unidirectional relationship
 Bidirectional relationship
Concept Linking verb Concept

11. CONCEPT MAPPING CONT…
Concept mapping tools:
 Mindomo
 CmapTools
 Visual Understanding Environment (VUE)
 Novamind