Romanian Reports in Physics, Vol. 63, No. 2, P.

567576, 2011

CONCEPT MAPS, A MUST

FOR THE MODERN TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

IOANA STOICA1,2, SILVIA MORARU1,2, CRISTINA MIRON1

1
Physics Faculty, Bucharest University, RO-077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
2
Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science, RO-011392, Bucharest, Romania,
E-mail: istoica4143@gmail.com; silviamoraru19@yahoo.com; cmiron_2001@yahoo.com
Received June 20, 2010

Abstract. This paper stands up as an argument for a broadening of the methods used in the
science teaching process. The main goal of the authors is to point out ways of achieving learning
excellence by usage of modern educational means. This bold aim can be reached by resorting to
concept maps within the teaching and evaluation processes. We focus upon the advantages of this
method taking as an example a Harmonic Oscillation Motion concept map.
Key words: concept map, harmonic oscillatory motion, outstanding achievements, assessment.

1. INTRODUCTION

In order to transform the student in an active person which, guided by

teachers, discovers and scrutinizes new knowledge territories, there are new
teaching strategies in agreement with students learning manners:
the lesson has as a starting point certain students experiences, and
embraces questions and activities that involve the student;
as part of the lesson, one uses a combination of activities that tackle
different learning manners that the student prefers: visual, auditory, practical;
the lesson involves an active participation of the student in the learning
process, through accomplishing experiments, simulations and problems by means
of a computer.
The development of permanent learning competences and of the students
and the teachers creative skills determine the efficiency increase of the education.
It is possible for the student to actively get involved in the learning process,
by taking part together with the teacher in the developing of concept maps.
According to Ausubel, the most important single factor influencing learning
is what the learner already knows.
568 Ioana Stoica, Silvia Moraru, Cristina Miron 2

Thus, meaningful learning results when a person consciously and explicitly

ties new knowledge to relevant concepts they already possess. Ausubel suggests
that when meaningful learning occurs, it produces a series of changes within our
entire cognitive structure, modifying existing concepts and forming new linkages
between concepts. This is why meaningful learning is lasting and powerful whereas
rote learning is easily forgotten and not easily applied in new learning or problem
solving situations which the present science curricula so advocate [1].
The usage of such modern methods as the concept maps is a must for the
modern educational process.
The use of concept maps as a teaching strategy was first developed by
J. D. Novak of Cornell University in the early 1980's. It was derived from
Ausubel's learning theory which places central emphasis on the influence of
students' prior knowledge on subsequent meaningful learning.
A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships among concepts. They
are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge.

Fig. 1 A concept map for types of movement.

A concept, as defined by Novak, is the regularity in objects or events

designated by a specific label. Concept maps are diagrammatic representations
which show meaningful relationships between concepts in the form of
propositions. Propositions are two or more concept labels linked by words which
provide information on relationships or describing connections between concepts.
The most useful form of a concept map for teaching and learning is one arranged in
3 The modern teaching-learning process 569

a hierarchical organization which the more general and more inclusive concepts at
the top of the map and the more concrete and specific ones at the bottom [2].
The user creates statements in the visual language, and interacts with the
statements through popup menus whose content is specific to each node type. The
action initiated is context-sensitive and allows complex activities to be initiated by
natural user actions. Node types and content may be edited by users, as may a
database of information attached to the nodes that provides links to other concept
maps and files, either locally or across the Internet.
They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and
relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts.
In the teaching and learning of Physics (or any other science subject)
concepts do not exist in isolation. Each concept depends on its relationships to
many others for meaning.
As an example, if we refer for the Harmonic Oscillatory Motion, we can
integrate this concept in a larger one: the motions, in general.
A concept map depicts hierarchy and relationships among concepts. It
demands clarity of meaning and integration of crucial details. The concept map
construction process requires one to think in multiple directions and to switch back
and forth between different levels of abstraction. In attempting to identify the key
and associated concepts of a particular topic or sub-topic, one will usually acquire a
deeper understanding of the topic and clarification of any prior misconceptions.
Concept mapping is a type of knowledge representation.
Jonassen & Grabowski state that structural knowledge may be seen as a
separate type of knowledge. "Structural knowledge provides the conceptual basis
for why. It describes how prior knowledge is interconnected. Structural knowledge
is most often depicted in terms of some sort of concept map that visually describes
the relationships between ideas in a knowledge domain". Representing knowledge
in the visual format of a concept map allows one to gain an overview of a domain
of knowledge. Because the nodes contain only a keyword or a short sentence, more
interpretation is required of the reader, but this may be positive [3].

2. CONCEPT MAP FOR HARMONIC OSCILLATORY MOTION

Concept mapping can be used for several purposes:

to design complex structures;
to assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding;
to aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge;
to communicate complex ideas.
570 Ioana Stoica, Silvia Moraru, Cristina Miron 4

Fig. 2 A concept map for harmonic oscillatory motion.

In order to show the way complex ideas can be communicated and to point
out the advantages of using concept maps, we chose a type of concept map
regarding mechanical oscillations. We chose this example because this is a very
difficult physics topic and the concept maps method allows for a better
understanding. This section of the classical physics is a very vast and a very
intricate one, complex, and sometimes difficult to understand by the students [4]. It
contains a multitude of connections and the cross-links helps the student to see how
a concept in one domain of knowledge represented on the map is related to a
concept in another domain shown on the map. In Fig. 2 it is shown the concept map
we propose for the Harmonic Oscillatory Motion.
5 The modern teaching-learning process 571

3. ADVANTAGES OF USING CONCEPT MAPS

The main advantage of this method is providing a powerful representation

tool to show complex interrelations, respectively establishing a transparent link,
between different concepts [5].
The advantages are:
1. Teaching and revision topic. As one can observe in Figure 3, difficult
concepts can be clarified and can be arranged in a systematic order. Using this
concept map in teaching Oscillatory Motion, teachers could be more aware of the
key concepts and relationship among them. This helps teachers to convey a clear
general picture of the topics and their relationships to their students. In this way, it
is less likely to miss and misinterpret any important concepts. In this section of the
map one can see how easy the student can compare the superposition of the
oscillation and the different types of superposition.
2. Reinforce understanding. Using concept maps can reinforce students'
understanding and learning more easily. This enables visualization of key concepts
and summarizes their relationship (e.g., the most important notions involved in the
Harmonic Oscillatory Motion), as shown in Fig. 4.
3. Check learning and identify misconceptions. The use of concept maps can
also assist teachers in evaluating the process of teaching. They can assess the
students' achievement by identifying misconceptions and missing concepts.
Concept mapping is also gaining inroads as a tool for problem-solving in
education. Concept mapping may be used to enhance the problem-solving phases
of generating alternative solutions and options. Since problem-solving in education
is usually done in small groups, learning should also benefit from the
communication enhancing properties of concept mapping [5].
In Fig. 5 we present a number of oscillatory motion examples chosen in order
to get a better phenomenon understanding.
4. Assessment. Students' achievement can be tested or examined by concept
mapping, as the concept maps can also be used as assessment tools (see Fig. 6).
The research team around Joseph Novak at Cornell found that an important by-
product of concept mapping is its ability to detect or illustrate the "misconceptions"
learners may have as explanations of content matter. The conceptions students may
have are often incomplete and deficient, leading to misunderstanding of instruction.
Concept maps drawn by students express their conceptions (or their
misconceptions) and can help the instructor diagnose the misconceptions that make
the instruction ineffective [6].
572 Ioana Stoica, Silvia Moraru, Cristina Miron 6

Parallel, having the

Phasor diagram Graphic
same frequency

The Superposition of Oscillations

Parallel, having
Perpendicular Oscillations
different frequencies

Phasor diagram Graphic Lissajous Figures

Fig. 3 An example of difficult concepts clarified through a concept map.

7 The modern teaching-learning process 573

Harmonic Oscillatory Initial Phase

Amplitude Motion (definition)
Frequency
Velocity
Equation of an Ideal
Basic Concepts Harmonic Oscillator
Acceleration
Angular Frequency
Period Harmonic
Oscillatory Motion Displacement

Fig. 4 Key concepts visualization through a concept map.

574 Ioana Stoica, Silvia Moraru, Cristina Miron 8

#2 The
Thompson #9 Test
Model of an
Atom
#1 The #3 A tunnel
Elastic running through
Pendulum the center of the
Examples of Earth
#8 The Harmonic
Physical Oscillatory #7 The
Pendulum Motions Simple
Pendulum
#4 A plank onto two
rotating rough #6 A piston in the
cylinders middle of a
#5 A body between cylinder filled
two springs rotating with ideal gas
about a perpendicular
axis

Fig. 5 Examples of oscillatory motions chosen in order to get a better phenomenon understanding.
9 The modern teaching-learning process 575

Test

Examples of
Harmonic
Oscillatory Motion
Fig. 6 An example of assessment combining a concept map and an educational software.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Concept map can be integrated with other applications, and user interaction
with graphical structures in the visual language can be used to control any activity
supported on the host computer or network. Actions can include the opening of
other concept maps, making it possible to index large bodies of material through
layers of connected maps.
Drawing a concept map can be compared to participating in a brainstorming
session. As one puts ideas down on paper without criticism, the ideas become
clearer and the mind becomes free to receive new ideas. These new ideas may be
linked to ideas already on the paper, and they may also trigger new associations
leading to new ideas.
Concept maps can lead to other teaching and learning tools:
concept card mapping tool [7]: Concept card mapping is a variation on the
familiar strategy of concept mapping. Instead of constructing their own concept
map from scratch, students are given cards with the concepts written on them. They
move the cards around and arrange them as a connected web of knowledge. They
create linkages between the concept cards that describe the relationship between
concepts. Moving the cards provides an opportunity for students to explore and
think about different linkages.
576 Ioana Stoica, Silvia Moraru, Cristina Miron 10

hypertext design tool [8]: A concept map placed on the Web in hypertext
may also serve as a Web navigational tool if there are clickable areas on the
concept map that take the user immediately to indicated parts of the hypertext
document [9].
learning tool: Novak's original work with concept mapping dealt with
learning. Constructivist learning theory argues that new knowledge should be
integrated into existing structures in order to be remembered and receive meaning.
Concept mapping stimulates this process by making it explicit and by requiring the
learner to pay attention to the relationship between concepts. Jonassen, D. H.
argues that students show some of their best thinking when they try to represent
something graphically, and thinking is a necessary condition for learning [10].
Experiments have shown that subjects using concept mapping outperform non-
concept mappers in longer term retention tests [11].
multi-layered concept maps: Concept maps allow the researchers to identify
new conceptions that are implicitly or explicitly expressed by the interviewees [5].
We strongly believe that the usage of concept maps is a must for the
educational process, an addition to the classical methods, appealing to the
individual character of each student.

REFERENCES

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1968.
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Science, Ljubljana, 2004, pp. 111113.
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