Concept Mapping

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Concept Mapping

• Palm Beach Community College
• Department of English
• For Students of Professor Blaque
• (all sections)

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What is Concept Mapping?

• Concept maps are graphical tools that organize
  and represent knowledge. They include concepts,
  usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some
  type, and the relationships between concepts,
  which are indicated by connecting lines that link
  two or more concepts together.
• There are two types of models for Concept
  Mapping
• Sticks and Clouds OR
• Squares and Lines
• For this demonstration, I use Squares and
  Lines, also known as a Flow Chart.

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For What is Concept Mapping Used?

• Concept mapping can be used for a variety of
  purposes however, the list below is
  representative of why students of writing and
  professional writers often use concept maps
• to generate ideas (brain storming, etc.)
• to design a complex structure (long texts,
  hypermedia, large web sites, etc.)
• to communicate complex ideas.

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Getting Started

• When mapping the key concepts of any topic, it is
  best if you travel from the general, which is
  usually the largest portion of the map, and work
  your way to the particular, which is usually the
  smallest, as it is the most specific and is the
  basis for furthering narrow research.

General
Particular
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Example 1.1
In the flow chart above, Education is the general
concept at hand, while Elementary, High School,
and Higher Education are more particular concepts
of Education.
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Example 1.2
In this flow chart (above), the concept of Higher
Education, which is one branch drawn from
Education (see previous slide), is further
particularized into three categories, creating
three new branches on the map Vocational,
Community College, and University.
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Education is Mapped!
In this three tiered map, Education, the general
concept, has three branches that represent the
various types of education one can receive.
However, the third branch, Higher Education,
has three branches of its own, which represent
the most particular concepts on this map.
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Example 2 Finding Your Target

• Successfully mapping a concept also includes
  knowing when you have reached your target
  concept, as a concept map is never ending.
• Therefore, it is imperative to know how deeply
  you want to delve into your general topic.
• For example, if you wanted to investigate or
  research American Music for a paper, you would
  quickly discover how enormous that topic is.

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Concept American Music
Note This is only an example and not every
musical genre is mapped here.
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Redirecting Your Investigation

• The previous slide is an example of how a concept
  map can go on forever!
• You have to know when to redirect your
  investigation to reach your target topic.

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Redirecting Your Investigation

• On slide 9, mapping the era between 1950 and
  1990 generated five new branches on the map. If
  the writers interest is Rap music after 1990, it
  is wasteful to continue expanding the map using
  American Music as the general concept.
• At this point, the general concept must change to
  Rap Music.
• Now the investigation can continue in the right
  direction.

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Example of Redirecting the Investigation
The section of the map highlighted in yellow is a
redirected map. Instead of continuing to map the
concept of American Music beyond the purpose of
the writer, the map changes directions and
focuses on the writers target idea, Rap Music.
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New Directions
On this redirected map, Rap Music has become the
general concept and mapping that concept has
created new branches of particularity.
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You Try It!

• Now its your turn to map a concept.
• First, print the next slide.
• Then, consider the general concept I have
  provided for you American History.
• Next, fill in all of the remaining blanks with
  concept branches that both stand alone and have
  relationships with each other.
• Finally, be sure to bring your completed concept
  map to the next class session after concept
  mapping is assigned as homework on your Tentative
  Course Schedule.

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Name ____________________________________________
__Class and Section __________________________
_________
Dont forget to print this, fill it in, and bring
it to class on the date that Concept Mapping is
scheduled for class discussion on your TCS.
END OF SLIDE SHOW
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Sample Thesis Statement 1

• High School Students
• Drop Out Rates
• 2005-2006 Academic Year
• Florida
• Lack of teacher engagement

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Thesis Statement As of the end of the 2005-2006
academic year, Florida high school students
graduate at a rate of 71 because of a lack of
teacher engagement in the classroom.
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Sample Thesis Statement 2

• Americans
• 2008 Unemployment Projections
• 2007
• Northeast Region
• Loss of Manufacturing jobs

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Thesis Statement In 2007, States in the
Northeast region of the United State reported
significant losses of manufacturing jobs, which
is currently having a negative affecting on the
unemployment projections for those States in 2008.