Semantic Networks (Concept Maps) as Mindtools

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Semantic Networks (Concept Maps) as Mindtools

• Cherie McCollough
• VaNTH-PER Professional Development June 2nd, 2004

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Project Based Instruction Assessment

• What is needed in education at all levels is a
  revolution not just a change in methodology,
  but a fundamental revolution in spirit.
  (Jonassen p. 271)
• Results of Reform intellectually challenged
  students and teachers, teachers as facilitators,
  lifelong learners, energized learners and
  teachers, no more memorization of trivia.

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3 reasons why learners are not able to think

• 1. Too often, they apply a brute force
  memorization strategy.
• 2. Learners are poorly motivated most
  pandemic, most insidious cause for
  underachievement is lower expectations for
  parents, teachers, and society.
• 3. Students tend to rely on vague perceptions
  and global, quick-fix solutions to problems
  rather than thinking and analyzing.

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Mindful Learning

• Reflecting on aspects of problem
• Examination and personalizing information
• Generating and selecting alternative strategies
• Making connections, building new structures to
  existing knowledge
• Expending effort on learning
• Concentrating
• Reflecting on how task was performed

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Self-Regulated learning

• Maintain orientation to learning goals
• Plan activities that fulfill those goals
• Goals selected for personal ability, prior
  knowledge, and interest
• Self motivation
• Access prior knowledge to apply to new learning
• Apply strategies for getting started
• Attribute success or failure to personal effort.

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Why are concept mapping tools effective for
learning?

• All memory systems
  are inter-
• dependent. The most
  critical system
• for incorporating
  knowledge is
• short-term or
  working memory.
• Working memory can
  only process
• five to nine
  psychological units at
• any one moment. To
  structure
• large bodies of
  knowledge requires
• an orderly
  sequence of iterations
• between working
  memory and long-
• term memory as new
  knowledge
• is being received.
• Any tool that can externalize mental ideas
  (schema) has to be powerful.

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Rote learning vs. Meaningful Learning

• Rote Learning
• Birth to 3 years infants and children recognize
  of regularities in the world in the world around
  them and begin to identify language labels or
  symbols for these regularities.
• After 3 years reception learning process where
  new meanings are obtained by asking questions and
  getting clarification of relationships between
  old and new concepts.

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Meaningful learning requires three conditions

• Material learned must be conceptually clear and
  presented with language and examples relatable to
  learners prior knowledge.
• Learner must possess prior knowledge.
• Learner must choose to learn meaningfully.

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Concept Maps (semantic maps) can help make the
transfer from rote to meaningful learning.

• Concept maps involve knowledge construction which
  is a relatively high level of meaningful
  learning.
• New knowledge is always being created.
• The process of knowledge construction has been is
  still being extensively studied and researched.
  Concept maps becoming a more accepted and valued
  tool for knowledge integration, knowledge
  construction, and assessment of knowledge.

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So wheres the problem?

• Students have had years of rote-mode learning
  practice in school settings.
• So called learning style differences are
  generally differences in the patterns of learning
  that students have used varying from continuous
  rote-mode learning to meaningful mode learning.
• It is not easy to help students in the former
  condition to move to patterns of learning of the
  latter type.

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What are semantic networks?

• Also known as cognitive structures, conceptual
  knowledge, and structural knowledge.
• Are graphs consisting of nodes representing
  concepts and labeled lines representing
  relationships among them.
• Used for

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Constructing computer-based semantic nets engages
learners in

• The reorganization of knowledge
• Explicit description of concepts and their
  relationships
• Deep processing of knowledge that promotes better
  remembering and retrieval and transfer
• Relating new concepts to existing concepts and
  ideas, which improves understanding.
• Spatial learning through spatial representation
  of concepts in an area of study.

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What is structural knowledge?

• Provides the conceptual bases for knowing WHY.
• Is the organization of the relationships among
  concepts in long-term memory.
• Therefore, semantic networking helps learners map
  their cognitive structure.

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Why study structural knowledge in using semantic
networks?

• Understanding structural foundations in any
  content domain improves comprehension.
• Is essential to recall and comprehension.
• Learners construct structural and declarative
  knowledge when they study.
• Is essential to problem solving and procedural
  knowledge acquisition.
• Experts SK differs from novices understanding
  the differences is facilitated by semantic
  networking.

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Structure of Concept Maps
Novak, J. D. The Theory Underlying Concept Maps
and How to Construct Them.
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What ways can semantic nets be used in the
classroom?
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Semantic Nets as Study Guides

• Should be used as a review strategy, NOT to
  memorize content.
• Students MUST construct their own nets NOT the
  teacher.

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Semantic Net as Knowledge Reflection and
Integration Tool

• SN helps students reflect on what they know and
  what they DONT know.
• Students with concept mapping experience are
  better problem solvers.
• Provides valuable evidence of self-reflection and
  metacognitive reasoning.
• Not only does concept mapping facilitate problem
  solving, but also helps learners to transfer
  those skills.
• Learners become aware of and control the
  cognitive processes of the task.

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Semantic Networking as a Planning Tool

• SNs can provide a shorthand form for organizing
  and sequencing ideas.
• Examples outlining chapters, organizing essay
  construction, generating ideas in Legacy cycle,
  planning research projects

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Semantic Networks to Assess Learning

• The semantic nets learners generate after
  instruction reflect the growth of their knowledge
  structures.
• Pre- and post-assessment of knowledge highly
  beneficial as assessment for both student and
  teacher.

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Coaching the Construction of SNs in the classroom

• 1. Make a plan and set perspective for analyzing
  a domain.
• Concept map structures are dependent on the
  context in which they will be used. Identify
  the text, lab activity, or particular question
  that one is trying to understand.
• Helpful to select a limited domain of knowledge
  for first concept maps.
• Think like physicists, scientists,
  mathematicians when analyzing the domain.

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2. Identify Important Concepts

• Identifying important concepts in a content
  domain is crucial not only to understanding
  content but also for collaborating on tasks.
• These could be listed, and then from this list a
  rank order should be established from the most
  general, most inclusive concept for this
  particular situation to the most specific, least
  general concept.

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3. Create, define, and elaborate nodes.

• Create and label a note for each concept listed
  in Step 2.
• Can add pictures, descriptive text, and synonyms
• Computer tools

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4. Construct links and link concepts

• Difficult process having to precisely describe
  relationship between two ideas.
• See Fig. 4.8 page 71 for examples of links.
• What characterizes a good link? Preciseness,
  succinctness, and most importantly
  descriptiveness. Use links that tell something
  meaningful about the relationship.
• Interconnectedness adds to meaningful
  understanding.

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5. Continue to expand the net.

• Linking process continues, adding new nodes or
  concepts to help explain existing ones.
• This process mirrors the natural pattern of
  knowledge acquisition in construction and
  integration of knowledge.
• A good concept map is really never finished.

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6. Students reflect on the process.

• Reflection should be formative, not summative
  should be an ongoing process as students
  continuously review the process, make changes,
  evaluate goals, answer questions.
• Following completion What Have I Learned?
• About semantic nets, cooperative learning,
  multiple perspectives, meaningful thinking?
• Reflection cements the knowledge that learners
  construct.

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Teaching Skills

• Teacher no longer purveyor of knowledge but
  instigator, promoter, coach, helper, model and
  guide of knowledge construction.
• Viability of knowledge of assessed in terms of
  community standards.
• Relinquish authority admit you do not know
  everything.
• Educate Educe evoke, extract, elicit, draw out
  what learners know help articulate what they DO
  know and they will come to know it better.
• Administrative and technological support

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Advantages of Semantic Networks

• Easy to use most can gain proficiency in 1 2
  hours.
• Provide spatial representations of content which
  helps memory.
• Enhance comprehension and retention of ideas
  structural knowledge improves retention of
  content being studied.
• Demonstrate interconnectedness of ideas from
  different subjects and different courses.
• Should improve problem-solving performance.
• See Tables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 (pp. 73 74).

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Limitations of Semantic Networks

• Limited ability to represent causal
  relationships.
• Are not truly maps of the mind, but rather
  representations of what we think is in the mind.
• Knowledge represented on a SN is dynamic
  structural knowledge changes over time. Not
  entirely accurate or would constantly be in
  revision process.
• Networks in the mind are much more complex and
  multidimensional.

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Assessing Semantic Nets

• Compare learners net with experts (teachers).
  ??
• Determine learners knowledge growth.
• Accept learners different perspectives
• Compare learners nets to course goals SNs can
  be related to examination performance.
• Evaluating See pp 74 75 for different criteria
  for assessment of SNs.

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Assessment and Learning

• If you sow the seeds of critical thinking, then
  you should harvest critical thoughts and not
  reproductive learning. p. 283
• Have students self assess their knowledge bases
  before they submit them this helps foster self
  regulation. P. 285
• Assessing collaboration students working
  together produce knowledge bases but also learn
  more in the process. P. 286

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Assessing Thinking

• Assessing Critical Thinking difficult to
  assess cant always see transfer emerges over
  time with lots of practice. Still, are obligated
  to try.
• Critical thinking, creative thinking, complex
  thinking rubrics pp. 287 289.