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The examination of students’ motivation towards lessons is an important aspect of educational studies. The constructivist approach significantly impacts the improvement of students’ motivation. The present study aims to examine the use of the 5E learning model with concept maps to support students’ motivation and compare the 5E approach and the classical approach to teaching chemistry in terms of motivational dimensions. The main subject of this study is an assessment of students’ motivation using the 5E learning model, which promotes student-centred teaching. The study was conducted with 100 8th-grade lower secondary school students who attended a school in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) during the spring semester of the 2018/19 school year. The study was conducted with two randomly selected groups: experimental (EG) and control (CG). The lessons of the EG were taught using the 5E Learning Model Improved with Concept Maps, while lessons of the CG were conducted using the current, conventional teaching method. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was applied as a data collection tool in the study. Descriptive statistics and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were used in data analysis. As a result, it was determined that the EG students’ motivation scores showed a significant difference from the CG students’ motivation scores. Furthermore, a significant difference was established between the EG and CG students’ intrinsic goal orientation and test anxiety post-test scores. Although the EG students’ averages for other sub-dimensions were higher than the CG students’ averages, no significant difference was found between the groups.

Objective: Concept Maps (CM) aid in the acquisition of new information, and comprehend prior knowledge with better retention. Their use is not explored in undergraduate surgical education in our country, hence this study aimed to compare the surgery test scores of undergraduate medical students taught by concept maps and interactive lectures. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out at the Department of Surgery, at a Private University Hospital among 60 students of fourth year MBBS from 2017-2018. The students were divided into Group-A taught by interactive lectures and Group-B taught by CM. Post class Multiple Choice Questions test was taken and scores were compared for immediate effects on knowledge and short term knowledge retention using the Unpaired t- test. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Our study reported a mean test score of 19.5 (2.75 ± 0.49) for the Group-A, while 21.1 (3.49 ± 0.65) for Group-B with a negative t value of 2.003 with a significant p-value of 0.05. This showed that the test scores of Group-A were lower than the scores of Group-B. Conclusions: Concept Maps is an effective and promising way to give learners better understanding of complex concepts in short amounts of time. providing valuable evidence for instituting the use of concept maps as a continuous teaching strategy for medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathways educators, who teach into university-based tertiary preparation programmes, contribute to a unique space within widening participation. Conceptualisations of pathways educators' identities would benefit from further theorisation to understand the challenges and possibilities of this role, so this was the focus of the current study. Ten pathways educators on academic contracts at a regional Australian university co-constructed concept maps and wrote reflections about what it means to be a pathways educator. These maps and reflections were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns, which were then examined through a Third Space Theory lens. The findings highlighted a strong sense of pathways educators dwelling at the margins of academia, in liminal or in-between locations that are complex, nuanced, hard to define and often perceived as lower in status when compared to 'traditional' academic spaces. However, the analysis also suggested that finding a home in these fluid, unbounded, spaces might present opportunities for authentic and self-fulfilling work in the ambiguity. While institutional constraints and power imbalances are acknowledged, we also highlight potential implications for pathways educators, and other individuals in academic roles that occupy the margins, through a strength-based lens where agency is not lost but may thrive in unexpected ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Concept maps are a valid assessment tool to explore student understanding of diverse topics. Many types of academic programs have integrated concept mapping into their courses, resulting in various activities and scoring methods to understand student perceptions. Purpose: Few prior reviews of concept mapping have addressed their use within engineering education. This systematic literature review examines articles that use concept mapping as an assessment tool in engineering education contexts and provides suggestions for future research. Scope/Method: We conducted a literature search using terms related to concept map and engineering education. Articles were screened by their title, abstract, section, and then full paper, resulting in 53 articles for the final review. Two researchers examined the topic, activity type, and scoring method of the maps. Results: Concept mapping topics fit into three categories, and the activity structures fit into four types. Of seven scoring methods, "Traditional" was the most used. Studies that compared multiple scoring methods showed that the "Holistic" and "Categorical" methods were better able to capture the content of the maps. All types of scoring demonstrated positive outcomes, suggesting that concept maps can demonstrate understanding of the topic and can assess learning. Conclusions: Concept maps have been applied in a number of ways. All types of concept mapping scores were shown to be useful and can lead to a better understanding of the students' learning outcomes. However, more research is needed to determine which scoring methods are recommended for specific applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Need innovative teaching to improve clinical judgment and RN practice readiness. • Adds new perspective to traditional clinical care plan and concept map utilization. • Clinical care worksheets followed by concept maps ideal to build clinical judgment. Nursing faculty must develop innovative strategies to foster pre-licensure student development of clinical judgment and improve practice readiness. Clinical care worksheets are traditionally long, linear assignments to help students identify various elements of patient care. Clinical concept map assignments help student identify relationships and prioritize care needs. Comparison of clinical concept maps and clinical care worksheets was performed with pre-licensure nursing students in their first clinical course. Student and faculty perceptions on clinical judgment development, learning, time spent, and preference of assignment were evaluated. Both assignment types were beneficial to student learning but in different ways. Most students perceived that concept maps contained less busywork and were more helpful to improve learning, thus preferring this assignment. Students and faculty recognized the value of building base knowledge with clinical care worksheets followed by incorporation of clinical concept maps to connect the entire patient care picture and maximize learning. We recommend using clinical care worksheets then advancing to clinical concept maps to help build clinical judgment and learning most efficiently and effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractStudents on one-year full-time Master’s programmes, particularly those studying in English for the first time, or after a break from studies, can struggle with the demands of an academic essay. This study reports the evaluation of the introduction of the use of concept maps as a learning and assessment tool, designed to support students’ transition into postgraduate taught study at a UK university. The mixed methods case study draws on interviews with students (19), academic teaching staff (9) and secondary analysis of course assessment data from the previous five years. We found that while staff and students reported that concept maps supported learning and helped students overcome barriers, the quantitative analysis showed no significant change in students’ attainment. We discuss possible reasons for this, and ways in which the concept map as assessment task may be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explanation of natural phenomena at one level of biological organisation almost always involves causes that are found at other levels. Although scientists thinking across levels find it easy to explain physiological phenomena, students often perceive this as a challenge. We developed a new graphic organiser called Zoom Map, which is a mode for structuring biological information along the levels of biological organisation and is designed to guide biology students when they need to consider the levels of organisation. The aim of this study is to examine how Zoom Map helps students explain a common phenomenon in plant physiology: leaves that are upright or wilted. Accordingly, we designed a teaching experiment covering 13 students. During the experiments, the students were videotaped. We used qualitative content analysis to examine the explanations. Our findings indicate that Zoom Map improved students' explanations of the phenomenon across multiple levels of organisation: The students used more levels than before, and they referred to lower levels that were lacking previously. Therefore, it can be concluded that students who use Zoom Map are supported in their ability to explain a biological phenomenon across the levels of biological organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Sociology of Education is the property of Journal of Sociology of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Heavy content, high volume courses commonly create challenges for undergraduate students. Two such courses at our university are the introductory semesters of anatomy and physiology for first-year nursing students, taught by biology instructors. Despite the vast literature indicating the efficacy of using concept maps as a tool for learning, it is still not commonly implemented in the field. An adaptation called skeleton maps, were developed and implemented to assist student learning. This qualitative SoTL study reports on student perceptions of the learning gains of utilizing these maps, under six themes that fall into behavioural, cognitive, and opinion-based categories. The results of this study indicate a strong evidence base for using concept-map based strategies within similar courses.

Copyright of Biology Teaching is the property of East China Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this research, the conceptual dimensions of research in the field of scientific authority were analyzed with the aim of analysis of the conceptual structure of knowledge in this field in Iran. In order to achieve this goal, the main questions is: What is the conceptual structure of “scientific authority” knowledge in Iran based on existing scientific documents? In this research, the technique of co-word analysis, information clustering and social network analysis were used. The study population of this research includes all scientific documents including Persian articles, books, theses and research projects from the beginning to January 2023. Research tools include software in the field of scientometrics such as Ravar_matrix, Ucinet, NetDraw, and VOSviewer. To collect data from databases such as Noormags Database, Magiran Database, Magiran, ISC Database and SID Database, List of National and University Libraries, GANJ Database, other specific indexes, search engines such as Google, etc. were used. To retrieve documents related to scientific authority, from all search strategies including advanced, simple and review, and sometimes semi-automatic text mining with keywords “scientific authority”, “scientific originality”, “scientific leadership”, “academic leadership”, “scientific reviewer”, and “university professors” were used to extract related scientific documents. The results related to co-lexical analysis showed that more than 241 concepts or keywords were mentioned in this field and the concepts of “scientific authority” in particular with the highest frequency, Ahl al-Bayt, Holy Qur’an, gaining or achieving authority, University of Medical Sciences, University “Leadership perspective and higher education” have had the most frequency among all concepts. Also, 30 concepts such as “indigenization of science”, “scientific dynamism”, “scientific vitality”, “scientific capital”, “scientific authority”, “civilization-building research”, “scientific authority”, “scientism”, “scientific flow”, “promotion chair”, “frontiers of knowledge”, “social innovation”, “scientific heritage”, “leaders of science” were identified as emerging concepts in the researches. The results related to clustering showed that the knowledge of this field in Iran consists of 13 main clusters. Drawing conceptual maps of the field of knowledge of scientific authority showed that the formed network of concepts has discontinuity and its concepts are less connected with each other. Considering that its density is around 0.0268, it cannot be said that its conceptual network is dense. Network density is a number that is in the range between one and zero. The closer the network density score is to one, it indicates more density and the closer to zero, it indicates the laxity and disconnection of the network. According to the density of the network, it can be concluded that the number of 20 to 30 concepts has caused cohesion in a part of the conceptual network of this field. In this regard, the density map visualized this situation well and showed where the hot spots in the field of scientific authority are concentrated in the network and in the vicinity of what concepts. The term scientific authority was first proposed by the Supreme Leader and after that it was explained many times and various researchers have defined, interpreted and explained the concept of scientific authority. This research was done on the basis of what has been written so far about the scientific authority of research and writing, not what it should be. In this study, an attempt was made to express the concepts from the point of view of information visualization technology, and by drawing conceptual maps, their relationships were depicted. Surely, readers and those interested in this field can find more conceptual relationships governing the field. This research is done for the first time with this method. Also, no research has been done with this method in the field of scientific authority so far. Therefore, matching the findings with some of the previous results of this research are not equivalent. Therefore, the findings were also different from them. Perhaps it can be claimed that these findings were the result of the activities of Iranian researchers in the field of scientific authority from the time it was raised by the Supreme Leader in 2014 until today. This research provided a conceptual macro picture of the field of scientific authority. It is hoped that officials, curators and researchers who work for the development of this field will use the results of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to explore the effect of applying three associative vocabulary instruction strategies (context-based, morphemic analysis and concept map) compared with the traditional strategies on the intermediate EFL learners' vocabulary development employing a quasi-experimental, quantitative, pretest/post-test design. With the aid of an English proficiency test and a researcherdeveloped vocabulary test the homogeneity of the participants were checked before the study's treatment. Subsequently, 80 intermediate EFL learners were chosen via convenience sampling procedure from private language schools and recruited for the study and divided into four groups of 20 as the experimental and control participants. The experimental participants were taught the target lexical items with the aid of contexts, concept maps and morphemic analyses while the control participants experienced the traditional instruction (i.e., L1 equivalent provision, word lists, flashcards and memorization). The same vocabulary test was administered this time as the post-test to check whether there was a significant difference in the learners' attainment for the taught lexical items. The performance of the participants on the vocabulary post-test was analyzed both descriptively and inferentially (a MANOVA, an ANOVA and an independent-samples t-test). It was revealed that all the associative vocabulary teaching strategies were significantly more efficient than the traditional vocabulary teaching strategies. Moreover, it was found that concept mapping was the most efficient instructional strategy for teaching the lexical items compared with the traditional strategies and other associative strategies for the intermediate EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of CEPS Journal is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of concept maps on science achievement among elementary and secondary education students, including low-achieving students. A systematic search located 55 studies about concept mapping in science achievement published in peer-reviewed journals and dissertations between 1980 and 2020. We extracted 58 independent standardized mean difference effect sizes from 55 eligible studies involving 5,364 students from Grade 3 to Grade 12 who used concept maps for learning in physics/earth science, chemistry, and biology that met the specified design criteria. A random-effects model meta-analysis revealed that the mean effect size was moderate for overall science (g = 0.776). The mean effect sizes varied from moderate to large based on the subject area (g = 0.671 for biology; g = 0.590 for chemistry; g = 1.040 for physics and earth science); these differences between groups were not statistically significant (p = 0.220). Concept maps were generally associated with increased science learning across several learning and teaching conditions, and methodological features (low-achieving students, higher teaching guidance, intermediate grades, low- or middle-income countries, journal publications, and late year of publication). However, we found significant heterogeneity in most subsets. Implications for future research and practice recommendations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) and Engineering Ethical Reasoning Instrument (EERI) are designed to measure ethical reasoning of general (DIT-2) and engineering-student (EERI) populations. These tools—and the DIT-2 especially—have gained wide usage for assessing the ethical reasoning of undergraduate students. This paper reports on a research study in which the ethical reasoning of first-year undergraduate engineering students at multiple universities was assessed with both of these tools. In addition to these two instruments, students were also asked to create personal concept maps of the phrase “ethical decision-making.” It was hypothesized that students whose instrument scores reflected more postconventional levels of moral development and more sophisticated ethical reasoning skills would likewise have richer, more detailed concept maps of ethical decision-making, reflecting their deeper levels of understanding of this topic and the complex of related concepts. In fact, there was no significant correlation between the instrument scores and concept map scoring, suggesting that the way first-year students conceptualize ethical decision making does not predict the way they behave when performing scenario-based ethical reasoning (perhaps more situated). This disparity indicates a need to more precisely quantify engineering ethical reasoning and decision making, if we wish to inform assessment outcomes using the results of such quantitative analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, to handle the problem of the quick evolution of cyber-security attacks, we developed the iMonsters board game and proposed the attack and defense knowledge self-evolving algorithm. Three versions of the iMonsters were launched in 2013, 2017, and 2019, respectively. Accordingly, the cyber-security ontology can be refined by the ontology fusion-or-splitting procedure for the newly collected cyber-security incidents, as well as the roles and rules of the iMonsters can be refined by the gaming portfolio mining procedure for the collected portfolio. Furthermore, we conducted game-based learning (GBL), a quasi-experiment of pre/post-testing, and concept map testing using the iMonsters board game in a children's summer camp. The experimental results indicate that the students can acquire up-to-date cyber-security knowledge with the iMonsters better than students who learn in a traditional classroom setting, and the students' satisfaction with acquiring cyber-security knowledge with the instructional design of the iMonsters is better compared with learning in a traditional classroom setting. Satisfaction with the new version has continuously increased. Besides, the results of the in-depth interviews show that the new version was easier to learn. Thus, we may conclude that using the self-evolving iMonsters can improve learning effectiveness and participation in GBL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing vocational training benefits from the employees' ability to share individual experience and expertise with their co-workers, as these assets constitute competitive advantages for companies. IT-supported systems can facilitate processes of knowledge elicitation (e. g. as part of collaborative co-creation) to ensure retainment of preferred qualitative characteristics of the resulting knowledge artifacts and provide ample opportunities to manage and configure a growing number of such artifacts in a company's repository. It remains unclear however, how such collaborative and digital co-creation processes can benefit the individual co-creators' expertise development. To address this gap in research and practice, an IT-supported co-creation system for microlearnings is designed and evaluated with master craftsman trainees of an inter-company vocational training center. With the deployment of the co-creation system, knowledge elaboration was examined via a qualitative evaluation of concept maps. By applying categories of the maps' semantic properties and comparing features of expert knowledge derived from expertise research and concept mapping literature, we evaluate the process' function to support expert knowledge elaboration as a desirable learning outcome for co-creators of shared digital artifacts. Analysis of the concept maps shows an absence of theoretical reasoning and an emphasis on contextual factors with minute details of work processes, indicating more practical than expert knowledge formation when co-creating shared digital artifacts. To improve the IT system's effective support for expert knowledge elicitation, adjustments to the structured procedure are discussed and future research directions and limitations of this study are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is formed by deacetylation of chitin using strong alkali at high temperatures. The content of the active amine groups in chitosan is widely used as an alternative natural coagulant that is environmentally friendly. So, it can be included in learning materials about the concept of sustainability. This study aimed to produce concept maps and Teaching Learning Sequences (TLS) based on scientists' conceptions of sustainability on the topic of water treatment using natural coagulants. The method used in this research was qualitative content analysis. The research instruments included content analysis formats and sustainability aspects. The content analysis process included literature collection, descriptive analysis, category selection, and material evaluation with didactic aspects. This research produced concept maps and TLS that described the relationship between water treatment using natural coagulants and colloid content. Additionally, TLS related to sustainability education in the form of learning about water treatment using natural coagulants from chitosan was also developed. The concept map and TLS that have been compiled show the relationship between mapping aspects of scientific literacy and environmentally friendly water treatment using natural coagulants. The research results can be used as a basis for developing teaching materials and didactic designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many science students struggle with using scientific language and making sense of scientific phenomena. Thus, there is an increased interest in science education research and public policy with regard to understanding and promoting scientific language use and sensemaking in science classrooms. However, there is a lack of comparative studies on how upper-secondary school students of different achievement and language levels use scientific language to make sense of phenomena. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between achievement level, scientific language use, and sensemaking in chemistry for students being set a sensemaking task while constructing concept maps on the topic of chemical equilibrium. The concept maps were collected from five different upper-secondary schools in Sweden from two school systems (Swedish and International Baccalaureate). Using content analysis, these concept maps were examined for scientific language use as well as structuring of sensemaking. A majority of the students had difficulty structuring sensemaking in their concept maps, independently of achievement level. These difficulties included unstructured reasoning, symbolic representations being used as explanations, surface-level learning, and linear reasoning connected to rote learning. There appeared to be a connection between learning context and student individual structuring of sensemaking as expressed in the concept maps. The results also showed a clear relationship between scientific language use and achievement level in the student sample. The results indicate that the structuring of sensemaking and scientific language use are not always connected processes. In conclusion, teachers may need to adopt a teaching practice that includes directed and differentiated support for scientific sensemaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoscale Science and Technology (NST) is a rapidly evolving field with profound implications for various industries and our everyday lives. However, misconceptions among learners can hinder their ability to grasp the fundamental concepts of NST, thereby impeding their potential contributions to this advancing domain. Concept maps (CM) and conceptual change texts (CCT) are graphical and written representations of knowledge that enable learners to visualize relationships between concepts and assess the coherence of their understanding. In this pursuit, we engage with the concept of rehabilitation for misconceptions, viewing the learning process as a transformative journey akin to cognitive rehabilitation. Through this CM-CCT constructivist approach, learners are encouraged to engage in critical reflection, self-questioning, and peer discussions, which facilitate the identification of misconceptions. Moreover, CM-CCT provide a structured framework for presenting accurate information about NST, offering a clear depiction of the hierarchical and interconnected nature of nanoscale phenomena. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CM-CCT in correcting the misconceptions of undergraduate university students regarding nanotechnology and the taxonomy of nonmaterial. Prior to the implementation of the CM-CCT, an assessment of pre-existing knowledge of the students was performed through the structure of the observed learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. A quasi-experimental research design was carried out. A total of 70 undergraduate university students, divided into two intact groups, were cross-examined for the study. Further, before and after the instructional tools, an achievement test based on nanotechnology and classification of nonmaterial was conducted, covering all six cognitive domains of the Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives. Data analysis revealed that the instructional tools based on constructivist approach had a statistically significant impact on students for elimination of their misconceptions about nanotechnology, nano science and classification of nonmaterial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the value of concept maps in the development of nursing students' learning. Design/Methodology/Approach: We opted for the quantitative-descriptive approach. The research targeted 221 students on placement at the My Youssef Regional Hospital in Casablanca-Settat during the 2019 academic year. We then developed a learning test to determine the type of learning before the educational intervention and after the intervention. Findings: This study showed that the level of learning before the pedagogical intervention was mainly surface learning (59.28%), while those who had strategic learning (9.95%) and those who had deep learning (30.77%). This shows the supremacy of the first type of learning. But after the intervention, the percentage of those with surface learning was only (28.05%), the percentage of those with strategic learning was (6.79%), and on the other hand, the percentage of those with deep learning was (65.16%). Conclusion: This suggests that concept maps positively influence nursing students' learning approaches, promoting deeper understanding and engagement. Practical Implications and Contribution to Literature: This study shows that the use of concept maps by student nurses as a learning tool influences their learn ing strategies, moving from surface learning to strategic and in-depth learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that concept maps are a meaningful learning tool. Even so, the use of concept mapping as a meaningful learning tool is probably less common than the use of concept mapping as an assessment tool. In first place, the easiest thing to with a student’s concept map is to apply a rubric and give it a grade. And second, teachers often believe that by using a meaningful learning tool, their students are learning meaningfully while constructing their concept maps. We are then missing on the greatest power of the concept map, its use as a tool to learn meaningfully. In this paper we examine the difference between using concept maps for learning and for assessment, and propose steps on how to move towards the use of the tool to improve students’ learning and understanding.

Including causal links in concept maps enables learners to meaningfully relate concepts to a larger context or problem in terms of how and where concepts apply within the chains of causal events that lead to a given goal or outcome. Given that higher quality maps are produced when students link and sequence events to flow temporally and sequentially in a consistent direction towards a target outcome in a map, it is highly plausible that students can improve learning transfer (the ability to apply concepts to diagnose and solve problems) by including and making more salient the sequences of causal links nestled in the semantic links in concept maps. To lay the groundwork to empirically test this proposition in future research, this study: 1) analyzes 16 concept maps presented in the Proceedings of the 8th Int. Conference on Concept Mapping to codify the diverse and sometimes incongruent syntaxes used to convey causal relationships; 2) examines how the causal link syntaxes combined with semantic links work jointly (or against each other) to create temporal flow; and 3) explore how causal and semantic links can be integrated to increase the saliency and quality of the causal networks connecting concepts to outcomes. A better understanding of how causal links are expressed, integrated, and made more salient in concept maps can reveal ways to help students create concept maps that are more accurate, meaningful, and effective in improving the ability to apply concepts to solve complex problems.

Formative assessment is about providing and using feedback and diagnostic information. On this basis, further learning or further teaching should be adaptive and, in the best case, optimized. However, this aspect is difficult to implement in reality, as teachers work with a large number of students and the whole process of formative assessment, especially the evaluation of student performance takes a lot of time. To address this problem, this paper presents an approach in which student performance is collected through a concept map and quickly evaluated using Machine Learning techniques. For this purpose, a concept map on the topic of mechanics was developed and used in 14 physics classes in Germany. After the student maps were analysed by two human raters on the basis of a four-level feedback scheme, a supervised Machine Learning algorithm was trained on the data. The results show a very good agreement between the human and Machine Learning evaluation. Based on these results, an embedding in everyday school life is conceivable, especially as support for teachers. In this way, the teacher can use and interpret the automatic evaluation and use it in the classroom.

Electrochemistry, a key topic in introductory chemistry, is a topic that many students struggle with conceptually. Visual learning tools like concept maps allow the externalization of key concepts and the relationships between these concepts may aid in students' acquisition and retention of newly learned electrochemistry concepts. Partnering with a general chemistry instructor, this study explored the effectiveness of two concept map formats—fill‐in‐the‐concepts and student‐corrected maps, on electrochemistry outcomes with undergraduate general chemistry students. To examine students' engagement with these maps, we also explored the role of students' interest. Results indicated that prior knowledge and map condition were significant predictors of students' electrochemistry performance. Specifically, the fill‐in‐the‐concepts condition resulted in better learning outcomes than the map correction condition. Furthermore, students with a higher interest in electrochemistry were more likely to perform well on their respective concept mapping activities, thus, scoring higher on the posttest. These findings suggested that concept maps can effectively represent key concepts of a challenging topic, and are beneficial for students' learning and retention of information. Importantly, instructors may further support learning by providing scaffolds in the form of fill‐in‐the‐concept maps to help students better organize their mental structures and identify misconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effectiveness of concept maps in promoting long-term memory among Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) students. It focuses on the accuracy of content transmission and the acquisition of meaningful learning in bilingual education by connecting new and carefully organized information to students' prior knowledge. Thus, the research assesses the use of concept maps as instructional tools in foreign language (L2) settings, addressing a lack of evidence regarding their effectiveness. It also considers how concept mapping affects long-term memory through factors such as perception, processing, cognition, and transfer. The study examines how bilingualism, bilingual education, and curricular content influence instructional design when using concept maps. The study involved 60 Spanish primary education students attending a semi-public bilingual school. The research results aim to contribute to the development of effective teaching strategies and instructional design in CLIL classrooms, ultimately enhancing students' long-term memory and learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates use of blended concept map technique applied to the thermodynamics in the second year of Mechanical engineering of University of Mumbai, India. Two studies have been designed. In one study, traditional teacher leaning was followed to learn the topic of thermodynamics and in another study, students taught the same topic with concept map using software. The present work shows that there is significant difference between test score of pre and posttests who uses concept maps. Students showed positive inclination towards use of concept maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In conventional digital game-based learning, geographic maps are generally used to provide students with the whole picture of the gaming contexts, while the concepts to be learned are separately presented as individual gaming objects. Scholars have indicated the problems of such a gaming content design, in which students could encounter difficulties making effective connections between spatial and conceptual knowledge during the learning process, which may influence their learning effectiveness. As a result, it is a crucial and challenging issue to assist students in organizing spatial and conceptual knowledge in contextual learning environments, such as digital games. To solve this problem, an integrated concept map and geographic map-based digital gaming (CM-GMDG) approach is proposed to demonstrate how spatial and conceptual knowledge can be connected in the development of digital games. To investigate the effectiveness of the approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in a social science course. Two classes of seventh graders in a high school participated in this study. The experimental group (N = 39) adopted the CM-GMDG approach while the control group (N = 23) adopted the conventional geographic map-based digital gaming (GMDG) approach. The results showed that the students using the CM-GMDG approach significantly outperformed those using the GMDG approach on learning achievement. Moreover, the learning behavioral pattern analysis results showed that compared with the control group, students in the experimental group more frequently engaged in knowledge-acquiring behaviors, such as reading learning materials and completing learning tasks. On the other hand, the control group gave up on the learning tasks more frequently by switching the gaming scenes and stopping answering questions. This indicated that the CM-GMDG approach was more helpful for guiding students to focus on their learning tasks than the GMDG approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work practices of a health professional involve a complex weaving together of knowing what, knowing how, and knowing why. To help students engage with what is required for practice, educators need to have an expansive view of what it means to be a health professional in the rapidly changing real-world contexts that people inhabit today. Threshold concepts, and the complementary framework Ways of Thinking and Practising (WTP), are educational ideas that can help educators to think in those broad ways about health's knowledge base, behaviours, and values, and how these appear in the curriculum. This article offers a case example from a pre-clinical entry-level physiotherapy subject to illustrate how threshold concepts and WTP informed what students came to understand about health professional practice. A curriculum that considers threshold concepts and WTP in combination helps both educators and students to engage with learning from multiple perspectives and to develop a connected understanding of their chosen profession. Helping students to articulate the connections between knowledge (e.g. threshold concepts) and how this knowledge is put to use (e.g. through the WTP of the profession) enables them to reconsider practice-related contexts in meaningful ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning with hypertexts require learners to navigate in a non-linear environment and build a coherent representation of the informational content. The expansion of digital technologies and hypertext use in higher education has emphasized the need to examine how technological tools may foster quality learning. This study examined how three types of interactive content organizers (COs) used to represent the main concepts and to navigate in the content pages can impact information processing and learning outcome. The COs designed for the experiment varied in terms of conceptual and navigation support they provide and format. Ninety-three undergraduates used a list of concepts that only provided conceptual support, a summary or a concept map that provided both conceptual and navigation support either with text or graphic format. Results showed that highly coherent COs such as summaries or concept maps improved navigation coherence. However, the summary focused the attention of learners and decreased hypertext exploration (i.e. longer time on the CO and fewer content pages accessed). Longer reading times of the summary also increased text-based outcome, whereas longer processing of the concept map improved inference-based outcome. Implications for the design of interactive COs used to access, navigate and a learn with hypertexts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding effective ways to engage students in sense-making while learning is one of the central challenges discussed in mathematics education literature. One of the big issues is the prevalence of summative assessment tasks prompting students to demonstrate procedural knowledge only, which is a common problem at the tertiary level. In this study, in a large university classroom setting (N = 355), an instructional innovation was designed, developed, implemented and evaluated involving novel tasks–Knowledge Organisers. The tasks comprised prompts for students to generate examples/non-examples and construct a concept map of the key mathematical concepts in the course. The initiative's design was based on the current understanding of human cognitive architecture. A concept map is a visualisation of a group of related abstract concepts with their relationships identified by connections using directed arrows, which can be viewed as an externalisation of a schema stored in a learner's long-term memory. As such, we argue for a distinction between a local conceptual understanding (e.g., example space) versus a global conceptual understanding, manifesting through a high-quality concept map linking a group of related concepts. By utilising a mixed-methods approach and triangulation of the findings from qualitative and quantitative analyses, we were able to discern critical aspects pertaining to the feasibility of implementation and evaluate learners' perceptions. Students' performance on concept mapping is positively correlated with their perceptions of the novel tasks and the time spent completing them. Qualitative analysis showed that students' perceptions are demonstrably insightful about the key mechanisms that supposedly make the tasks beneficial to their learning. Based on the results of the data analyses and their theoretical interpretations, we propose pedagogical strategies for the effective use of Knowledge Organisers.

Nanoscale Science and Technology (NST) is a rapidly evolving field with profound implications for various industries and our everyday lives. However, misconceptions among learners can hinder their ability to grasp the fundamental concepts of NST, thereby impeding their potential contributions to this advancing domain. Concept maps (CM) and conceptual change texts (CCT) are graphical and written representations of knowledge that enable learners to visualize relationships between concepts and assess the coherence of their understanding. In this pursuit, we engage with the concept of rehabilitation for misconceptions, viewing the learning process as a transformative journey akin to cognitive rehabilitation. Through this CM-CCT constructivist approach, learners are encouraged to engage in critical reflection, self-questioning, and peer discussions, which facilitate the identification of misconceptions. Moreover, CM-CCT provide a structured framework for presenting accurate information about NST, offering a clear depiction of the hierarchical and interconnected nature of nanoscale phenomena. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CM-CCT in correcting the misconceptions of undergraduate university students regarding nanotechnology and the taxonomy of nonmaterial. Prior to the implementation of the CM-CCT, an assessment of pre-existing knowledge of the students was performed through the structure of the observed learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. A quasi-experimental research design was carried out. A total of 70 undergraduate university students, divided into two intact groups, were cross-examined for the study. Further, before and after the instructional tools, an achievement test based on nanotechnology and classification of nonmaterial was conducted, covering all six cognitive domains of the Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives. Data analysis revealed that the instructional tools based on constructivist approach had a statistically significant impact on students for elimination of their misconceptions about nanotechnology, nano science and classification of nonmaterial.

AbstractEngaging students in deep learning, especially in advanced undergraduate courses, can be challenging. Understanding individual concepts and their relations is key, as misunderstanding can hinder the uptake of future ideas. Students’ need to engage is addressed in the proposed Cognitive Sherlock Approach—a teaching method that encourages students to become detectives of their cognitive/thinking processes while solving a problem. This method involves presenting a problem-solving scenario that students revisit with each new concept, employing targeted teaching strategies to sustain engagement and reinforce individual concepts and their links. The approach utilizes various pedagogical strategies, including “Meta-Questions,” structured concept maps, structured group activities, a big-picture overview of the course, and a comprehensive review at the end. The success of this approach is largely dependent on the teacher’s efforts to establish a core course objective within a problem-solving context and to provide students with structured concepts maps to facilitate deeper student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]