Concept map assessment for teaching computer programming

A key challenge of effective teaching is assessing and monitoring the extent to which students have assimilated the material they were taught. Concept mapping is a methodology designed to model what students have learned. In effect, it seeks to produce graphical representations (called concept maps) of the concepts that are important to a given domain and how they are related, according to the students. In recent decades various methods have emerged to evaluate concept maps, each measuring different features of concept maps. New approaches are still being developed. Few guidelines are available regarding the method to choose for a given application. This paper is a literature review that consists of two parts. The first is a review of the many automated and manual techniques of concept map analysis. The second is a critical and reflective commentary on these techniques.