Cognitive Mapping Techniques: Implications for Research in Engineering and Technology Education

The primary goal of this paper is to present the theoretical basis and application of two types of cognitive maps, concept map and mind map, and explain how they can be used by educational researchers in engineering design research. Cognitive mapping techniques can be useful to researchers as they study students' problem solving strategies and cognitive processes. Students thrive when they are afforded problem solving opportunities in ill-structured domains that embrace inquiry and design. Not only do cognitive mapping techniques help qualitative researchers in the methodological challenge to reduce data to a manageable form without losing the embedded meaning, if used creatively they can allow researchers to see unique themes or patterns used in design problem solving. With the appropriate application of metrics, cognitive maps can also be used in quantitative data analysis. The examples highlighted in this paper illustrate how cognitive mapping techniques can be used effectively for quantitative data analysis. Its strength, however, exists in how it is able to aid the researcher to qualitatively analyze voluminous transcribed text data from expert and novices designers. While analyzing cognitive maps can be time consuming, properly constructed maps can illustrate how students categorize design concepts, display patterns in their cognitive strategy, and identify themes that emerge from the solving of design problems.