A research program at Cornell University that sought to study the ability of children to acquire science concepts and the effect of this learning on later schooling led to the need for a new tool to describe explicit changes in children's conceptual understanding. Concept mapping was invented in 1972 to meet this need, and subsequently numerous other uses have been found for this tool. Underlying the research program and the development of the concept mapping tool was an explicit cognitive psychology of learning and an explicit constructivist epistemology. In 1987, collaboration began between Novak and Cañas and others at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, then part of the University of West Florida. Extending the use of concept mapping to other applications such as the integration of concept mapping with the World Wide Web (WWW) led to the development of software that enhanced the potential of concept mapping, evolving into the current version of CmapTools now used worldwide in schools, universities, corporations, and governmental and non-governmental agencies. Differences between concept maps and other knowledge representation tools are described. The integration of concept mapping software programs with the WWW and other new technologies permits a new kind of concept map-centred learning environment wherein learners build their own knowledge models, individually or collaboratively, and these can serve as a basis for life-long meaningful learning. Combined with other educational practices, use of CmapTools permits a New Model for Education. Preliminary studies are underway to assess the possibilities of this New Model.

ResumoEste texto apresenta a origem da ferramenta de mapas conceituais e descreve brevemente o início do seu desenvolvimento. Apresentam-se algumas das ideias da Teoria da Assimilação de Ausubel (1963Ausubel ( , 1968 que serviram como base para a criação dos mapas conceituais, destacando-se a importância da assimilação de novos conceitos e proposições na estrutura cognitiva prévia do aprendiz para a construção de signifi cados. Apresentam-se ainda as bases epistemológicas dessa teoria de aprendizagem cognitiva, incluindo-se a ideia de que a produção criativa de um novo conhecimento pode ser entendida como um nível bastante avançado de aprendizagem signifi cativa, processo que pode ser facilitado pela utilização de mapas conceituais. Busca-se ilustrar a larga variedade das ferramentas disponíveis no programa gratuito CmapTools, cujas várias aplicações incluem o auxílio ao desenvolvimento da aprendizagem signifi cativa e do currículo, a captura e retenção de conhecimento especializado tácito e explícito e o fortalecimento da produção criativa. O uso do programa CmapTools, de fontes da internet e de outros recursos digitais prepara um poderoso Novo Modelo de Educação, levando à criação de portfólios de conhecimento individual, capazes de registrar a aprendizagem signifi cativa e embasar qualquer futura aprendizagem afi m. O programa CmapTools oferece ainda amplo suporte para colaboração, bem como para a publicação e compartilhamento de modelos de conhecimento. Palavras-chave: Mapa conceitual. Aprendizagem signifi cativa. Programa Cmaptools. AbstractThis text presents the origin of the concept map tool and some of the early history in the development of this tool. Some of the ideas from Ausubel's (1963;1968) assimilation theory of cognitive learning that served as a foundation for concept mapping are presented, including the important role that assimilating new concepts and propositions into a learner's existing cognitive framework plays in meaning making. Epistemological foundations are also presented including the idea that creative production of new knowledge can be seen as a very high level of meaningful learning, and concept mapping can facilitate the process. The wide range of tools available in free CmapTools software and some applications are illustrated, including application for facilitating meaningful learning, better curriculum development, capturing and archiving tacit and explicit expert knowledge, and enhancing creative production. Using CmapTools, WWW resources, and other digital resources provide for a powerful New Model for Education leading to the creation of individual knowledge portfolios that can document signifi cant learning and serve as a foundation for future related learning. CmapTools also provides extensive support for collaboration, publishing and sharing of knowledge models.

Abstract. Information visualization has been a research topic for many years, leading to a mature field where guidelines and practices are well established. Knowledge visualization, in contrast, is a relatively new area of research that has received more attention recently due to the interest from the business community in Knowledge Management. In this paper we present the CmapTools software as an example of how concept maps, a knowledge visualization tool, can be combined with recent technology to provide integration between knowledge and information visualizations. We show how concept map-based knowledge models can be used to organize repositories of information in a way that makes them easily browsable, and how concept maps can improve searching algorithms for the Web. We also report on how information can be used to complement knowledge models and, based on the searching algorithms, improve the process of constructing concept maps.

This article examines concepts and propositions from a theoretical perspective, and establishes the need for and develops an extension to Concept Maps (CMaps), called Cyclic Concept Maps (Cyclic CMaps). Cyclic CMaps are considered to be an appropriate tool for representing knowledge of functional or dynamical relationships between concepts. CMaps, on the other hand, are viewed as an appropriate tool for representing hierarchic or static knowledge. The two maps complement each other and collectively capture a larger domain of knowledge, thus forming a more effective knowledge representation tool. ß 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 2005 Concept Maps (CMaps) are used around the world by educators and researchers alike. The Journal of Research in Science Teaching alone has published numerous articles on CMaps during the last 15 years, including a special issue dedicated to the topic. Researchers have been interested in CMaps as a knowledge representation tool for instruction (Edmondson

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