Joined up thinking? Evaluating the use of concept‐mapping to develop complex system learning

The development of moral judgment and organization of ethical knowledge in final year physical therapy students

“…28,35,36,40,41 There was no significant correlation between SOLO and N2 scores and this is discussed below.…”

“…41 This has to do with a persisting ambiguity in the task of interpreting the criteria for attribution of different SOLO levels and partly explains why a number of other researchers have made attempts to further differentiate the 5 levels of SOLO. 28,41 Despite reaching good levels of reliability, our map scorers were not quarantined from these same challenges in relation to the attribution of SOLO scores.…”

“…The significance of this finding, apart from emphasizing the importance of a method to describe relationships between constructs on concept maps, is that students were observed to move from a quantitative 'adding' of knowledge items to their existing knowledge frameworks in favour of a more qualitative interpreting and integrating of new knowledge into existing frameworks. 28,29,34,36 The DIT2 and Concept maps (with their associated measure SOLO) are parallel data collection and analysis 'arms' of the study. The DIT2 is concerned with judging the moral reasoning schema drawn upon in ethical problem solving whereas concept maps (together with the SOLO attribution of learning) provide an assessment of the richness in organization of forms of ethical knowledge.…”

“…22,[28][29][32][33][34] It thus provides a means for the learner of visually displaying their integration of new knowledge into existing knowledge frameworks 29,32 and, in doing so, demonstrating the complexity of their knowledge construction (e.g. a connectivity of concepts and factors), particularly useful in ill structured or ambiguous problems.…”

“…Concept maps arguably provide greater opportunity to access learners' organization of knowledge on more complex topics than can be expressed in more conventional written assessment methods. 22,28,[32][33][34] Concept maps were developed in 1972 in the context of understanding the learning of science by children. 32 The early use of this tool largely embodied a positivist understanding of knowledge in so much as concepts in maps were arranged (and assessed) hierarchically and reflected an absolutist (or 'right' -'wrong') conception of knowledge.…”