The Origins of the Concept Mapping Tool and the Continuing Evolution of the Tool

Abstract

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.

Emprego de um software baseado em mineração de texto e apresentação gráfica multirrepresentacional como apoio à aprendizagem de conceitos científicos a partir de textos no Ensino Fundamental

“…Sobre a utilização de um organizador gráfico de informações no formato de grafo para a apresentação dos resultados da análise de mineração textual realizada pelo SOBEK, tal opção é fundamentada nos resultados de mais de 20 anos de pesquisa sobre as propriedades desse tipo de recurso CAÑAS, 2006). Os organizadores gráficos são, em geral, definidos como representações visuais e bidimensionais do conhecimento que destacam relações entre conceitos ou processos por meio da utilização diferenciada do posicionamento espacial e de recursos de ligação entre os elementos.…”

The Effect of Concept Mapping on Iranian Pre-intermediate L2 Reading Comprehension

“…The web concept map is like a spider web, in which many ideas are linked by a common thread .this type of concept map is in accordance with hierarchical order of connecting concepts, which was emphasized by Novak (2006b). the web concept map is suitable for all subject matters.…”

Análise de vizinhança: uma nova abordagem para avaliar a rede proposicional de mapas conceituais

“…Oáudio das entrevistas gravadas com os alunos constituía-se na fonte primária de dados empíricos e, devido a dificuldades de transcrever todo o material obtido, os MCs foram utilizados para representar parcialmente a estrutura cognitiva dos alunos, organizando os conceitos de forma hierárquica e a partir do estabelecimento de proposições. Essa forma de representação esquemática do conteúdo das entrevistas permitiu aos pesquisadores observar com maior detalhamento e precisão as mudanças conceituais que ocorriam na estrutura cognitiva dos alunos [1][2][3].…”