|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here's some information for those who are having troubles making concept maps.
Purpose of making Concept Maps: To remember information longer and to be able to use it more effectively. It will allow you to move information into your long-term memory. Concept maps offer a method to represent information visually. There are a variety of such maps. Concept maps harness the power of our vision to understand complex information "at-a-glance." The primary function of the brain is to interpret incoming information to make meaning. It is easier for the brain to make meaning when information is presented in visual formats. This is why a picture is worth a thousand words. It is essential to your studies and career that you can handle complex information; concept maps offer one method to do this.
How to make Concept Maps:
1. Start with a list of concepts or ideas to be mapped. This list does not have to be complete, but it should be complete enough to allow you to choose the main idea of the map.
2. Look through the list to identify the concept words that directly relate to the main idea. Place these works below the main idea. Continue this procedure with all the words on you list and any supporting ideas until they are all placed in order of priority under the main idea.
3. Use lines to connect the concepts, based on relationships that link them.
4. Use connecting words to label the linking lines so that the relationship between any two concepts is a clear and complete thought.
5. Look for all possibilities to add cross-links to the map. Cross-links show how completely one understand the relationships among concepts.
Tips on Making Your Own Concept Maps.
Gather Your Writing and Drawing Materials
Having to get up to find a tool or notebook is more than a inconvenience, it can completely break your concentration. Have plenty of paper on hand, colored markers, a ruler, and even a shape template. You may wish to dedicate a notebook just to making and refining visuals for your classes.
Gather Your Research Materials
These materials can include: books, class notes, related newspaper and magazine articles, notes of independent observations, data / statistics, and visual materials, such as photos and diagrams. This is your "database" for making concept maps. You scan such materials to keep relevant information in mind as you are making maps.
Select One of the Concept Map Formats
Get to know the different formats. Try them out when you have an opportunity. See how different formats are appropriate for different kinds of information. For example, if you want to depict the organizational structure of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, a hierarchy map is best (the Dean goes in the top box!).
Making Your First Map
For example, for the question "Should there be logging in old growth forests?", make a spider map to represent the pro's and con's of this issue. On one side of this issue, there are topics like biodiversity and spotted owls that should be depicted on the map. On the other side of the issue, there are topics related to the towns and families that rely on logging income that should be on the map. There are also issues of logging and foreign trade, logging and recreation, and so on. Try to come up a with a map that represents the whole issue.
Revising Maps
Revise your maps to refine them: Are they clear? Logical? Attractive? Good maps are like good writing; they are usually the product of several drafts.Show a map to your teacher and friends to get feedback.
Using Maps as Preparation for Discussion Section
After lecture and before your discussion section, make a map to represent the information presented in lecture. And be sure to ALWAYS master the concept maps that are in your Discovery Manual at the beginning of each of the five system sections. They provide a convenient overview of some very complex information.
Creative Tips for Making Maps
Review available visual materials such as photos, sketches, graphs, etc.
Focus upon a visual language approach to communication.
Consider possible formats for visual structuring.
Relax, close your eyes and allow your mind to "free associate".
Draw informal, thumbnail sketches of your visual impressions.
Experiment with a variety of visual layout formats.
Color shapes, arrows or words for emphasis.
Imagine a bird's eye overview of the subject matter to be presented.
Look with fresh eyes, is the visual presentation attractive?
Ask yourself, are these visuals compelling? Do they help convince the viewer that the subject matter is important and inviting?
Integrate the visuals with the text. Does it work to the best advantage?
Keep a record of the maps you do (Perhaps in your "Visual Notebook").
from http://classes.aces.uiuc.edu/ACES100/Mind/CMap.html and http://www.iloveteaching.com/chs/study/cm/
|
|
|
|
