Concept Mapping : Reading as a Cognitive Process
Eiji Leland Suenaga · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · 2001
This paper is a report on the introduction of concept mapping into Japanese university reading courses (during a half-year period) in order to teach students a new (for them) method of learning. Making concept maps involves the use of many cognitive skills, for example, identifying information as interrelated concepts and evaluating and synthesizing this information. Because concept maps graphically present a reader's interpretation of the concepts and interrelationships contained within a reading, they can be quickly evaluated by instructors at any time during the mapping exercise and more individualized help can be provided. In order to foster a sense of community and, thus, learning within the classroom, the concept mapping exercises were conducted in pairs. These pairs, after completing their map, then compared maps with another pair. The pairs, themselves, changed for every reading/mapping exercise.