Concept Maps

Concept maps What they are A concept map is a diagram which helps you to understand a concept such as verb, gravity or physical fitness. Here is an (incomplete) example for the concept of 'verb'.

How to make a concept map First, write your concept at the top of the page

!hen thin" of something that tells you more about 'verb', e.g. what it does, the types of verb. #ou add these items, lin"ing them to the ones higher on the page with a relational phrase, such as 'describes', 'produces', 'has' , 'for example', 'such as'. !he concept map begins to loo" li"e this

$ontinue doing this until you run out of ideas. %otice that each level down the page is more specific than the level above. &f your map gets in a muddle, that is telling you that you have a muddled idea of the concept. At that point you need to loo" for a new structure to your map.

For more information, see   %ova" and  *owin, Learning How to Learn. ($ambridge $ambridge +niversity ress, -/0). %ote this is a boo" for teachers, but the sections on concept mapping will give you lots of tips on how to create maps of your own.

Points in favour of concept maps 

useful when you're struggling to understand a concept, eg when you are wor"ing on your lecture notes or reading a chapter of a boo".

Points against concept maps 



can only record relations between concepts, therefore cannot record many "inds of information cannot replace other forms of noteta"ing.

Concept Mapping Tools $oncept mapping tools allow you or your students to visually depict a system of relationships by creating a map in which nodes represent ideas or facts, and lines or connectors between nodes represent relationships (for example, cause1and1effect relationships, category and sub1category relationships, and so on).