Teach Less, Learn More: Using Concept Mapping Tools in the Classroom

Lewis & Clark Graduate School, York 115

First developed by Joseph Novak and his students at Cornell University in the 1970s, concept mapping is currently enjoying an international renaissance due to the capabilities of CmapTools software created by the Institute for Machine and Human Cognition (IHMC).

Mapping promotes meaningful, conceptual understanding, as opposed to rote memorization. When maps are elaborated by linking to other digital objects, a robust “knowledge model” can be crafted.

In this two-part workshop, participants will learn to use the IHMC tools to construct maps depicting the relationships among key ideas within different fields of study.

Objectives:

Learn to author ‘focus questions’ within specific disciplines that call upon thinking and doing

Become skilled in crafting networks of propositions—Concept Maps—that structure the relationships among ideas and information needed to answer ‘focus questions’

Work cooperatively with other participants to modify concept maps and share resources using digital tools

Demonstrate how to structure an inquiry as a ‘Vee diagram’ anchored with concept maps, linked to resources, and responsive to focus questions

About the Instructor

Charles R. Ault, Jr. (“Kip”) PhD is a Professor Emeritus at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Dr. Ault coordinated the Masters of Arts in Teaching (science) program at Lewis & Clark, and has taught in both preservice and inservice programs at the elementary and secondary level for more than thirty years.

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