Concept Mapping as a Mindtool for Critical Thinking

<p>Previous research has shown that incidental exposure to second-language collocations in reading texts can produce gains in declarative collocational knowledge. However, there is little evidence that incidental exposure leads to the acquisition of procedural collocational knowledge. One key study that investigated these two areas was Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). They found that advanced non-native speakers gained substantial declarative knowledge of low-frequency technical collocations after three exposures in two incidental reading conditions in one treatment session; typographic enhancement of the collocations produced more correct answers than no enhancement. However, the researchers found no evidence of procedural collocational knowledge in a primed lexical decision task. Experiment 1 in this thesis was a conceptual replication and extension of Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). In a counter-balanced learning and experimental condition, 62 advanced adult ESL speakers were exposed to nine occurrences of 15 low-frequency technical collocations in 500-word texts in three sessions on two consecutive days. (input flooding). Three incidental learning treatments were implemented: reading-only (typographically unenhanced), bolding-only and bolding-plus-glossing. Collocational knowledge was assessed in two tests of declarative knowledge: a cued-recall (gapfill) test and a form-recognition (multiple-choice) test. Procedural collocational knowledge was operationalised as a priming effect in a primed lexical decision task. The results of the immediate cued-recall and form-recognition post-tests corroborate Sonbul and Schmitt’s findings: multiple encounters with the collocations produced substantial declarative collocational knowledge, and more declarative knowledge was produced through exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations (with and without glosses) than to typographically-unenhanced collocations. Procedural knowledge was found, but, unexpectedly, only in the reading-only treatment. Experiment 2 focused on non-technical lexical (verb + noun) collocations and grammatical (preposition + noun) collocations. Two incidental learning conditions were used: bolding and no-bolding. Seventy-eight intermediate-to-upper-intermediate-level adult native speakers of Chinese were exposed to six occurrences of each of 48 non-technical English collocations as they read twelve 170-word treatment texts on two consecutive days. The immediate post-test session comprised a gapfill (cued-recall) test, for measuring declarative knowledge, and a self-paced reading task, for measuring procedural knowledge. The results show an increase in declarative knowledge in both learning conditions. Bolding produced more declarative knowledge of preposition + noun collocations than no bolding; however, bolding was no more effective than no bolding for verb + noun collocations. In the self-paced reading task, the absence of bolding of verb + noun collocations led to a tendency towards the development of procedural knowledge, but this was not the case for the typographically enhanced verb + noun collocations. For preposition + noun collocations (both unbolded and bolded) no evidence of procedural knowledge was found. The findings of both experiments indicate that input flooding of collocations in incidental learning conditions can produce declarative collocational knowledge, and that typographic enhancement may lead to more declarative knowledge than lack of typographic enhancement. Repeated exposure to typographically-unenhanced collocations in reading contexts may produce procedural knowledge of collocations more quickly than exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations. These findings indicate that declarative and procedural knowledge of MWUs are dissociated in the sense that they follow different developmental paths. In a teaching context, I predict that the knowledge of collocations may be acquired incidentally through the use of texts such as graded readers which contain multiple instances of collocations.</p>

As faculty, our goals for students are often tacit, hidden not only from students but from ourselves as well. We present a conceptual framework for considering teaching goals - what we want our students to achieve - that encourages us to think more broadly about what we mean by achieving in our knowledge domains. This framework includes declarative knowledge ("knowing that"), procedural knowledge ("knowing how"), schematic knowledge ("knowing why") and strategic knowledge ("knowing when, where and how our knowledge applies"). We link the framework to a variety of assessment methods and focus on assessing the structure of declarative knowledge - knowledge structure. From prior research, we know that experts and knowledgeable students have extensive, well-structured, declarative knowledge; not so novices. We then present two different techniques for assessing knowledge structure - cognitive and concept maps, and a combination of the two - and provide evidence on their technical quality. We show that these maps provide a window into the structure of students' declarative knowledge not otherwise tapped by typical pencil-and-paper tests. These maps provide us with new teaching goals and new evidence on student learning.

Computer-based concept mapping tools have been widely used in several learning strategies, one of which is blended learning. Blended learning synthesizes face-to-face and online interaction in offering a synchronous and asynchronous activity. However, little effort has been made to utilize extended concept maps in blended learning. Extended concept mapping is a technique to connect existing concept maps with a new knowledge structure. Extending activities allow learners to review their prior knowledge, elicit missing ideas and relationships, and improve new experiences. This study sought to investigate the performance of the Extended Scratch-Build (ESB) concept mapping tool in a blended learning environment. A total of 54 university students participated and were divided into two groups, experimental and control. The students in the experimental group used the ESB technique, and those in the control group used the whole-class discussion and summarization method. The results reported that the experimental group outperformed the control group in terms of immediate-test scores attainment.

Computer-based concept mapping combined with learning management system use: An explorative study under the self- and collaborative-mode

Background: Concept Maps (CMs) have been used in a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) setting as complementary tools to current educational techniques for enhancing medical student knowledge and critical thinking. We conducted a pilot study that used CMs in a PBL-setting to introduce a measure from the field of graph theory and investigate its usefulness as a means of CM quantitative quality assessment. Methods: Participants were first-year medical students with no or minor prior CM experience. All participants completed questionnaires (demographic information and assessment of learning style) to establish a baseline measure against which the change in clinical and critical thinking was assessed. They were asked to prepare CMs for three PBL cases, and following the submission of the CMs they completed semi-structured critical and clinical thinking questionnaires. A clinical expert also created corresponding “benchmark” CMs for comparison. Qualitative (Wordclouds) and quantitative (graph theory) analysis provided a summary of the key concepts and quantified the CM quality respectively, compared to the “benchmark” CMs. Results: It was found that graph-theoretical measures (graph density, modularity) were suitable for distinguishing between CMs that captured more in-depth knowledge, compared to CMs that contained simpler associations. Questionnaires also revealed that CMs helped students recall information, organize material in a concise manner, prepare better for their PBL session and provided a good revision tool. Conclusions: We have shown that a graph-theoretical approach to quantitative CM assessment is feasible using measures such as graph density and modularity.

Vi sualization support is a conceptual framework.Based on the graphic way, it can intuitively and structurally present the relationship of different knowledge.At present, the visual teaching tools have been widely used in various fields.It also played an important role in English teaching.Hoping to apply this knowledge visualization teaching tools into daily English teaching can let us produce unexpected results.

Epidemiology is founded on central concepts and principles, essential for conducting, reporting and critically assessing epidemiological studies. Definitions of the many concepts used in the field can be found in...

Concept mapping has been applied in a variety of fields, including instruction, learning, curriculum development, and assessment. Because many empirical studies have proven the validity of concept mapping, a computer-based concept mapping system has been developed. The system provides two learning environments. In the 'construct-by-self' environment, the system provides students with the evaluation results and corresponding hints for feedback. The students construct concept maps by themselves with only the assistance of the feedback. In the 'construct-on- scaffold' environment, in addition to the feedback, the students receive an incomplete concept map, within which some nodes and links were set as blanks for the scaffold. A study comparing the effectiveness of the 'construct-by-self', 'construct-on-scaffold', and 'construct by paper-and- pencil' concept mapping showed that the 'construct-on-scaffold' had better effect for learning on biology. Both of the two computer-based procedures are helpful for students in completing their concept maps.

It appears that there are resemblances in the organization of memory and the visual system, although the functions of these faculties differ considerably. In this article, the principles behind this organization are discussed. One important principle regards the distinction between declarative and procedural knowledge, between knowing that and knowing how. Declarative knowledge is considered here not as an alternative kind of knowledge, as is usually the case in theories of memory, but as part of procedural knowledge. In our view this leads to another approach with respect to the distinction. Declarative knowledge has occupied more attention in (cognitive) psychological research than can be justified on the basis of the importance of procedural knowledge for behavior. We also discuss the question whether there are other brain faculties that reflect the same organizational characteristics. We conclude with some speculations about the consequent role of consciousness in such a tentative model.

Knowledge representation form in mechanical engineering

Knowledge Representation Methods for Dairy Decision Support Systems

To determine whether youth athletes with an “average” (regional), “high” (sub-elite), and “very high” (elite) level of performance differ with respect to their self-assessed tactical skills, 191 youth field hockey players (mean age 15.5 years, s = 1.6) completed the Tactical Skills Inventory for Sports (TACSIS) with scales for declarative (“knowing what to do”) and procedural (“doing it”) knowledge. Multivariate analyses of covariance with age as covariate showed that elite and sub-elite players outscored regional players on all tactical skills (P < 0.05), whereas elite players had better scores than sub-elite players on “positioning and deciding” (P < 0.05) only. The sex of the athletes had no influence on the scores (P > 0.05). With increasing level of performance, scores on declarative and procedural knowledge were higher. Close to expert performance, declarative knowledge no longer differentiated between elite and sub-elite players (P > 0.05), in contrast to an aspect of procedural knowledge (i.e. positioning and deciding), where elite players outscored sub-elite players (P < 0.05). These results may have implications for the development of talented athletes.

The aim of this study was to track students’ critical thinking performance longitudinally through concept map analysis in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Concept map analysis has been employed in the assessment of students’ critical thinking in medical education. Little is known concerning concept mapping (CM) in speech-language pathology (SLP) education. In this quantitative study, students in a 4-year SLP education program (N = 38) were followed until the completion of a fully-integrated PBL curriculum from Years 1 to 3. Students’ concept maps were analyzed using a tool developed for this study, the Concept Map Assessment Profile (CMAP). There was an increase in concept map scores across the 3 years at the beginning of the academic year. The CM performance over the 3 years predicted 21.0% to 33.6% of variance in three measures of learning outcomes. The CMAP is a reliable measure, with strong inter-rater and intra-rater reliability (r = 0.85 and r = 0.96, respectively). In addition to its use as an assessment tool, the CMAP might be used to facilitate students’ learning as feedback concerning strengths and weaknesses in the development of critical thinking can be provided.

The “Big Picture” of Thematic Multimedia Information Representation in Enhancing Learners’ Critical Thinking and History Reasoning

In this study, the effects of concept mapping (CM) and cooperative mastery learning (CML) strategies on students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment were compared. To achieve this, a sample of 295 students from nine intact Biology classes in coeducational boarding schools in Nyamagabe District, Rwanda, was selected using purposive sampling and taught Biology using the CM and CML strategies. The Biology Classroom Learning Environment Questionnaire (BCLEQ) was used to collect data before and after teaching activities. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (mean and SD) and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results revealed that both strategies promoted students' perceptions of CLE, with CM enhancing the learning environment more than the CML strategy. Besides, there was no significant gender difference in the perceptions of the BCLE. Moreover, neither teaching strategy nor gender interacted with students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment. It was concluded that the use of CM and CML in teaching and learning Biology improves students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment. Therefore, it is recommended for Biology teachers to promote a pleasant classroom learning environment by adopting the CM and CML teaching strategies.