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Concept Mapping for Pre-Testing
Concept Mapping for Pre-Testing
Designing a concept map exercise
To structure a concept map exercise for students, follow these three steps:
Create a focus question that clearly specifies the issue that the concept map should address, such as “What are the potential effects of cap-and-trade policies?” or “What is materials science?”
Tell students (individually or in groups) to begin by generating a list of relevant concepts and organizing them before constructing a preliminary map.
Give students the opportunity to revise. Concept maps evolve as they become more detailed and may require rethinking and reconfiguring.
Encourage students to create maps that:
Employ a hierarchical structure that distinguishes concepts and facts at different levels of specificity
Draw multiple connections, or cross-links, that illustrate how ideas in different domains are related
Include specific examples of events and objects that clarify the meaning of a given concept
Using concept maps throughout the semester
Concept maps can be used at different points throughout the semester to gauge students’ knowledge. Here are some ideas:
Ask students to create a concept map at the beginning of the semester to assess the knowledge they have coming into a course. This can give you a quick window into the knowledge, assumptions, and misconceptions they bring with them and can help you pitch the course appropriately.
Assign the same concept map activity several times over the course of the semester. Seeing how the concept maps grow and develop greater nuance and complexity over time helps students (and the instructor) see what they are learning.
Create a fill-in-the-blank concept map in which some circles are blank or some lines are unlabeled. Give the map to students to complete.
KWL for Pre-Testing
KWL for Pre-Testing
The KWL (Know, Want, Learn) strategy (Ogle 1986) provides a structure for activating and building prior knowledge, establishing a purpose for reading and for summarising what was learned. The strategy can help students reflect and evaluate their learning experience, as well as serve as a useful assessment tool for teachers. Similarly, the KNWS strategy (know - K/what information is not relevant-N/ what the problem wants them to find out-W/ and what strategy can be used to solve the problem-S), can be used to plan, organise and analyse how to solve word problems .
Explicitly teaching KWL:
Step 1 Choose a general topic and create a table with three columns and two rows — one row for the headings and one larger one in which to write. Label the first column with a K for “What I Know,” the second with a W for “What I Want to know,” and the third with an L for “What I Learned” or a variation of this. Introduce the KWL strategy and model how to use it with the topic.
Step 2 As a class group brainstorm what students already know about a specific subject topic. Highlight the importance of prior learning and how life experience and making connections to what we already know is a very important part of learning. Write these ideas under the K column.
Step 3 Now have students generate a list of what else they want to learn or questions they want answered. Continue to demonstrate how to organise and categorise their suggestions and how to use this information to set a purpose for reading. Students can also turn textbook headings and subheadings into questions for the W column. Students now read (or listen) the text and actively look for answers to their questions as well as to verify their knowledge.
Step 4 After reading with purpose they discuss and record what they learned in the L column, especially paying attention to W questions that were answered from the text or activity. Provide multiple opportunities for students to use the strategy in pairs or small groups until they can use the strategy independently. The L column can also serve as notes for review and revision.
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