ERIC Number: EJ1156616
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2065-1430
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Concept Mapping as a Tool to Develop and Measure Students' Understanding in Science
Tan, Sema; Erdimez, Omer; Zimmerman, Robert
Acta Didactica Napocensia, v10 n2 p109-122 2017
Concept maps measured a student's understanding of the complexity of concepts, and interrelationships. Novak and Gowin (1984) claimed that the continuous use of concept maps increased the complexity and interconnectedness of students' understanding of relationships between concepts in a particular science domain. This study has two purposes; the first one was to test this claim and examine how the repeated use of concept maps affected the complexity and interconnectedness of concepts independent of science subjects in elementary school, the second one was to compare the sensitivity of the Ruiz-Primo et al. (1997), and the Novak and Gowin (1984) grading systems for concept maps. The sample group consisted of 23 students including 14 male and 9 female students. We employed paired sample t-tests to answer the research questions, and found that the scores obtained for the fifth science unit was significantly different from the first one. Also, Novak and Gowin's (1984) scoring system was better than Ruiz-Primo et al. (1997) to evaluate complexity in students' thinking except for one of the units. We conclude that concept maps have the potential to measure change in complexity and interconnectivity of concept maps. Furthermore, repeated use of concept maps has the potential to increase the complexity and interconnectedness of student concept maps, and therefore improve their understanding of science independent of science content.
Descriptors: Concept Mapping, Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, Statistical Analysis, Correlation, Comparative Analysis, Elementary School Students, Grading, Scores, Concept Formation, Teaching Methods, Problem Solving, Gifted, Intelligence Tests, Evaluation Criteria
Babes-Bolyai University. Kogainiceanu 1, Cluj-Napoca, 400084 Romania. e-mail: submit_adn@yahoo.com; Web site: http://adn.teaching.ro
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A