Instructional Principles and Methods

Concept Maps and Vee diagrams: Two Metacognitive Tools to Facilitate Meaningful Learning

      Concept maps and vee diagrams are a systematic way of learning. I already use a system similar to concept map but not the same. At the beginning of the article there was a citation ‘’learning how to learn’’ which was not strange to me because it reminded me metacognitive thinking. I gained the habit of using a system similarly with the concept maps last year. I discovered that it helped me to learn better.

      After reading the article as well as discussing in the class, I think I learnt to use concept maps more efficiently and effectively. As we discussed in the class concept maps reduce rote learning and encourages meaningful learning. Students automatically after using the concept maps make connections between the concepts. This makes them to think and try to find the meanings between the concepts. As a result rather than memorization they learn in a meaningful way.

      In the article we have seen some examples of concept maps constructed by people from different jobs. For instance, the concept map which the basketball player constructed was beneficial but complex. So, I think that teachers should encourage their students to construct and use concept maps because the students need support when constructing the concept map. The teacher should show the path and encourage the students to use concept maps. Lastly, I hope I can use concept maps efficiently and effectively in my courses and I hope I can teach my own students to use concept maps effectively in the future.