3 Ways Concept Maps can make You a Better Student

A concept map involves pictures that show how ideas relate to one another and are extremely effective so learn these 3 Ways Concept Maps can make You a Better Student.

Ideas in a concept map appear as nodes, and the relationships between the ideas are descriptively labelled as links.

Concept maps can be small and simple or large and complex.

They can be used to capture, clearly communicate, and make complex ideas simpler and easier to understand.

There are various ways that concept maps can make it easier for you to learn.

Concept maps aid with learning in many different ways including building better understanding, getting a better idea of what you know and don’t know, and figuring out where you need to invest your time in studying further.

3 Ways Concept Maps Can Make You a Better Student

Image

Build Better Understanding

A concept map can help you improve your understanding of any subject or topic that you are currently studying.

Studies have found that making concept maps while learning a topic can be effective for both recall information and comprehension improvement.

When you study, your main goal is often to make connections between the new ideas that you come across and connect them to things that you already know.

A concept map can be used to show these relationships visually, which can make them easier to remember and understand.

Test Your Knowledge

More people than you think are not very good at assessing how well they actually know something.

This is because your understanding is quite an abstract concept that is inside your own head.

It’s impossible to examine your understanding of something to check if it’s incomplete or complete, even if you take an exam.

Creating a concept map can be an ideal way to get a snapshot of your understanding that you can look at and examine in closer depth.

By laying out your understanding in front of you and looking at it, it becomes easier to be realistic about what you know.

Planning Your Future Studies

Most students know that they should spend a lot of time studying, but many are interested in figuring out which areas they need to pay more attention to.

This will depend on many factors including the way that you study, your motivation and attention, and the topic that you are studying.

When you have gone through everything you know as well as your study materials to create at least one concept map, taking some time to reflect on the ideas that have come up in your map or maps can make it easier for you to figure out what needs your attention most when it comes to your studies.

If you feel that you understand the ideas well, you probably don’t need to focus on those compared to the ones that are still confusing to you.

Types of Concept Maps for Students

As a student, concept mapping can be useful for helping you organize your thoughts, brainstorm ideas for a project and make connections.

Concept maps usually start with a word in a box in the center of a page, using lines or arrows to link it to other words, clearly showing the relationship between the subject.

As a student, there are some different types of concept maps that you might find useful.

Hierarchy Concept Map

This map is made by first brainstorming a list of important topics before choosing the subject to go at the top.

Then choose the most important concept – this will be the one that is absolutely essential for you to have all the others, and the one from which they all stem.

Sometimes it’s obvious; sometimes it will take some thought.

Place the word in a box at the top of the map.

Then, link this key word to the second most important words form your list.

Link the second key words to less important words, and so on. Finally, explain the relationship between them.

Spider Concept Map

Start this concept map by writing the main topic in the center of the page.

Sub-topics will then branch from this main topic, with supporting details branching from the sub-topics.

Once completed, the format is going to look similar to a spider.

This type of concept map can be very helpful for making it easier for you to see which topics are richer compared to others.

You can even make it more specific by adding further supporting topics around the existing supporting topics.

Flowchart Concept Map

The flowchart style of concept map allows students to examine a specific process and makes it easier to see the various options available for getting it done.

Flowchart concept maps can either be linear, flowing from one concept to the next, or have multiple elements for examining a wide range of outcomes.

The starting point is usually either a process, or a problem that is in need of a solution.

Once you’ve added your starting point, write the easiest solution for the problem.

Then, add ‘yes’ and ‘no’, before adding different suggestions on what to do if either of these two are true.

Suggest another solution on the ‘no’ section, and branch out to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ again, continuing with this until all solutions are exhausted.

Whether you’re a school or college student or simply somebody who loves to learn new things, using concept maps in your study routine can be a simple yet very effective way to get more from your study sessions and change the way that you learn things.

Rather than taking down notes or doodling in your notebook, try making a concept map for a better understanding of your topic.

Add Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

google.com, pub-8596903668708912, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
Verified by MonsterInsights