Concept mapping is an activity that can be done individually or in groups, where students organize and connect concepts or ideas using lines or arrows labeled with the relationships between them. In a concept map, concepts or ideas are represented by nodes, while the lines or arrows connecting these nodes illustrate their relationships. The process begins with brainstorming broad, big-picture ideas, from which students choose one as a starting point to link other terms and illustrate their connections. They then add “linking terms” to clarify and describe how the different ideas are related. These linking terms are important for seeing connections and relationships between different ideas.

What is the activity good at accomplishing and how does it accomplish that?

Below is a list of some of the things you can accomplish with your students using this active learning technique. Before making changes to the technique, check (and add to) all that the Concept Mapping activity is contributing to your students’ learning experience and make sure you maintain those through the changes that you are making.

• Builds upon students’ previous knowledge and experience by applying pre-existing knowledge to new situations and drawing connections between new information and existing knowledge. 
• Reduces cognitive load by allowing students to focus on essential relationships between different concepts or ideas while providing a comprehensive view of the topic. 
• Clarifies and structures ideas, makes relationships between concepts more explicit while supporting students in synthesizing and integrating information and building a knowledge framework. 
• Promotes critical, higher order thinking and encourages creativity by providing students with an opportunity to discover new connections between concepts.
• Highlights areas that require further study or understanding, as these concepts appear less developed in terms of their relationships within the map.
• Others?

• Provide students with clear instructions on the principles and guidelines for concept mapping. 
• Offer an example of a concept map or demonstrate various formats that concept maps can take. You can also provide a list of linking words and phrases for students to use when connecting different ideas.
• Emphasize that there is no right or wrong way to build a concept map. 
• Scaffold the process for your students by providing a space to brainstorm higher level concepts and ideas. Alternatively, you could co-create a list identifying key concepts that your students should focus on. 
• If done synchronously, specify how much time students will be spending on different parts of the concept mapping activity (brainstorming, connecting, discovering new concepts and filling up gaps, etc.)
• Provide options for your students to create virtual concept maps using websites and applications such as Miro and Mindomo. 
• If using digital formats, give students options to incorporate photos of their hand-written maps.
• Consider collecting different concept maps and posting them as a class resource (for example on the learning management system).

Step 1: Identify essential components

Identify the components/aspects of the concept mapping activity that are essential for learners to meet the learning outcomes of the lesson.

• How does concept mapping help learners meet the learning outcomes of the lesson?

Step 2: Identify obstacles

• Which parts of these essential components/aspects are an obstacle for this learner?

Step 3: redesign to remove obstacles

• How can we redesign these essential components to remove the obstacle for the learner but still equally support them to meet the LO of the lesson?

Using activity meta objectives to redesign for temporary accommodation:

Below is an example of a redesigned Concept Mapping activity while maintaining the activity’s meta objectives. I encourage you to engage in the same process to redesign this activity for other accommodation needs. 

This redesign removes the need to sketch a concept map by hand in order to engage with the activity, which can be more accessible for students who might be experiencing mobility or visual impairments or fine motor skill challenges.

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