ETEC 522 – May 2012

The Pros and Cons of Mind Mapping

As Tim commented in his post, this is the first time that I have seen mind maps used as a teaching tool rather than as a learning tool (although I realize the two things are linked!).  Great job, Week 9 Group, for using your topic to present your topic!  It was very innovative and interesting.  I enjoyed the collaborative map in Cacoo and thought it was a neat way of discussing the topic.

I have used mind maps a great deal in the classroom and find they work extremely well for some students, very well for many students and not that well for a few students.  Like others have already outlined, I have used them for review, to introduce topics, to show how concepts connect and to access prior knowledge.  They are a relatively quick view for both formative and summative assessment, depending on the subject and what you are assessing.  For example, doing a mind map at the start of a unit on existing knowledge and then one at the end of the unit can show how the student has progressed.

Below is a short list of pros and cons that have arisen in my experience with mind maps – as a student and as a teacher.

PROS:

• Versatility – can be used in any subject area or career; as useful in math as in english, in construction (planning, architechture) as in medicine (outlining diagnosis or treatment options)
• Assessment – show student understanding and connection of topics and the “big picture”
• Metacognition – the act of mapping and making connections provides the opportunity for students to think about their learning and to identify key points
• Alternate form of representation – allows visual learners to see everything at once; values multiple representations of the same concept/information
• Personal – allows the student to create personal meaning

CONS:

• Assessment – does not assess details nor student ability to implement concepts
• Linear thinkers – while mind maps can challenge and enhance learning for all learning styles they are not necessarily the optimal approach for everyone; some learners need to formulate their thoughts into words and sentences for it to be meaningful to them
• Personal – what makes sense and is meaningful to one person may not make sense to another

Conclusions:

I have found mind maps to be very useful tools – but I see them as one tool of many.  They work extremely well for making connections and seeing the big picture, but many students still need access to the details in one form or another.  For example, making a mind map as a review at the end of a unit forces students to identify the key points and summarize.  Revisiting that mind map at the end of the course is a starting point to review, but the student might need to go back over notes or information to remind themselves of what the key words meant and the details involved.   While many people are visually learners, not everyone is and teachers need a variety of tools to meet the needs of all of their students.

As online tools develop, I think that ways of visually representing knowledge in a mind map will continue to develop (including video clips, applets, animations, 3-D capabilities, etc.) and we may find that they increasingly incorporate both big picture and details all in one.  Tools like Prezi already have many of these affordances, plus allowing students to embed details in the form of links to pdf/word files.  This may enhance their value to different learning styles.

Thanks again Week 9!

Janet