A concept map is a type of graphic organizer used to help students organize and represent knowledge of a subject. Concept maps begin with a main idea (or concept) and then branch out to show how that main idea can be broken down into specific topics.

www.inspiration.com/visual-learning/concept-mapping

Concept mapping is a general method that can be used to help any individual or group to describe their ideas about some topic in a pictorial form. There are several different types of methods that all currently go by names like “mind mapping”, "concept mapping", "mental mapping" or "concept webbing."

https://socialresearchmethods.net/kb/conmap.php

There are templates available from the internet where students can use to develop their own concept map. Concept mapping and mind mapping software are used to create diagrams of relationships between concepts, ideas, or other pieces of information. It has been suggested that the mind mapping technique can improve learning and study efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking.

Click the link below on how to develop a concept map

http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning/concept-mapping

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept-_and_mind-mapping_software

concept map can benefit students in several ways:

· Helping students brainstorm and generate new ideas

· Encouraging students to discover new concepts and the propositions that connect them

· Allowing students to more clearly communicate ideas, thoughts and information

· Helping students integrate new concepts with older concepts

· Enabling students to gain enhanced knowledge of any topic and evaluate the information

Concept mapping is a powerful way for students to reach high levels of cognitive performance. A concept map is also not just a learning tool, but an ideal evaluation tool for educators measuring the growth of and assessing student learning. As students create concept maps, they reiterate ideas using their own words and help identify incorrect ideas and concepts; educators are able to see what students do not understand, providing an accurate, objective way to evaluate areas in which students do not yet grasp concepts fully.

Concept mapping facilitates the process of metacognition. They not only learn about a particular concept, but to develop an understanding of its principles. It makes them think deeper. A second order of reflective thinking is required when they put what know into a concept map (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015).

Concept maps, have been found reliable and valid forms of assessment for conceptual change of understanding science concepts. Research comparing concept maps to multiple choice tests indicates that concept maps assess different (for example propositional and hierarchical) forms of knowledge. Concept maps can reveal students’ knowledge organization by showing connections, clusters of ideas, hierarchical levels, and cross-links between ideas from different levels. Cross-links are of special interest as they can indicate creative leaps on the part of the knowledge producer.

PDF | Concept Mapping. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276420008_Concept_Mapping [accessed Jun 28 2018].

Concept mapping has been proven to improve students’ critical thinking skills. Concept mapping has been used in nursing education to promote critical thinking among nursing students. It is believed that Concept mapping enables nursing students connect new information to existing knowledge and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge.

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of concept mapping on the development of critical thinking among nursing students showed that comparing with traditional methods, concept mapping could improve subjects' critical thinking ability measured by California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST) and Critical Thinking Scale (CTS). The subgroup analyses showed that concept mapping improved the score of all subscales. (Yue et al. 2017)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.02.018

In conclusion concept mapping is another technique in teaching and learning whereby students can develop their metacognition skills which is very important in 21st century learning.

References:

1. Yue M, Zhang M, Zhang C & Jin C. (2017). The effectiveness of concept mapping on development of critical thinking in nursing education: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2. Pacific Rim International of Journal of Nursing Research. (2017). Concept Mapping: An Effective Strategy for Clinical Teaching in Nursing. Vol. 21 No. 4.

concept mapping