Collaborative concept mapping: Provoking and supporting meaningful discourse
Theory into Practice, 41 ((c) 2002 Inst. For Sci. Info):
40-46+ (2002)Abstract
In this article we discuss the potential of collaborative concept-mapping tasks. In our research, we used a concept-mapping task in three experimental studies. Participants in the studies were 15- to 16-year-old students from secondary-level physics classes. The students collaborated in pairs on a concept-mapping task that functioned as the introduction to a new course about electricity. In each study, we manipulated the task design and compared the student interaction that emerged in the different task conditions. In all studies, we videotaped and transcribed the student interactions and analyzed the transcripts. Presents four Dutch teachers' experiences with concept mapping, identifying features of the concept mapping task that helps it provoke and support a productive student discourse and explaining that the design of the task can affect the quality of student interaction. The paper describes the concept mapping task, student articulation of feelings, elaboration of conceptual knowledge, and co-construction of meaning. (SM)