week 2 EN121

Concept mapping is a process of creating a "visual map" or "web" of your knowledge. Creating a concept map is a good way for you to identify key concepts between ideas or topics. It also allows you to show how different pieces of information relate to one another.

Components of a Concept Map

Concept maps are visual representations of what we know about a topic and consist of central terms or ideas and labeled links. Concepts are sets of specific objects, symbols, or events that share common characteristics. The meaning of a concept is determined by a list of its properties, which are, in turn, other concepts. Most concepts do not exist in isolation, but rather as part of a set of related concepts. For example, the concept "water" can be defined by other concepts, such as liquid, solid, and gas. The relationship of each concept to other concepts determines its meaning. A concept map is a set of relationships among other concepts.

Labeled links identify the type of relationship. Therefore, the line between a pair of concepts indicates a relationship, and the label on the line tells how the two concepts are related.

How to Develop a Concept Map

 A concept map is a visual representation of what you know about a topic. It helps you to organize, analyze, and communicate your studies and research. Now that you know what a concept map is and all of its components, let's see how you would create one for yourself.

Steps in Developing a Concept Map

The process of concept mapping involves three major steps:

· Step 1: List key concepts/terms related to the topic

· Step 2: Build up concepts to elaborate key concepts

· Step 3: Identify links between concepts

Step 1: List key concepts related to the topic

List all the concepts related to the topic which you consider essential to understanding the topic. For example, for the topic "Group Work," Jose determined the key concepts to be:

· Team Responsibilities

· Individual Responsibilities

· Characteristics

· Roles

· Basic Elements

· Expected Behaviors

 Step 2: Build up concepts to elaborate key concepts

After defining the key concepts, you then expand on those concepts. Ask yourself the question:

"What are the important facts, ideas, terms, etc. that explain the key concept?"

Step 3: Identify links between concepts

It is important to show how or why certain concepts relate to one another. This is called linking – explaining the connection between two separate parts of your concept map.

Principles about Linking

Interlink existing concepts as much as possible

It is important that your linking labels fully describe the relationship between the two concepts. This means making the labels more than simply "relates to" or "is connected to." Labels should indicate the exact nature of the relationship. Links may connect to, or be related to, more than one concept – be sure to link all related concepts together.

Why is linking important?

By establishing links between concepts you are able to see the "big picture" and gain a deeper understanding of a topic. In fact, your goal is to attempt to link every concept in your concept map to every other one. Trying to establish links helps you focus on which concepts are most important in order to understand a topic and identify areas within a map that you might need to work on a little more. For example, you may need to expand a map by establishing sub-concepts, or you may even need to eliminate concepts that turn out to be unimportant for a particular topic.

Below is a concept map about cats:

One way to begin is to list sub-topics and then classify them by ranking them from general to specific. For example, the topic of cats (see the "concept map example on cats" above) might trigger some thoughts about mammals, different kinds of cats, or pets. These general sub-topics will most likely lead to thoughts about even more specific topics such as four legs, tails, spine, hair type, and friends of mankind.

Another way to begin is to simply start brainstorming or "free associating" by jotting down every idea that comes to mind. After brainstorming, you can classify the items.

Regardless of how you decide to approach this map, always keep in mind the central word, concept, question, or problem for which you are building the map. Then, think about the concepts, words, descriptions, subjects, items, or issues that are connected to or associated with your central word or idea.