For too many years, many local students have been conditioned to become passive learners and to view learning as very superficial.

In many countries, education is attempting to move away from rote learning as past educational experiences have shown that learning in this way is disengaging and demotivating because it does not make sense to the learners.

Nowadays, more than ever, the need is felt for a way of teaching and learning that focuses primarily on the learner's ability to learn in a meaningful way. In this kind of learning, students actively participate in their own learning so as to become reflective and critical learners.

A tool which promotes this kind of learning is concept mapping. Concept maps represent information visually and are like road maps showing some of the pathways one may take to connect the meaning of concepts. In related literature, one finds that many times, concept maps are confused with Buzan's mind maps, which originated in the late 1960s. Mind maps are a graphic technique where associated thoughts are represented, often assisted with the use of colour and images, as a web-like graph. However, although there may be hierarchical relations and levels of branching, the linking lines are unlabeled and so do not specify the connection among the ideas presented.

Concept maps by contrast delve deeper into learning, as the ideas presented have to be linked with phrases or words that reveal the connection and specify the relationship among the ideas presented. Through this linking, students reveal how deeply they have understood a concept, therefore contributing to reflective learning.

This is the biggest challenge of concept maps, as we are used to learning things just for the sake of remembering them for exams. This leads to non-reflective learning.

One of the advantages of concept maps is that when children construct their own maps, they clearly show at a glance what they know, and educators can build on this. And when they build on prior knowledge, learning becomes more meaningful and new understanding is developed.

When working with concept maps, students become aware of what they know, whether they have any misconceptions and how well they are developing their understanding.

This helps them become more reflective learners and creative thinkers on any subject.

Concept maps are used not only in educational settings such as for teaching strategies, a means of evaluation, a curricular or research design tool, but also for decision-making in business and military organisations, engineering companies, and government.

Building concept maps electronically

Cmap Tools is a client server-based software kit designed to facilitate and support people of any age to build concept maps and to facilitate collaboration and sharing during the process. It has been developed by the Institute for Human Machine and Cognition in Florida, US, for the past few years.

The software enables concept maps to be built just as a word processor supports the writing of text. It also allows images, videos, word documents, and web pages to be added to the concept map. It is available in many languages and is already used extensively throughout the world.

This new technological tool, along with research on meaningful learning, can improve and promote a new educational model, which could supersede the current model of teachers being disseminators of information and students being merely inert recipients.

Considering that the National Minimum Curriculum is currently in the process of being reformed it would be worthwhile to consider using this tool in our classrooms. It could be a way of challenging the prevailing model transmitting education and provide a suitable alternative.

What makes it even more interesting is that it is absolutely free.

Public lecture on concept mapping

A public lecture entitled 'Concept Mapping: From meaningful learning to a worldwide network of knowledge builders' is being held on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the MCST Building, Villa Bighi, Kalkara.

During the lecture, Prof. Alberto Cañas, associate director at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Florida, US, will give an overview of concept mapping and how it can be applied to different areas of life with emphasis on how it may be used in educational settings.

Everyone is invited.

The lecture is being organised by the Maltese Association of Science Educators and the Malta Council for Science and Technology with the support and collaboration of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs.

To register, contact Ms Vanhear on e-mail jacvan@gmail.com or call 7904 8640.

Ms Vanhear is currently reading for a Ph.D in Education at King's College, London. Ms Vanhear is a teacher at Mater Boni Consilii School (St Joseph), Paola.