What is Concept Mapping in Social Studies?

What is concept mapping?

Concept maps are an extraordinary method to tell students the best way to coordinate data and their opinions on the given topic.

Concept mapping is an overall strategy that can help any individual or group of individuals portray their thoughts regarding some agenda or topic in a pictorial structure.

It is principally a group interaction; thus, it is particularly appropriate for circumstances where a group of partners needs to cooperate and demonstrate their ideas.

Also, concept mapping utilizes an exceptionally organized facilitated approach. The individual follows explicit well-organized steps in assisting a group with articulating its thoughts and making them all comprehend those ideas properly.

A concept map is an outline or graphical instrument that outwardly addresses connections among ideas and thoughts.

Most of the concept maps portray thoughts as boxes or circles organized progressively and associated with lines or bolts. These lines are marked with connecting words and expressions to help clarify the associations between ideas.

Types of concept maps

There are many different ways to draw a concept map. Maps with different colors and shapes might be more compelling for the younger generations, while a standard or simple matrix can work for working professionals.

Following are the types of concept maps used:

Spider map

This concept, as very much obvious from the name, looks exactly like a spider web. It begins from the center writing down the main topic and branching it outwards to subtopics related to it. You can also branch out your subtopics into more small subtopics.

These maps usually use a simple or a one to two-word thought or subject that you need to expand upon.

Flowchart

The flowchart is another type of concept map. This idea map shows the means of interaction. Ordinarily, they mostly use when you have to write down the process of something using steps in the form of a flowchart.

Chain of command map

A chain of command map is a concept map that presents the order for something like the organization’s hierarchy map offering the roles and the levels of superiority granted to different individuals.

These maps usually use when you need to comprehend the components of a framework, alongside determining which features are in the most critical position and which are in the least.

System map

A system map is another concept map and the most complicated one as it shows the entirety of the various parts of an idea and the relations between them. These kinds of maps use when you need to comprehend the internal operations of a particular firm or team.

Why utilize a concept map?

It says that the mind catches visuals or pictures more fastly than it sees the long paragraphs of text.

Concept mapping is a methodology designer as an instrument to arrange and address information by picturing connections between different ideas and simplifying complex subjects’ comprehension.

Studying from visualizations instead of text ensures better retention of knowledge or information in your mind. A concept map is a mainstream approach to comprehending a subject for work, school, or individual examination.

It mainly utilizes in the scholarly community; however, it can also effectively apply to different work fields. The following are the benefits of concept mapping:

• Ensures better comprehension with the help of visualization ideas.
• Facilitates interaction between information by incorporating new and old ideas to ensure better retention of information.
• It also assists with improving conceptualizing and high-level thinking.
• It also encourages the creation of new ideas or concepts.
• It offers a more straightforward presentation of complex subjects
• It further promotes group learning and enhances creativeness
• It helps in determining regions that need further information or survey

How to construct a concept map?

Following are the steps involved in constructing a concept map:

1. The first step is to determine the principal subject and consider the issue you need to study through the help of a concept map. The idea presented through your map must be something that connects with all others and guide them properly.
2. Then the next step is to find and collect all the data related to the principal subject.
3. Then later, arrange all the data and the concepts in order, with the most general concepts placed at first and the more explicit ideas set at last.
4. Then you have to make a connection between all the concepts and build a concept map out of it. Make sure to add connecting words or expressions on the lines to show how the ideas are interrelated.
5. You can also add cross-links to interface ideas in various domains
6. Also, you can modify or customize your concept map anytime, depending on your preferences.

What is the purpose of a concept map?

Following are the objectives of the concept map:

1. When constructing a concept map, you have to start with a general idea and afterward work to collect the information about it and make a rundown of the subtopics related to it. That facilitates thorough research in a particular topic and helps you in exploring your knowledge.
2. It helps in coordinating the thoughts of the whole group. When the entire group sits together and is interested in a meeting to generate new ideas or concepts, you will undoubtedly wind up with a massive load of thoughts. That huge tangle can be hard to follow up on, so the concept map assists you with sorting them out in a visual, straightforward way.
3. Concept mapping helps retain more critical information; as we mentioned before, the visual presentation helps in better comprehension of information, so if you and your group need to work through an issue or comprehend a subject, you can very well take the help of a concept map.
4. The focus of concept maps is not only to show you the different ideas and concepts but also how they are all are connected or interrelated.