- The video - I hope you were as appalled as I was to think that students could advance that far academically and have such misconceptions.
- The need for formative assessment - we must constantly monitor student understanding and look for ways to clear up misconceptions.
Concept maps have been around for a long time; nothing new there. I have used them with my kids and frankly, I use them myself. What's new to me is the underlying theory behind them and WHY they work. I am including a link to a study conducted by Joseph D. Novak and Alberto J. Canas while at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. They investigated the theory underlying concept maps as well as how to construct and use them.
I have to say, I thought my mind would pop from the pedagogical insights I gained from reading the first twelve pages. I hope you will take the time to read it as well. You will even find a link to free concept mapping software - what a deal.