What are concept maps?
How do concept maps impact:
- Education generally?
- Specific knowledge-based industries such as law or structured settlement or personal injury settlement planning?
How do concept maps interact with other Web 2.0 tools such as podcasts, weblogs, wikis and Voip?
Robert R. Hoffman, Ph.D,
a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (ihmc), addressed the topic: “Applications of Concept Maps” at the University of Cincinnati's new Recreation Center on April 20, 2006. The Rec Center is an exciting new addition to the UC campus and provided an outstanding venue for Dr. Hoffman's presentation..
Sponsored by UC's Center for Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, Dr. Hoffman:
- Summarized the theoretical and research foundations of concept maps:
- Provided guidance for building concept maps ; and
- Highlighted concept map examples involving
education, knowledge management, problem solving and collaboration.
Dr. Hoffman is a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award, and an Honorary Fellow of The British Library, Eccles Center for American Studies. He received his BA, MA, and PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Cincinnati, where he also earned McMicken Scholar, Psi Chi, and Delta Tau Kappa Honors. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist at ihmc in Pensacola, FL.
Dr. Hoffman has been recognized internationally for his research on human factors in technology for terrain analysis and weather forecasting, the psychology of expertise, the methodology of knowledge elicitation, and human factors issues in the design of workstation systems and knowledge-based systems. Hoffman's most recent experiments have investigated novice and expert interpretation of aerial thermograms and meteorological satellite images. Another current project involves an effort to define the methodologies for human-centered computing and cognitive technologies. Dr. Hoffman is an advocate of concept maps and an expert in their design and application.
Originally developed by Joseph D. Novak, concept mapping is defined in wikipedia as “a technique for visualizing the relationships between different concepts. A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships in between concepts”. wikipedia also identifies and describes specific applications for concept maps - many of which Dr. Hoffman featured in his presentation. Dr. Hoffman differentiated concept maps (aka cmaps) from other types of digital maps including mind maps and topic maps. One point of differentiation, according to Dr. Hoffman, is the importance of "linking phrases" in cmaps.
Most of Dr. Hoffman’s cmap examples utilized “CmapTools”, a free software tool developed and supported by ihmc. ihmc is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System based in Pensacola and affiliated with several Florida universities. ihmc describes CmapTools as a “knowledge modeling kit” that “empowers users to construct, navigate, share, and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps”.
Dr. Hoffman’s presentation highlighted a growing international interest in concept maps. According to Dr. Hoffman, cmaps are now being used in over 150 countries. Among other countries, Dr. Hoffman cited Panama and Finland where educators are using cmaps as an "infrastructure framework". The Second International Conference on Concept Mapping (CMC 2006) will take place September 5-8, 2006 in San Jose, Costa Rico. The First International Conference on Concept Mapping (CMC 2004) was held in Pamplona, Spain.
Additional examples of concept maps:
- ihmc's CmapTools documentation
- Social Software - created by Barbara Bowen for Denham Grey
- Podcasting - created by Barbara Bowen for S2KM Limited
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