Concept Mapping and Reading Comprehension

This paper describes a concept mapping teaching exercise that was implemented in different stages at both the graduate and undergraduate level. First, a small group of graduate students worked to construct a concept map that illustrated the connections between published work as they prepared to take their qualifying examinations. A similar assignment-visually depicting connections between course readings-was implemented between the midterm and final exam in a large-section online undergraduate course. In the undergraduate course, there was noticeable improvement between midterm and final essay responses in which students compared and contrasted readings, and students reported perceptions of it as a valuable exercise. Structured interviews with both undergraduate and graduate students further confirm that concept mapping can improve learning outcomes at both levels of instruction. The project reveals important differences in the way that both sets of students approach relational exercises involving readings and suggests ways of using concept mapping to enhance students' retention of the material.