APPLYING CONCEPT MAPPING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS' LIFELONG LEARNING IN PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

In the present paper, we carry out the application of concept mapping strategies to learning Physical Chemistry, in particular, of all aspects of Corrosion. This strategy is an alternative method to supplement examinations: it can show the teacher how much the students knew and how much they didn't know; and the students can evaluate their own learning. Before giving the matter on Corrosion, the teachers evaluated the previous knowledge of the students in the field and explained to the students how create the conceptual maps with Cmap tools. When the subject is finished, teachers are assessed the conceptual maps developed by students and therefore also the level of the students learning. Teachers verified that the concept mapping is quite suitable for complicated theories as Corrosion and it is an appropriate tool for the consolidation of educational experiences and for improvement affective lifelong learning. By using this method we demonstrated that the set of concepts accumulated in the cognitive structure of every student is unique and every student has therefore arranged the concepts from top to bottom in the mapping field in different ways with different "linking" phrases, although these are involved in the same learning task.