THE 8 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCEPT MAPS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The main characteristics of concept maps are based on the need to reinforce in students personal autonomy in learning, creativity, critical sense, and the ability to pose new questions and answer them successfully.

A concept map is a learning technique that consists of the elaboration of a concept diagram in the form of a network, in which the concepts used must be connected to each other through addressed lines in the same way in which they are related.

The objective of the conceptual map is that the individual, during the realization of the scheme, undergoes a rationalization process due to the relationship of the concepts that must be done.

To make a successful relationship it is necessary for the person to understand the content well, which guarantees a deeper learning about the subject studied.

The concept map technique aims to change and / or combine previously acquired knowledge with new ones that are the product of the student's effort to relate the new concepts.

Main features of concept maps

1- They have four elements

To correctly elaborate a concept map, it is required that it contain the four fundamental elements that distinguish it:

• Concepts

A concept is that word that is used to identify facts, processes, objects or situations that share the same characteristics, and differentiate them from those that are different from them.

Within concept maps, concepts are enclosed within a square or circle.

• Lines and arrows

Lines and arrows are used, within a concept map, to represent the connection between one concept and another.

Drawing lines and marking their meaning with arrows is the way in which the student demonstrates the link between the different concepts.

• Linking words

They are short descriptions that are located between one concept and another, next to the lines that connect them, with which the way in which the concepts are related is explained. They are essential for reading the concept map.

• Propositions

Finally, through the relationship of different concepts, propositions are formulated, which are ideas that represent a unit of knowledge on the subject studied.

They are statements that are formed with the formula “concept – word link – concept”. For example, a proposition formed from two concepts and a link could be "The concept map (concept 1) is formed by (link words) propositions (concept 2)".

2- They are a scheme

Concept maps are at the same time schematics, since they have their main characteristics. In them:

• A pre-selection of the information to be used is made, making an abstraction of the most relevant elements.
• The information is presented in the form of segmented units.
• The segmented information is presented in an orderly and hierarchical way: the most general concepts are located at the top of the map, and the most specific below them. However, this is not exclusive and concept maps can also be made in a cyclical way, which can represent a hierarchy of cause and effect.
• Finally, all the elements are integrated for the creation of the scheme.

3- They focus on answering a “focus question”

Within a concept map, the context and scope of its contents is usually delimited by asking a focus question.

By asking this question, the problem to be answered is clarified and specified, and therefore, there is a clear guideline of what information it should contain and where it should be directed.

4- They help to build new knowledge

The elaboration of a conceptual map leads the student to experience a learning process with which he manages to acquire new knowledge, and restructure and improve those that he previously possesses.

This is so thanks to the fact that, for the realization of the map, you must understand the concepts, the way in which they are related and elaborate propositions on the subject studied.

In this way new meanings are internalized instead of just repeating information that is not really understood.

5- They help to understand elaborate approaches

Based on the basic propositions that result from the concept map, the student can come to understand even more complex and elaborate ideas that it is impossible for him to arrive at without having experienced this initial process.

For example, a student can make a conceptual map about the functioning of the digestive system, within which they relate each of its parts to its functions.

Only after you have understood these basic approaches will you be able to access more general and complex ideas, such as the contribution of the digestive system to the general functioning of the human body.

Therefore, through this construction process, you will be able to understand how complex knowledge structures are constructed.

6- Its elaboration depends solely on the student

Based on the fact that learning is a clearly individual process, within this method, the student is the one who takes the leading role in the construction of new knowledge, and not the teacher.

This is so because the learning obtained will only depend on their capacities and abilities to investigate, analyze and relate the ideas at the time of constructing the concept map. The teacher only intervenes to clarify the instructions on its preparation.

7. They lead to processes of negotiation of meaning

If the assignment of a concept map is done to the students as a group, an additional benefit of this technique can be obtained: the increase in their negotiation capacity.

Having to share, discuss and argue their different points of view to agree on the final result of the concept map leads students to experience processes of debate and agreements that are essential for the general functioning of society.

Therefore, this type of learning can fulfill an important social function.

8- They help to increase self-esteem in the student

By developing and reinforcing learning skills, concept maps also contribute to improving the affective and relational skills of students by increasing their self-esteem.

According to Dr. Antonio Ontoria Peña, pedagogue at the University of Córdoba, to the extent that students feel successful thanks to their abilities to obtain new knowledge, they improve their social skills, which transforms them into successful people capable of working as a team and to adapt to a democratic society.

Sources:

1. GONZÁLEZ, F. (2008). The Concept Map and the Vee Diagram: Resources for Higher Education in the 21st century. Retrieved July 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com.
2. NOVAK, J. & CAÑAS, A. (2009). What is a concept map?. Retrieved July 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: cmap.ihmc.us.
3. ONTORIA, A. (1992). Concept Maps: A technique to learn. Retrieved July 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com.
4. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: wikipedia.org.