Concept mapping in early childhood and primary education.

This column presents and summarizes recent resources that explain the use of concept maps in early childhood education or primary education, or that provide a general overview of concept maps.

Books

CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE CONCEPTS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. Nancy L. Gallenstein. 95 pp. 2003. (Available from: Association for Childhood Education International, 17904 Georgia Avenue, Suite 215, Olney, MD 20832; 800423-3563; www.acei.org.) This book provides early childhood educators with an explanation of teaching models that promote 3- to 8-year-olds' critical thinking through the creative construction of math and science concepts. The first three chapters discuss children's acquisition of mathematics and science knowledge, a particular lesson format, and the attainment of concepts through inductive reasoning. Chapter 4 introduces the technique of concept mapping, discusses the format for implementing the technique with young children, presents examples of concept mapping, and discusses the benefits of the technique. Chapter 5 summarizes critical thinking models for young children.

Journal Articles

NEVER TOO YOUNG FOR A CONCEPT MAP. Nancy L. Gallenstein. Science and Children, Vol. 43, No. 1 (September 2005): 44-47. A concept map usually refers to a chartlike graphic that describes a concept and its various relationships, with general concepts at the top, supporting concepts at the bottom, and lines showing the connections between the concepts. While many people think of concept maps as tools for teachers to use with upper elementary students, this article describes their appropriateness for early childhood learners.

CONCEPT-MAPPING AS A RESEARCH TOOL: A Study of Primary Children's Representations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Matthew Pearson & Bridget Somekh. Education and Information Technologies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2003): 5-22. A study examined 10-year-olds' representations of information and communication technologies by having them draw a concept map of computers that could be used to share their ideas with other children. The maps indicated that the children had well-developed mental representations of existing communication technology. Results are discussed in terms of providing for children's development of information technology skills.

CONCEPT MAPS AND ANNOTATED DRAWINGS: A Comparative Study of Two Assessment Tools. Sarah Bannister & Hilary

Atkinson. Primary Science Review, No. 51 (January-February 1998): 3-5. The use of concept mapping as an assessment tool allows links to be made between concepts, and shows both correct propositions and misconceptions. Annotated drawings offer an alternative form of expression to children who may hold ideas, but find it difficult to express them in words or to recognize links between them.

CONCEPT MAPPING: A Tool for Self-Assessment? William Stow. Primary Science Review, No. 49 (September-October-1997): 12-15. A study investigated how concept mapping can effectively focus children on their own learning in science and provide a way for them to describe their achievements. Findings indicated that some children were able to identify specific targets for future learning. Motivation and metacognition were the main areas of benefit.

EXTENDING CHILDREN'S IDEAS: Concept Webs and Early Childhood Curriculum. Susan H. Workman & Michael C. Anziano. Day Care and Early Education, Vol. 21 (Spring 1994): 23-28. Concept webbing allows teachers to introduce simple concepts, building upon them to introduce more complex concepts, allowing for the natural integration of expanding intellectual functions. Concept webbing ensures that both teacher and students see relationships among themes. It incorporates the advantages of thematic units without their time limitations, and it provides flexibility.

Web Resources

Mapping Knowledge: Concept Maps in Early Childhood Education. Maria Birbili. Early Childhood Research & Practice, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Fall 2006). http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/birbili.html (Also available in Spanish at: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/ v8n2/birbili-sp.html) This article argues that concept maps can be used in early childhood classrooms to help children organize and spatially represent both what they know and what they are thinking. Once children learn how to make concept maps, teachers can use them to identify children's preexisting knowledge or misconceptions, and can use them as an evaluation tool. Concept maps also can help teachers to structure the content of their teaching. Finally, the article illustrates some issues involved in using concept maps with preschool children.

Concept Mapping. Stephanie Dormer. n.d. http://activated.det.act.gov.au/learning/word/elt/7.0_ ConceptMapping.pdf A general overview of the practice of concept mapping from the Australian Capital Territory's Department of Education and Training.

A Primer on Concept Maps. Robert Noyd. 1998. http://academic.wsc.edu/frc/innovations.htm A general overview of the practice of concept mapping, reprinted by The CITE at Wayne State College.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping, Pamplona, Spain, September 2004 http://cmc.ihmc.us/CMC2004Programa.html This site contains paper and poster presentations on concept mapping, including several related to preschool and elementary education. (For example, see the next three items.)

"Things We Know About the Cow": Concept Mapping in a Preschool Setting. Maria Figueiredo, Ana Sofia Lopes, Rute Firmino, & Salome de Sousa. 2004. http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-038.pdf An activity with concept mapping addressed issues of reading pictures and graphical representations by 3- to 6-year-olds.

Concept Maps in Kindergarten. Cesarina Mancinelli, Marina Gentili, Giuseppina Priori, Giuseppe Valitutti. 2004. http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-195.pdf This article discusses the use of concept maps to teach scientific language to kindergarten children.

Electric Maps. Antonietta Lombardi & Alfredo Tiff. 2004. http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-144.pdf Electric maps are a type of concept mapping that allows for the checking of relationships in a game context. The electric map replaces the lines of a traditional concept map with electrical connections.

Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Concept Mapping, San Jose, Costa Rica, September 2006 http://cmc.ihmc.us/CMC2006Program.html This site contains paper and poster presentations on concept mapping, including several related to preschool and elementary education. (For examples, see the next four items.)

An Authoring Concept Mapping Kit for the Early Childhood Classroom. Gloria Gomez. 2006. http://cmc.ihmc.us/cmc2006Papers/cmc2006-p200.pdf This article explains a concept mapping kit that allows preschoolers to verbally add meaning to their symbolic representations.

Learn While Having Fun: Conceptualization Itineraries in Kindergarten Children Experiences With C-Maps in an Italian School. Cesarina Mancinelli. 2006. http://cmc.ihmc.us/cmc2006Papers/cmc2006-p44.pdf This article discusses activities organized by teachers to promote scientific thinking in kindergartners through observation and reflection.

Using Concept Mapping To Facilitate Metacognitive Control in Preschool Children. Amy E. Cassata & Lucia French. 2006. http://cmc.ihmc.us/cmc2006Papers/cmc2006-p144.pdf A study examined how the use of a concept mapping task enhanced preschoolers' learning by facilitating metacognitive skills.

Models of Social Constructivism, Laboratory Teaching and Concept Maps To Build Scientific Knowledge and Organize Concept Network: Teaching Experiences in First Level Education in Italian Schools. Antonietta Berionni & Maria Oliva Baldon. 2006. http://cmc.ihmc.us/cmc2006Papers/cmc2006-p41.pdf Based on the practices of several primary school teachers, this article discusses--among other topics--the use of concept maps to promote and organize knowledge among 6- to 13-year-old students.

The Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative contributed this column. Further information on ECAP projects is available from ECAP, Children's Research Center, University of Illinois, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7469; phone: [phone] or 217-333-1386; E-mail: [e-mail]; URL: http://ecap.crc.uiuc.edu/.