Abstract

OLIVO FRANCO, José Luis. Concept mapping: its use to verify learning meaningful in elementary students. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.1, pp.252-283. ISSN 1409-4703.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/aie.v21i1.42380.

Concept maps can be consolidated as tools that, used intentionally, allow evidence of progress in learning concepts. This research, launched in the first semester of 2017, assumed the case study as a methodological design from a mixed investigation and, therefore, used qualitative and quantitative techniques and instruments. Likewise, the effectiveness of concept maps to verify conceptual understanding in a sample of fifth-grade students (n = 13) from the Juan Domínguez Romero Educational Institution in Caracolí-Colombia, with respect to the cell concept, was described. The student concept maps were instruments for obtaining information to verify conceptual understanding through a repetitive measures design. Likewise, through in-depth interviews, these maps were qualitatively analyzed using inductive and deductive categories. The study verified a progress in the conceptual understanding of the students. Different levels of conceptual differentiation were identified and the persistence of conceptual errors that is suggested must be overcome through instruction. It is concluded that the conceptual maps framed from the Ausbelian theory of meaningful learning should be implemented as tools to make explicit previous ideas, conceptual errors and verify whether or not a concept is learned by the group of students. Prospectively, it is recommended to explore the incidence of the use of maps not only in the cognitive processes, but also in the motivational and metacognitive processes of the student body. Finally, given the pedagogical potential of the maps, it is suggested that they be used intentionally by teachers to stimulate their pedagogical practice and promote meaningful learning.

Keywords : basic science education; conceptualization; comprehension; conceptual maps..

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