Concept maps representing knowledge of physics: Connecting structure and content in the context of electricity and magnetism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/nordina.253Abstract
Many assume that the quality of students’ content knowledge can be connected to certain structural characteristics of concept maps, such as the clustering of concepts around other concepts, cyclical paths between concepts and the hierarchical ordering of concepts. In order to study this relationship, we examine concept maps in electricity and magnetism drawn by physics teacher students and their instructors. The structural analysis of the maps is based on the operationalisation of important structural features (i.e. the features of interest are recognised and made measurable). A quantitative analysis of 43 concept maps was carried out on this basis. The results show that structure and content are closely connected; the structural features of clustering, cyclicity and hierarchy can serve as quantitative measures in characterising structural quality as well as the quality of content knowledge in concept maps. These findings have educational implications in regard to fostering the teacher student’s organisation of knowledge and in monitoring the process of such organisation.Downloads
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).