an innovative approach

elationship between one concept and another is the next step which they need to
either separate or link concepts with appropriate words. The final step is students’
visual presentation of the concepts through a concept map which shows detailed
relationships and is easy to remember. Figure 2.1 illustrates a model of concept
mapping.
Evaluating this mapping, Novak and Gowin (1984: 97-103) also suggested
that a good structure should begin with a broad concept, called a hierarchy, some
general concepts and then go through to more specific ideas. The mapping should
present a continuous process of increasing new concepts and new linking words. The
mapping should provide linking, called cross-links, between a set of concepts and
another. In addition, Mintzes, Wandersee and Novak (2001) argued that the
effectiveness of this technique depended on a teachers’ critical appreciation of the
importance of students’ prior knowledge, the alternative concepts and the steps of
learning.
Using the concept mapping technique to visualise how a student’s
photosynthesis knowledge was organized was also studied. Hazel and Prosser (1994)
aiming to encourage general use of the technique explored changes of first-year
undergraduate student understandings before and after studying photosynthesis. The
students were given three weekly lectures, one laboratory and summary notes. Finally
a 10 multiple-choice question examination was used to evaluate their achievement.
Following the examination the students were given a pack of concept cards with
which to construct a concept map of photosynthesis. Written sentences or a
description of the relationships between the concepts were analyzed and scored using
Novak’s method, including counting the number of the concepts, links and cross-links
between the concepts. The results, however, illustrated that the students had little
change in their understandings of photosynthesis.
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