Abstracts - Earli

conditions are suggested as constituents of an emerging model regarding partnerships forinternational knowledge building communities.K 1731 August 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 7.59SymposiumDigital concept maps for the integrative visualization andcommunication of knowledge and informatioChair: Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, GermanyOrganiser: Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, GermanyOrganiser: Tanja Engelmann, Knowledge Media Research Center, GermanyDiscussant: Matthias Nückles, Institute for Psychology University of Göttingen, GermanyThe visualization of knowledge and information has become a central method to cope with theincreasing complexity and ill-structuredness of subject matter. Visualizations concerningstructures of knowledge and information are suggested to help to access, to elicit, (co-)construct,structure and restructure, elaborate, evaluate, locate and access, communicate, and use ideas,thoughts and knowledge about relevant content and resources (Jonassen, Beissner, & Yacci, 1993;Jonassen, Reeves, Hong, Harvey, & Peters, 1997). Particularly in online educational andworkplace scenarios visualizations may play an important role to represent basic informationstructures inherent in a subject-matter domain as well as knowledge about the semanticinterrelationships between task-relevant information elements inherent in the informationresources. Advanced digital concept maps have been shown to have the potential to represent andvisualize not only conceptual knowledge, but also content knowledge about a domain, as well asknowledge resources in a coherent and integrative format (Caóas et al., 2005; Tergan, 2005).Because of their representational power digital concept maps may be used as cognitive tools forthe integrated representation and communication of knowledge and information in a variety ofeducational and workplace settings (Tergan, Keller & Burkhard, 2006). Concept map-basedvisualizations of the semantic structure of information may help users getting easy access to taskrelevantinformation because searching for relevant information is based on an understanding ofthe inherent semantics of the represented domain. The aim of this symposium is to present recentempirical research on the potentials and effects of digital concept maps for supporting theintegrative communication of knowledge and information in online education and workplacescenarios. Current approaches as well as perspectives for research and application will be in focus.Digital concept maps for the visualization and communication of knowledge and information inonline educational counseling scenariosSigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, GermanyTanja Engelmann, Knowledge Media Research Center, GermanyIn order to support self-regulated access to task-relevant information it seems to be important forinstructors and counselors to communicate not only basic information structures inherent in asubject-matter domain but also knowledge about the semantic interrelationships between taskrelevantinformation elements inherent in the information resources. Visualizations of the semantic– 623 –