Skip to main content

Is My Concept Map Large Enough?

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Innovating with Concept Mapping (CMC 2016)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 635))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Users learning to concept map often confront the problem of when is it that their concept map is complete. They ask the question “Is my concept map large enough?”. As they progress in their understanding of concept maps, users often stop asking themselves whether the concept map is the appropriate size, which is key when using concept maps as means to communicate and share knowledge. In this paper we examine what factors need to be taken into account when determining the proper size for a concept map, and examine the importance of the purpose of the concept map and its intended audience. The stages through which a new Cmapper goes are also examining, and propose that to reach a Level 3 Excellent Cmapper, the question to be asked is “Is my concept map small enough?”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Novak, J.D., Cañas, A.J.: The origins of the concept mapping tool and the continuing evolution of the tool. Inf. Vis. J. 5, 175–184 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Novak, J.D., Cañas, A.J.: The universality and ubiquitousness of concept maps. In: Sánchez, J., Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D. (eds.) Concept Maps: Making Learning Meaningful. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. 1, pp. 1–13. Universidad de Chile, Viña del Mar, Chile (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cañas, A.J., Hill, G., Carff, R., Suri, N., Lott, J., Eskridge, T., Gómez, G., Arroyo, M., Carvajal, R.: CmapTools: a knowledge modeling and sharing environment. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., González, F.M. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. I, pp. 125–133. Universidad Pública de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Tarté, G.: Conéctate al Conocimiento: Una Estrategia Nacional de Panamá basada en Mapas Conceptuales. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. 1, pp. 144–152. Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Soika, K., Reiska, P.: Large scale studies with concept mapping. J. Educ. Teach. Train. 1, 142–153 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Novak, J.D., Cañas, A.J.: The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them. Technical report, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Oden, G.C.: Concept, knowledge, and thought. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 38, 203–227 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Raymond, D.R., Cañas, A.J., Tompa, F.W., Safayeni, F.R.: Measuring the effectiveness of personal database structures. Int. J. Man Mach. Stud. 31, 237–256 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cañas, A.J.: Variability as a measure of semantic structure in document storage and retrieval. Ph.D., Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, p. 149 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Rohani-Tabatabai, M.: Effects of category structures on learning and communication of the learned categories. Ph.D., Department of Management Sciences, University of Wateloro, Waterloo, Ontario (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Minda, J.P., Smith, J.D.: Prototypes in category learning: the effects of category size, category structure, and stimulus complexity. J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 27, 775 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kloos, H., Sloutsky, V.M.: What’s behind different kinds of kinds: effects of statistical density on learning and representation of categories. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 137, 52 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D.: Concept mapping using CmapTools to enhance meaningful learning. In: Osaka, A., Shum, S.B., Sherborne, T. (eds.) Knowledge Cartography. Springer, London (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., Reiska, P.: Freedom vs. restriction of content and structure during concept mapping - possibilities and limitations for construction and assessment. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., Vanhear, J. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology - Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. 1. University of Malta, Valletta (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Strautmane, M.: Concept map-based knowledge assessment tasks and their scoring criteria: an overview. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., Vanhear, J. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. 2, pp. 80–88. University of Malta, Valletta, Malta (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., Reiska, P.: How good is my concept map? Am I a good Cmapper? Knowl. Manag. E-Learn.: Int. J. (KM&EL) 7, 6–19 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Derbentseva, N., Kwantes, P.: Cmap readability: propositional parsimony, map layout and semantic clarity and flow. In: Correia, P.R.M., Malachias, M.E.I., Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Concept Mapping, pp. 86–93. University of Sao Paulo, Santos (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Novak, J.D., Cañas, A.J.: Building on constructivist ideas and CmapTools to create a new model for education. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., González, F.M. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Concept Mapping. Universidad Pública de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hoffman, R.R., Lintern, G.: Eliciting and representing the knowledge of experts. In: Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, pp. 203–222 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ausubel, D.P.: The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Learning. Grune and Stratton, New York (1963)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D.: Itineraries: capturing instructors’ experience using concept maps as learning object organizers. In: Sánchez, J., Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D. (eds.) Concept Maps: Making Learning Meaningful. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. 1. Universidad de Chile, Viña del Mar (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ford, K.M., Coffey, J.W., Cañas, A.J., Andrews, E.J., Turner, C.W.: Diagnosis and explanation by a nuclear cardiology expert system. Int. J. Expert Syst. 9, 499–506 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hoffman, R.R., Coffey, J.W., Ford, K.M., Carnot, M.J.: STORM-LK: a human-centered knowledge model for weather forecasting. In: Proceedings of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  24. IHMC: NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission iPad App (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Cañas, A.J., Carff, R., Marcon, M.: Knowledge model viewers for the iPad and the web. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., Vanhear, J. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology - Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Concept Mapping. University of Malta, Malta (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Briggs, G., Shamma, D.A., Cañas, A.J., Carff, R., Scargle, J., Novak, J.D.: Concept maps applied to mars exploration public outreach. In: Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D., González, F. (eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping, vol. I, pp. 109–116. Universidad Pública de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Dowd, J.E., Duncan, T., Reynolds, J.A.: Concept maps for improved science reasoning and writing: complexity isn’t everything. ICBE-Life Sci. Educ. 14, ar39 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto J. Cañas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Cañas, A.J., Reiska, P., Novak, J.D. (2016). Is My Concept Map Large Enough?. In: Cañas, A., Reiska, P., Novak, J. (eds) Innovating with Concept Mapping. CMC 2016. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 635. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45501-3_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45501-3_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-45500-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-45501-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics