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Tseng, S. S. (2015). Concept-Mapping Tools and

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

Concept-Mapping Tools and the Development of Students' Critical-Thinking Skills

Sheng-Shiang Tseng

ABSTRACT

Developing students’ critical thinking skills has received attention in higher

education. This study aims to propose the use of concept mapping tools to improve

students’ critical thinking skills. This study will introduce a web-based concept

mapping – Popplet, and demonstrate its application for teaching critical thinking skills

in classroom.

Biography

Sheng-Shiang Tseng is a doctoral student of Learning, Design, and

Technology at the University of Georgia. His research interests include critical

thinking, computer-supported collaborative learning, English as Foreign Language

instruction, and teacher professional development. He has published a manuscript in

computer-assisted language learning journal (e-mail: u9241346@gmail.com).

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

Introduction

The advancements of technology have changed the nature of learning. Students

can use the internet and social media to seek for helps, share information, and present

information in multimodal forms such as texts, images, and videos. The use of

technological tools for help seeking, information sharing, and knowledge presentation

requires students to possess critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as “process

of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/ or

evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience,

reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (Scriven and

Paul, 1996). In other words, critical thinking is a reasonable and reflective thinking

ability by which students judge and confirm accuracy, significance, and validity of the

information they collect (Bean, 2011; Shihab, 2011). Critical thinking is comprised of

two elements: skills and disposition (Facione, 2007; Yang & Chou, 2008). Critical

thinking skills are associated with cognitive skills, including interpretation, analysis,

evaluation, explanation, inference, and self-regulation (Facione, 2007). Critical

thinking disposition is associated with affective domain, including analytic,

open-minded, truth-seeking, systematic, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and maturity

(Facione, 2007). This paper defines critical thinking as the skill of conceptualizing,

analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information.

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

Developing students’ critical thinking skills has received attention in higher

education. Students need critical thinking skills to exploit and evaluate information

from the internet to facilitate their learning (Flumerfelt & Green, 2013; Hughes,

Lavery, & Doran, 2010). Students need critical thinking skills to move from “being

simply recipients of knowledge” to “actively embracing and working with objective

knowledge to make it their own” (Lauzon, 1992, p. 3) so that they can have deep and

meaningful discussions with peers. In addition, students with critical thinking skills

can organize and present their knowledge using Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs) such as Voicethread, World clouds, PowerPoints, and

Infographics. Students who lack critical thinking skills are often passive leaners

absorbing knowledge, rather than active learners consuming and constructing the

knowledge based on personal experiences. As a consequence, critical thinking skills

becomes an essential competency for 21st century learners in higher education.

Students’ problem with critical thinking skills

The problem is that most students lack critical thinking skills. For example,

while students can retrieve a bunch of information from the internet, they often do not

consume the retrieved information critically (Birkerts, 1994). Students without critical

thinking skills face several problems: they cannot evaluate the quality and reliability

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

of information in the Internet, and they cannot synthesize and integrate the

information they found from the Internet (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004). The problem resulted

from the lack of critical thinking skills further threatens students’ learning in online

classes, especially in asynchronous online discussion activities (Gao, Zhang &

Franklin, 2013). Students often find it difficult to explain complex concepts, which

results in misunderstanding and the breakdown of discussions (Hew & Hara, 2007).

Some students are unable to understand the messages in discussion forums, as they do

not have critical thinking skills to locate and integrate information in discussion

forums (Astleitner, 2002).

These problems address the need of an instructional design to help students

develop critical thinking skills. However, critical thinking skills instructions are often

restricted to the traditional classroom setting, and instructors do not have much

experience and knowledge in using technologies to foster students’ critical thinking

skills. This study intends to propose the use of a concept mapping tool as a visual

representation tool to develop students’ critical thinking skills. A concept mapping

tool – Popplet is introduced in this study.

Concept mapping tools for the development of critical thinking skills

Concept mapping tools could be one alternative to foster students’ critical

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

thinking skills. Concept mapping refers to a visual representational model of

information structures constructed through nodes and lines (Novak & Cañas, 2008).

Nodes represent facts, and lines link facts, and words or phrases are placed on

connecting lines describing the relationship between facts. Students can use nodes and

lines to link the information they retrieve in a pattern in accordance with their mental

and emotional state. The graphic nature of concept mapping tools such as nodes and

lines facilitate the process of collecting and connecting information (Caine & Caine,

1991). In other words, students can create and view concept maps as a visual

representation tool to help them when critically analyzing new information.

An example of concept mapping tools

Description

Popplet refers to a mind mapping app that is free and open to anyone using

computers and mobile devices like IPad and smart phones (see

http://www.popplet.com/). Popplet allows users to create mind maps with drawing,

texts, images, and videos (see Figure 1). One convenient function of Popplet is that

users can directly search YouTube video by clicking “YouTube” (see Figure 2).

Popplet also supports collaborative learning. Users can share their mind maps with

others to view and edit via Facebook, Twitter, and email (see Figure 3).

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

Figure 1. Creating mind maps through Popplet

Figure 2. Searching videos from YouTube

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

Figure 3. Sharing mind maps through Popplet

Pros/Cons review

Popplet can be used by elementary school students, because its interface is clean

and cute, and its functions are friendly to use. This tool can help students develop

knowledge of digital literacies, because it allows students to use digital resources like

images, videos, and texts to express their thoughts. Popplet also affords the feature of

online collaborative learning by which students can co-construct their concepts

without time and space constrains, which is one big advantage of online learning

tools.

Pros

 Require little installation

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

 Clean interface

 Easy to create concept maps

 Customized concept maps using videos, images, text, and drawing.

 Easy to add videos from YouTube website

 Allow users to share concept maps through Facebook/Twitter or make it

public

 Allow users to create/edit concept map together

Cons

 Only allowed to create five Popplets with free version

 No tutoring videos. Only examples provided

 No discussion platforms for users to discuss their concept maps

Comparison of concept mapping tools

I compared Popplet with Mindomo (see https://www.mindomo.com/). Both are

concept mapping apps. Mindomo has relatively the same features as Popplet does. For

example, Mindomo similarly supports users to add text, images, and videos in a

concept map. Second, like Popplet, Mindomo allow users to co-construct concept map

together.

There are differences between Popplet and Mindomo. First, unlike Popplet which

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

only allows users to search for videos from YouTube, Mindomo enables users to

search videos and images from Google and YouTube. Second, Mindomo allows users

to comment on concept maps, which I consider as a con of Popplet. But, I am not

saying that Mindomo is better than Popplet, but that teachers need to determine which

concept map tool is best for their students. I will recommend Popplet for elementary

school students, because of its ease of use and clean interface. Mindomo can be used

for middle school students and higher level students, because it provides more

functions than Popplet for students to use such as more powerful search engine, and

permitting students to give comments.

Classroom application

I will demonstrate how teachers can help students develop critical thinking skills

using Popplet through a series of steps. The steps include (1) assigning reading

materials, (2) creating concept maps, (3) expanding maps with visual representations,

(4) sharing maps.

At first, teachers assign students with reading materials as stimuli to create

concept maps. To engage students in a deep reading process, teachers can ask students

to annotate essential information which they can use later to build concept maps.

Instructors can provide students with wh-questions to guide students to identify

important messages in readings. Examples questions are “What is the author trying to

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

get readers to think about”, “What do you think about the reading?”, and “What

information does the author need to clarify within the text?”

Second, students log in Popplet with registered email and password, and click

“make new Popplet” button to create concept maps. Students name their concept

maps based on their own preferences. Students start their concept maps by placing

keywords, main ideas, or questions they generate from readings in the center of

concept maps. Keywords, main ideas, and questions are helpful starting points to

build the hierarchical structure of concept maps. Third, students review the

information they highlight to expand maps. Students are encouraged to expand their

concept maps not only with texts, but also visual representations. The visual

representations such as images, videos, or drawings provide students with alternative

communicative means to reconfigure meaning across various maps more abstract or

conceptual ideas clearly.

Finally, students share concept maps with each other. Students read and leave

comments in at least three different concept maps. Students are forbidden to post

comments include generic praise or short phrases like “I agree” “I like it” or “Nice

job.” Comments students post should show they read peers’ work and move the

discussion forward. For example, they may explain their rational of the idea in the

maps which they agree or disagree with. They may raise questions which can promote

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

peers’ thinking and contribute to an ongoing discussion. After discussions among

students, a teacher share his/her reactions to students’ concept maps.

Conclusion

This paper advocates using concept mapping tools to facilitate students’ critical

thinking. The application of concept mapping tools for critical thinking skills training

has been well known in nursing education. For example, Wilgis and McConnell (2008)

examined the effectiveness of concept maps on critical thinking skills for new

graduate nurses. They found that new graduate nurses benefited from concept

mapping tools in critical thinking skills in terms of organizing information, and

identifying the relationships between patient information and concepts that guide

nursing care. However, the use of concept mapping tools for critical thinking skills

training has been limited to the context of medical schools. It is hoped that this paper

can provide K-12 teachers or college teachers with an alternative- using concept

mapping tools, to teach critical thinking skills.

References

Astleitner, H. (2002). Teaching critical thinking online. Journal of Instructional

Psychology, 29(2), 53-76.

Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing,

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

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Birkerts, S. (1994). The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age.

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Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1991). Making connections: Teaching and the human

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Eshet-Alkalai,, Y. (2004). Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills

in the digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1),

93-106.

Facione, P. A. (2007). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Insight

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Flumerfelt, S., & Green, G. (2013). Using lean in the flipped classroom for at risk

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Running Title: Concept mapping tools for critical thinking skill development

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