Construction and Use of a Concept Map in an Undergraduate Dynamics Class

Abstract

While the use of technology in education has been rapidly increasing worldwide, the diversity and availability of information and study materials have been increasing at an even faster rate. However, presenting and explaining key course concepts in an effective and organized manner, as well as involving students in interactive learning experiences, are still key parts of teaching in higher education, more specifically, in achieving the educational objectives in the fundamental courses of science and engineering programs. Keeping this in prime consideration, the use of concept maps in basic engineering courses has been very effective and has gained growing attention in recent years. This work studied the use of a concept map in an undergraduate dynamics class. A two-phase hierarchical approach was used to construct two concept maps which were then demonstrated in the beginning of the course to allow students to see the key points of the entire course. The concept maps took the form of trees, with topics branching up from two broad topic areas at the bottom: dynamics of particles and dynamics of rigid bodies. The entire tree was climbed up as the course progressed. The students were asked to build their own concept map at the end of the semester with the goal of stimulating creativity as delineated by constructivism in contemporary pedagogy. A survey was carried out at the end of the course to study student perceptions of using the concept map. While students expressed different opinions on several questions, 100% of the participant students responded “I agree” to the survey item “The concept map was a useful resource for in-class activities”.