A Curious Compendiumof Concept Maps for Teaching Media

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Rick InstrellAMES Conference, 31 May 2014www.deep-learning.co.ukinfo@deep-learning.co.uk

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Mind maps

• A mind map is a diagram with words, ideas, actions, etc. linked and arranged radially round a central keyword or idea e.g. spider map

• Good for brainstorming and first stage of planning media content etc.

• Mind maps tend to be unorganised and personal• But we can help learners by use of mind map templates• Examples:

– brand/product mind maps– compass diagram

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Brand/product mind maps

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Example of brand mind map

Compass diagram

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Purpose/ target audience

Internal/external opportu-

nities/con-straints

Media/Genre

Content

Style

Technicalcodes

Culturalcodes

AIDA

Research

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What is a concept map?

• Graphical representation of knowledge in form of a network with nodes and links

• Nodes are concepts usually in the form of words• Links have labels with words or symbols that specify the

relationship between the concepts• Linked nodes form meaningful statements (propositions)• Arrow on link indicates direction of relationship (may be

two way)• A table also can be a good concept map• Based on a finite set of structures that the brain uses to

represent the world cognitively

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Concept map of concept maps

CONCEPT MAP

• Graphical representation of knowledge in the form of propositions

Node = concept

• Can be word(s)/symbols

• Represent objects/ideas/events/states

Link =Relationship

• Can be word(s)/symbols

Structure

Cluster

• Show as set or bulleted list

Contrast• Show as table

Chain Tree = Hierarchy

Sequence

• Show as scale, numbered list, sequence of boxes

Cycle = Helix

• Show as loop

OUTCOMES

• Meaningful teaching & learning

• Metacognition

• Lifelong study skill

Kind Tree =Taxonomy

• Show as tree diagram

Part Tree = Partonomy

• Show as tree diagram

AKO

APO AFO

AKO AKO AKO

AKO AKO AKO AKO

APO

Key: AKO = is a kind ofAPO = is a part ofAFO= is a feature of

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Word fields

• Word Fields =Semantic Fields=Lexical Fields• A word field is a set of relations between concepts or

word(s)• It is a conceptual structure e.g.

– City/country is a word field unified a relation of opposite meaning

– Hamlet/village/town/city is a word field organised on a scale of increasing size

• Alan Cruse has performed a systematic overview of word fields – his terminology has been simplified here

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Clusters

• Word field with low degree of contrast e.g.– amble, stroll, saunter, …– brave, courageous, fearless, heroic, plucky, …– rap, tap, knock, slap, crack, bang, thump, …– odd, queer, strange, weird, alien, …

• Best represented as a set or as a bulleted list (next slide)

• In concept maps a cluster can be a set of features associated with a concept which has no apparent structure – best shown as bulleted list

raptap

knock

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Example: voice quality

Voice quality•tense/relaxed•loud/soft•high/low•rough/smooth•breathy/non-breathy•vibrato/plain•nasal/non-nasal

Adapted from Speech, Music, Sound, T van Leeuwen (1999London: Palgrave Macmillan, p151

tense/relaxed

loud/soft

high/low

rough/smooth

breathy/non-breathy

vibrato/plain

nasal/non-nasal

Voice quality

AFO

OR

Key: AFO = is a feature of

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Contrasts: opposites

• Complementaries: e.g. – dead: alive; true: false

• Converses: e.g. – buy:sell; parent: child

• Polar opposites: e.g. – long: short; high: low; hot: cold

• Reversives: e.g. – rise: fall; dress: undress; open: close

• Best shown as a table with features of each opposite listed underneath

Example: conceptions of media

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Model Market model Public service model

Conception Private companies selling products Public resources serving the public

Main Purpose Profit for owners & shareholders Active citizenship via information, education & social integration

Audience Consumers Citizens

Service Entertainment, ads Information & education about the world

Innovation Innovation threatens profitable standardised formats

Innovation way of engaging audiences

Diversity Strategy for reaching niche & upmarket audiences

Represents range of public’s view and tastes

Public interest Whatever is popular Diverse, substantial, innovative content even if not always popular

Regulation Perceived as interference Protecting public interest

Performance criteria

Profit Serving public interest

Example Sky BBC

Adapted from The Business of Media, D Croteau and W Hovnes (2001) Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, p37.

Q. Are Sky and BBC really polar opposites? What about ITV, C4, Five?

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Concepts and conceptions

• Scholars may agree over the usefulness of concepts such as ‘media’, ‘institution’, ‘audience’ and society

• However they may have different conceptions of these concepts

• Concepts unify a field of study but rival conceptions divide it

• Different conceptions of a concept can be most economically shown in a contrast table rather than a diagram i.e. a conception map

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Example: sociological theoriesConception Marxism/Conflict theory Functionalism Symbolic Interactionism

View of Society 

Society is a social arena in which diverse groups with conflicting values and interests compete for scarce resources: wealth, power, and prestige.

Society is a social system made up of interdependent parts, allof which must fulfil certain functions to operate properly.

Society is like a stage where people define and redefine meaning as they interact with one another. 

Major Concepts and Ideas 

Economic base; superstructure; social class; class consciousness; vested interests; alienation; power; coercion; domination; negotiation.

Organic analogy; manifest and latent functions; equilibrium; dysfunctions. 

Meaningful symbols;definition of the situation; looking-glass self; symbolic interaction; dramaturgical analysis; labelling.

View of Media 

Media are tools of power that help maintain the status quo, cultivate consumers, and disseminate info that serves interests of wealthy and powerful people/corporations that own/control the media.

Media perform many social functions: dissemination of information/ideas; provision of instantaneous world-wide communication.

Media provide most effective methods of defining the situation to promote products through ads; politicians stage media events to promote agendas and careers; activist organizations use websites.

Strengths 

Macrolevel analyses; social stratification; inequality.

Macrolevel analyses; structure; institutions.

Microlevel analyses; face-to-face interaction; day-to-day activities.

Weaknesses Microlevel analyses; ignores cooperation.

Microlevel analyses; ignores conflict and diversity.

Macrolevel analyses; ignores structure and larger social forces.

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Chains

• Chains: series of terms that can be placed on a line e.g. – Stages in time e.g.

• birth, life, death; nursery, primary, secondary; events as source, path, goal

– Sequences in space e.g. • elbow, forearm, wrist, hand; core, mantle, crust

– Measures e.g.• bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, terabyte

– Ranks e.g.• teacher, principal teacher, depute head, head

– Cycles (or helices): e.g. • spring, summer, autumn, winter

• Best represented as a linear sequence or a cycle

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Example: 4-act structureStage Film:

(Prologue)

Act 1: Setup

Turning point

Act 2: Complicating action

Turning point

Act 3: Development

Turning point

Act 4: Climax

(Epilogue)

Adapted from Storytelling in the New Hollywood, K Thompson (1999) Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Time

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Example: The Hero’s Journey

Adapted from The Hero with a Thousand Faces, J Campbell (1949) Novato, CA: New World Library.

The Hero(ine)’s Journey is used by scriptwriters as a template for many mainstream Hollywood movies.

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Trees (or hierarchies)

• Kind tree (taxonomy) – categorisation using superordinate and subordinate categories

• Part-tree (partonomy) – breaking a whole into its main parts and sub-parts

• How you categorise or partition depends on educational context (subject, age, stage)

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Part-tree (partonomy)BODY

Limbs TrunkHead

ArmLeg Face Hair

APOAPO

APO

APO APO APO

AKO APOAPO

Bold words are basic level categories: words we most commonly use and the first we learn

Note that this would be better represented by a labelled diagram of a human body.

Ears

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow

APOAPO

Key: APO = a part of

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Problem of tree ‘spread’

BODY

Limbs TrunkHead

ArmLeg Face Hair

APOAPO

APO

APO APO APO

At the foot of a tree use a ‘ladder’

Ears

APOAPO

APO

Shoulder

Upper Arm

Elbow

Forearm

Wrist

Hand

APO

Thigh

Knee

Shin

Calf

Ankle

Foot

Key: APO = is a part of

Example: print ad elementsheadline

copy

slogan (strapline)

images (photographs, pack shot of product, graphics)

logo

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Kind-tree (taxonomy)

TABLEWARE

Cutlery Crockery Table linen

Fork Knife Spoon Cup Plate Bowl Napkin Table cloth

Teaspoon Soupspoon Tablespoon

AKOAKO

AKO

AKO AKO AKO AKO AKO AKO AKOAKO

AKO AKOAKO

Bold words are basic level categories: words we most commonly use and the first we learn Key: AKO = is a kind of

Example: differential decoding

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AUDIENCEDECODINGS

Dominant decoding = preferred reading- agrees with intended preferred meanings

Oppositional decoding- understands pre-ferred meanings but disagrees with them

Negotiated decoding - agrees with some of preferred meanings & disagrees with others

Aberrant decoding- misunderstands preferred meaning(s)because of different cultural back-ground/lack of knowledge

AKOAKO AKO AKO

Uncritical acceptance of Muller Little Stars ad’s message

Understandiing the ad’s message about health properties of yoghurt but thinking that its sweet taste will not be beneficial

Viewing ad as promoting unhealthy addictive food as well as consumerist ideology

Child viewing ad and thinking product comes straight from the field

AEO

AEO

AEOAEO

Key: AKO = is a kind ofAEO = is an example of

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Constrained concept maps

• Can have many links so it is a good idea to apply Occam’s razor (parsimony) to the types of link:

• e.g. restrict links to around 5 types:– is a kind of (AKO)– is part of (APO)– is a feature of (AFO)– is an example of (AEO)– arrowed line with no link word (leads to)

• Parsimony works well in subjects such as computing but is less easy in media studies and other social sciences

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Planning constrained maps

• AKO: for each concept think of superordinate and subordinate categories

• APO: for each concept think of superordinate and subordinate parts

• AFO: what are the key features that pupils need to know?

• AEO: think of real world example in pupils’ experience• Questions: should you place a kind-tree and a part-tree

on the same map?• Questions: might a part-tree be better represented as a

labelled image?

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Applications of concept maps• Clarification of one’s own conceptual understanding• Unifying departmental approaches• Advanced organisers and summaries• Better for poor readers• Diagnosis of conceptual misunderstandings• Encourages deep meaningful learning rather than surface rote

learning• Encourages students to create and reflect on their own maps• Shows how concepts are stored in experts’ minds• Can use graphics as well as words and colour to help

understanding on concept map• Encourages metacognition and lifelong learning

Concept map integrating KAs

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MEDIA INSTITUTIONS with purposes

AUDIENCEdifferential

decoders with needs

SOCIETYInstitutions,

relationships & culture (lived

cultures + texts)

TEXTSCategoriesLanguageNarrative

Representations

constructmode of address

& preferredmeanings

feedback

create/encode

used by/decoded by applying cultural knowledge

influences influences

UGC: user-generated content

MONEY

TECHNOLOGY

INSTITUTION

• creative personnel, deadlines, resources

• financial controllers (budget, income from sales, subscription, advertising; license fee)

• ownership & purposes (commercial, public service, alternative)

•controls (legal & regulatory compliance, market)

AUDIENCE

• target audience

• needs, uses & pleasure

• differential decoders (personality, gender, age, class, ethnicity, religion, nationality, taste, cultural capital)

• producers

TEXTS

CATEGORIES: purpose, medium, form, genre, tone, style. …

LANGUAGE: technical/cultural codes & their motivations & interactions e.g. anchorage.

NARRATIVE: content organisation; narrative structure & narrative codes

REPRESENTATIONS: stereotypes & non-stereotypes; ; hegemony; dominant/oppositional ideologies

SOCIETY

• institutions, relationships & culture (lived culture + texts) at specific times in specific places

used by/decoded by applying

cultural knowledge

influencesinfluences

TECHNOLOGY

• technologies of production,

distribution & consumption

MEANING

CAPITAL

create/encodeConstruct:

Mode of address

Preferred meanings

create UGC

feedback

Time

Circuit of meaning expanded

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BibliographyBordwell, D. (1989) Making Meaning: Inference Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapter 5 contains an accessible summary of Cruse’s ideas.

Cruse, D. A. (1986) Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Key text on semantic fields but has a lot of difficult terminology.

Cruse, D. A. (2000) Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. University level linguistics text book.

Finch, J. (2006) Inspiration in the Classroom: Curriculum-based Activity Plans. Beaverton, Or: Inspiration Software Inc. Purchase from www.inspiration.com website.

McQuail, D. & Windahl, S. (1993) Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communication (2nd edition). London: Routledge.

Novak, J. & Gowin, D. B. (1984) Learning How to Learn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Key text on concept mapping.

Novak, J. (1998) Learning, Creating and Using Knowledge: Concept Maps as Facilitative Tools in School and Corporations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Novak, J. D. & Cañas, A. J. (2006) The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct Them. Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Available at: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf