Learning

• You are great at learning from formal instruction.

• Senior Seminar is different. – Pull together many concepts– Disparate fields– Multiple professors– Evolving problem solving

• How do you organize and express this?

Concept Mapping1. List the key concepts

A. Write the most important ideas related to each concept on a Postit -- Include relevant terms and details in the list

i. Who, what, where, why, when, how, how muchii. Processesiii. Driversiv. Relationships – cause and effect, etc.v. Characteristics

2. Number the concepts in order of importance3. Group closely related concepts4. Connect the concepts by drawing lines. Add verbs, verb phrases or

prepositions to describe how the concepts are related.5. Don’t just make a map. Make connections and ideas. 6. Review the concept map

A. Check for accuracy -- fix errors , delete any redundancies, add missing concepts

B. Rearrange the concepts and relationships as neededC. Add emphasis to key concepts and relationships: size, color, pictures

Concepts

• Arsenic• Health• Groundwater• Poisoning• Tubewells• Surface water• Release• Fe oxides

• Organic carbon• Sources• Peat lenses• Latrines• Irrigation• Deposition

Concepts-numbered

• Arsenic• Health-1• Groundwater-3• Poisoning-2• Tubewells-4• Surface water-13• Release-6• Fe oxides-8

• Organic carbon-5• Sources-7• Peat lenses-9• Latrines-10• Irrigation-11• Deposition-12

Concepts-grouped

• Arsenic• Health-1• Poisoning-2

• Groundwater-3• Tubewells-4

• Release-6• Fe oxides-8• Organic carbon-5

• Sources-7• Peat lenses-9• Latrines-10• Irrigation-11• Deposition-12

• Surface water-13

Free Concept/Mind Mapping Tools Online

• Cmap– http://cmap.ihmc.us/

• Edraw– http://www.edrawsoft.com/

• Concise learning– www.conciselearning.com– http://www.conciselearning.com/mindmapping.html– The most popular free mind mapping programs are XMind

(desktop), FreeMind (web-based), Mind42 (web-based), WisdoMap (web-based), Wisemapping (web-based), Bubbl.us (web-based),and IHMC CmapTools (concept mapping). They offer robust feature menus, are easy to use, and are compatible with other mapping programs.

Numbered List of

Concepts

Value of Collaboratively Developed Conceptual Models

• “Jointly developing a model not only helped the participants to formulate questions, clarify system boundaries, and identify gaps in existing data, but also revealed the thoughts and assumptions … the process of model building can help scientists, policy makers, and resource managers discuss applied problems and theory among themselves and with those in other areas. – “Conceptual Models as Tools for Communication Across Disciplines”

Heemskerk et al. 2003• “People were willing to listen to everybody else, ‘but what about

this issue or that issue, can we put that in?’ It wasn’t a case of, ‘Oh I don’t think so.’ It was a case of where will it fit and then once the subject matter was up there, then pretty much everyone in the group were able to add what effects what.’– “Evaluating participatory modeling” Jones et al. 2008