Editing Concept map (section)

== History ==
Concept mapping was developed by the professor of education [[Joseph D. Novak]] and his research team at [[Cornell University]] in the 1970s as a means of representing the emerging science knowledge of students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ihmc.us/users/user.php?UserID=jnovak|title=Joseph D. Novak|publisher=Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)|access-date=2008-04-06}}</ref> It has subsequently been used as a way to increase meaningful learning in the sciences and other subjects as well as to represent the expert knowledge of individuals and teams in education, government and business. Concept maps have their origin  in the learning movement called [[constructivism (learning theory)|constructivism]]. In particular, constructivists hold that learners actively construct knowledge.

Novak's work is based on the cognitive theories of [[David Ausubel]], who stressed the importance of prior knowledge in being able to learn (or ''assimilate'') new concepts: "The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach accordingly."<ref>Ausubel, D. (1968). ''Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View''. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.</ref> Novak taught students as young as six years old to make concept maps to represent their response to focus questions such as "What is water?" "What causes the seasons?" In his book ''Learning How to Learn'', Novak stated that a "meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures."

Various attempts have been made to conceptualize the process of creating concept maps.<ref>Al-Kunifed, Ali; Wandersee, James H. (1990). "One hundred references related to concept mapping", Journal of Research in Science Teaching', 27: 1069–75.</ref> McAleese suggested that the process of making knowledge explicit, using ''nodes'' and ''relationships'', allows the individual to become aware of what they know and as a result to be able to modify what they know.<ref name=McAleese1998>McAleese, R. (1998). "The knowledge arena as an extension to the concept map: reflection in action", ''Interactive Learning Environments'', 6(3), p.251–272.</ref> Maria Birbili applied the same idea to helping young children learn to think about what they know.<ref>Birbili, M. (2006). [http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/birbili.html "Mapping knowledge: concept maps in early childhood education"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914133528/http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/birbili.html |date=2010-09-14 }}, ''Early Childhood Research & Practice'', 8(2), Fall 2006.</ref> McAleese's concept of the [[knowledge arena]] suggests a virtual space where learners may explore what they know and what they do not know.<ref name=McAleese1998/>