ICMAP: An interactive tool for concept map generation to facilitate learning process

Mohammad Dibay Moghadam

Conceptual maps can be considered as a multi-resource in e-learning environments. Conceptual maps present a strong power of integration, navigable and meaningful representation. Under this point of view, a student centred framework can be approached, as the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requires. In the present work, we present five types of different significant uses of conceptual maps for learning purposes: a) as a guide for navigation inside the virtual environment; b) as a learning activity; c) as an expert model of knowledge representation; d) as an evaluation tool; and e) as facilitators of the construction of collaborative work

Concept maps can be considered as a multi-resource in e-learning environments. Concept maps present a strong power of integration, navigable and meaningful representation. Under this point of view, a student centred framework can be approached, as the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requires. In the present work, we show five types of different significant uses of concept maps for learning purposes: a) as a guide for navigation inside the virtual environment; b) as a learning activity; c) as an expert model of knowledge representation; d) as an evaluation tool; and e) as facilitators of the construction of collaborative work.

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Procedia Computer Science 00 (2009) 000–000 www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia Conference title ICMAP: An interactive tool for concept map generation to facilitate learning process Hendijanifard Fatemeh a, Kardan Ahmada,*, Dibay Moghadam Mohammada a Department of Computer and Information Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Abstract Human computer interaction is one of the issues which could play an essential role in learning. In distance learning, interactive tools can facilitate the learning process for the teachers and the students. In this article, the design and implementation of software will be introduced which assists the users learn more with the help of interactive instructions and concept map (Cmap) generation. Cmaps are graphical visualization of knowledge about a topic, in which the concepts of a subject are meaningfully related to each other. Cmaps are widely used in E-learning and proved to be helpful to the learners and informative to the teachers. The step by step process of making a Cmap by means of especial tools with fine interface will result in better learning process. Hence, in this tool, the learner makes Cmaps stage by stage with necessary textual or graphical instructions. Other interactive features such as colors and message boxes are utilized to instruct, assure, or warn the user when making a Cmap. Some other attributes of the tool help the teachers get a report about the frequent students’ mistakes in order to understand which part of the course should be developed. Keywords: Human computer interaction; Interactive tool; Distance learning; Concept map; Learning process 1. Introduction The constructivist model of learning contains the idea that students should participate in the formation of information gained or taught [1]. Based on Ausubel’s work for constructivist learning model, as mentioned by Byron Marshall, Yiwen Zhang and el al.: “people learn through active exploration when exploration uncovers inconsistency between experience and current understanding”. And also: “Based on the constructivist model of learning, concept mapping has been identified as an effective learning tool” [2]. The use of Cmap is believed to facilitate meaningful learning [3]. Cmap is a knowledge representation tool which is one of the learning tool categories. These tools help the learner capture or review knowledge through visualization. Cmap can keep one in an active learning process by helping one construct one’s knowledge about a topic and relate the concepts meaningfully [2]. In short, Cmaps are graphical * Kardan Ahmad. Tel.: +98-21-64542729 E-mail address: {aakardan,mohammad.dibay,hendijani}@aut.ac.ir . Hendijanifard et al./ Procedia Computer Science 00 (2010) 000–000 visualization of knowledge about a topic and are widely used in different levels of education. They are proved to be helpful in education, for researching, creating new knowledge, writing, managing organizations and so on [4]. There are so many tools to help users construct a Cmap by the aid of computers [1, 2, 4, 5, 6]. Some are webbased and some are not. Some of them utilize features to help the user construct the map better, use resources for it, search the web for new concepts, search others’ Cmaps or use experts’ Cmaps [4]. Some of the concept mapping tools is designed for instructors and to be used just in classrooms or as an evaluation tool. Regarding to constructivist model of learning, in the concept mapping tools with purpose of learning, interaction can play an important role in the learning process and knowledge acquisition by the student. Interaction through computer interface with representations such as Cmaps could be summarized in what the user does and the response to the user’s action. Sedig points out: the system’s response increases interactivity and has some benefits. For example: “making mental manipulation of ideas easier; providing opportunities for discovery; and, serving as a coordinator between the internal mental models of users and an external representation” [7]. But in many tools interaction is used in features like changing the color of the Cmap, modifying the Cmap or word suggestion [6] and the second interactivity part, systems’ response to the user, is ignored for the step by step construction of Cmaps. In this work, we considered the interactive generation of concept mapping and our purpose was to facilitate the learning process. We used simple interactive features with a scenario for this interaction to help learners construct a Cmap. In the step by step Cmap generation, our system makes the users actions easier and communicates with the user in any action he does in the form of assurance or warming. The system can be used in E-learning environment, where the teacher and the students are not in touch with each other directly. It has some benefits for using as an educational tool in virtual environment which are discussed in other sections. In addition to features for students, some attributes of the software help the teachers in course design to find which part of the course is misunderstood by the students. 1.1. Concept map (Cmap) The origins of Cmaps in education refer to Novak and Gowin and Canas’s work [8]. They used Cmaps as a learning tool to help meaningful learning. Cmaps show the relationship between concepts of a topic with the help of nodes and links. Nodes or boxes contain the concepts and are linked together with lines. A word or phrase is usually written on the connections, which shows meaningful relation between the concepts. The phrase on the link is called a linking phrase [5, 8]. It is considerable that each pair of concepts and the linking phrase between them can make a proposition [3] and hence can help one in gaining knowledge. Cmaps are a good tool for expert’s knowledge representation and sharing [3] and this can achieve one of the aims of ICMAP: ‘help the students learn more’. Fig. 1. (a) ICMAP client side architecture; (b) ICMAP server side architecture Hendijanifard et al./ Procedia Computer Science 00 (2010) 000–000 2. System design and implementation In this section the designing considerations to achieve ICMAP goals and the system architecture will be discussed. 2.1. System Architecture ICMAP is a web-based Cmap generation system, which helps the instructors to facilitate the learning process. It can be used by many teachers and several students for different courses. The system administrator can add or delete administrator, teacher and student users, and Cmaps to the system. Everyone has a user name and password for logging into the system and each category has particular privileges. The system architecture is shown in Fig 1. Every teacher can generate a Cmap for each part of the course and save the map. Teacher’s Cmap is considered as a reference map which is a complete, correct Cmap about a topic. The reference map is used to show to the students later, to help them complete a Cmap about a topic, and also is used to evaluate the student’s Cmap and actions. Other features of ICMAP related to the students and teachers are discussed in the next parts. 2.2. Features related to the student To improve learning process in a non-educational environment, we considered user friendly interfaces with two designing points for implementing ICMAP. First, the interface should be designed such that the students could be sure about their actions or receiving some reward in the form of a game. Hence, the process of Cmap construction becomes satisfactory for them. But, at the same time, this interface should result in learning by the user. As stated before, Cmaps for each part are previously drawn by the teacher. The teacher saves the Cmaps. Teacher’s Cmap is considered as a reference map to show to the students, and is used to evaluate the student’s Cmap and actions. The teacher’s Cmap is shown in the form of a blank or disabled Cmap, in which the nodes (the circles around the concepts) are shown without showing the links between them and not including any label or color. The blank Cmap is shown to the students with the concepts and linking phrases lists; and the students have to complete the Cmap and relate the nodes by using these lists and drag and drop action. A sample of a reference Cmap is shown in Fig 2 (a). See the blank Cmap of this reference Cmap in Fig 2 (b). System usability has many features for design and evaluation; but as Shackel concludes, only with a good interface design for usability the system can interact with the user and serves him [9]. Hence the scenario for the considered features for the ICMAP interface is as below: when the student logs into the system, he can choose the Cmap of any part of the course he wants from a list. In this list the chapter and sub sessions are shown. After selecting one, a blank Cmap is shown. The blank Cmap seems like a disabled Cmap in which the nodes become bold and colorful after completion. The chapter or sub-chapter title is known, so the student is familiar with the main concepts of the topic. In order to facilitate the work and not to confuse the students, the concepts list and the linking phrases list are shown in different boxes at the right side of the working area window. The student then has to choose a concept and find the right place of it by drag and drop action. Drag and drop is a simple method in order to prevent exhausting; if it’s needed to fill a Cmap with a long list of concepts. It is important that the right place of a node isn’t the exact spatial place and relates to the hierarchical features of Cmap - the level of a concept (distance from the root or the highest node of the Cmap) and the relation with other nodes - . The interaction features are used in the next part. In the drop action, if the concept is dropped in the right place, the node becomes enabled and the color changes to green and the concept will be omitted from the list at the right box. In this way, the system assures the student with his action and persuades him to continue making the map. If the concept is not dropped in the right place, the node becomes red and one wrong action will be submitted for him. After placing all the concepts, the learner should find the relationship between the concepts from the linking phrases listed in a separate box at the right side of the Cmap construction window. The user can relate each two concepts by selecting one node and draw a link to another one. If there is no relationship between the concepts, one mistake is added to the user’s mistakes; the link becomes red and is not drawn. The linking phrases then should be dragged to the drawn links. Hendijanifard et al./ Procedia Computer Science 00 (2010) 000–000 Fig. 2. (a) a reference Cmap; (b) the blank Cmap of this reference Cmap The reasons for using this model for concept mapping in ICMAP are listed here: Facilitating the user’s work for constructing Cmaps Help the student make the Cmap step by step Facilitate the learning process by step by step Cmap construction Make the process of constructing similar to a game Make the process easier by giving the list of concepts Make the process easier by giving the linking phrases list Evaluating the student’s Cmap easier by comparing to the reference (teacher’s) Cmap Easier to evaluate the Cmap at the time of construction Easier to assure the student about any action he does in the Cmap construction process The assurance of any action for the user makes him know which part of the chapter is not understood well. This relates to the hierarchy feature of Cmaps which is discussed in detail in part 3. • • • • • • • • • 2.3. Features related to the teacher ICMAP has some benefits for the teachers too. The teacher can log into the system and make Cmaps for different chapters of the course. These Cmaps, in addition to be reference Cmaps and using for evaluation, help the students to capture knowledge; because, in fact these Cmaps are representation of an expert knowledge which is shared for the students [3]. In addition to Cmap generation features, ICMAP has a reporting feature for teachers. In this report, all the mistakes of all students – done in the Cmap generation – are listed. For each chapter, the mistakes are categorized and hence the teacher can find which part of the course is not learned well by the students. Utilization of this feature helps the instructor to re-design the misunderstood parts of the course. 3. Discussion on effects of ICMAP on learning process Concept mapping technique uses the constructivist model of learning – a learning model in which the learner does not act passively and actively involves in learning processes by construction of learned ideas and information – by making one relate the concepts learned about a topic, meaningfully. Concept mapping is said to be an effective learning tool and to support meaningful learning [1, 2, 3, 7]. When the students interact with representation of knowledge (Cmap), they outline their understanding about concepts and the relationship between them in the representation [7]. The system interaction features with representation of Cmaps can be mentioned from two views. First is the user’s action on the Cmap represented on the window through the user interface of the software, and second is a response to what the user has done. The second point causes the interactivity increasing and as Sedig mentions, has some benefits such as: “supporting emergent understanding of encoded ideas; making mental manipulation of ideas easier; providing opportunities for Hendijanifard et al./ Procedia Computer Science 00 (2010) 000–000 experimentation, discovery, and hypothetical reasoning; facilitating acquisition of qualitative insight into the nature of representations; and, serving as a coordinator between the internal mental models of users and an external representation” [7]. Interaction with visual representations has different types regarding to some factors such as: continuous or discrete flow, and direct or indirect focus. In addition, there are some modes for interactions, such as: manipulation and navigation. In a flow interaction, ‘the user’s perception of the effects of relationship between cause and effect in time space’ is considered. The main difference between manipulation and navigation modes, as it’s obvious from their name, is the ability to modify the representation [7]. In our work, we considered such factors and especially the system response to the user. We used the interaction flow in which the system responds to the user interactions simultaneously. As mentioned before, the learner receives assurance of his action immediately after any action for Cmap completion. If he places a concept or linking phrase in the right node or link, the system assures the learner by enabling the node and changing the node color to green; or warns him by changing the color to red and adding a mistake to his mistake counts in the text shown at the right side of the Cmap generation window. Hence the student manipulates the concepts, retrieves information or updates the concepts, has the opportunity to discover, or the knowledge acquisition occurs. Another effect of interaction features of ICMAP on learning process refers to the Cmap hierarchy. In a Cmap, the concepts are categorized in common and detailed ones. This hierarchy is well defined in a Cmap. The more general concepts are at the top and the specific concepts are in the below levels [4]. Therefore, the right or wrong places of concepts, in fact, show this hierarchy. Hence the assurance of actions in this part helps the student to learn the hierarchy of concepts in a visual representation. In addition, when this hierarchy is made by the user interactively, the orders would be remembered better by him or may make him think about the wrong ones. 4. Summary and future works In this paper we designed a tool with interactive features for the step by step generation of a Cmap in order to help the students learn better in E-learning environment. ICMAP is educational software and can support a total course assignment for the teachers. We believe the interactive features have learning effects for the students as discussed in part 3. In future works, it is suggested to use course contents as a resource for the Cmaps. This can be a useful resource for education and the students can use course contents and Cmaps simultaneously. Also, if some other interactive features such as sound and animation are used, it can be a good game-like tool for utilizing in learning for children or in schools. References 1. Anoop Kumar & David J. Kahle, VUE: A CONCEPT MAPPING TOOL FOR DIGITAL CONTENT, Proc. of the Second Int. Conference on Concept Mapping, San José, Costa Rica, 2006. 2. Byron Marshall, Yiwen Zhang, Hsinchun Chen, Ann Lally, Rao Shen, Edward Fox, Lillian N. Cassel, Convergence of Knowledge Management and E-Learning: the GetSmart Experience, NSDL project. 3. J. Ca~nas, Car_, Hill, M. Carvalho, Arguedas, C. Eskridge, Lott, and Carvajal, Concept maps: Integrating knowledge and information visualization, Knowledge and Information Visualization, volume 3426 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 205-219, Springer, 2005. 4. Joseph D. Novak, Alberto J. Cañas, The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 2008. 5. Joseph D. Novak & Alberto J. Cañas, Building on New Constructivist Ideas and CmapTools to Create a New Model for Education, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. 6. Harry Kornilakis, Maria Grigoriadou, Kyparisia A.Papanikolaou, Evangelia Gouli, Using WordNet to Support Interactive Concept Map Construction, ICALT, 2004. 7. Kamran Sedig, Sonja Rowhani, Hai-Ning Liang, Designing interfaces that support formation of cognitive maps of transitional processes: an empirical study, J Interacting with Computers 17 (2005) 419–452. 8. Joseph D. Novak, Alberto J. Cañas, The Origins of the Concept Mapping Tool and the Continuing Evolution of the Tool, Information Visualization Journal, pages 175-184, 2006. 9. Brian Shackel, Usability – Context, framework, definition, design and evaluation, J Interacting with Computers 21 (2009) 339–346.