Engaging Concept Mapping Activities

There is a software program avaliable to the public that allows for the creation of concept maps or flow charts and it is called Inspiration. This program can help students and teachers to organize their ideas and information so that they are clear to everyone else around them. Also a concept map can be a great way to make the facts visually appealing to thte audience. Students will enjoy being able to produce a concept map on the computer and add interesting pictures to supplement the ideas presented.



Another great way that this program can be used is by having it serve as an assessment tool for a certain unit. If you are doing a unit on the scientific process you may ask your students to create a concept map based on the scientific process to check for understanding of the process. Once the students are familiar with the way in which Inspiration works they can hopefully be comfortable enough to show you their understanding of the concept and not of the program itself. One cool way to use this program with the entire class is to work together as a class to create a concept map on the board or a large piece of paper. Then the teacher can go back and put it on the computer so that the entire class can have a copy of their creation or you can produce a larger class size version to display in the room. Another option is to have the students offer suggestions as to other ways to use this program. This is a great way to get the students involved in their own learning.