Concept mapping in the physiology lab to promote student learning (530.7)

Abstract

We report on a two year study to determine the effectiveness of concept mapping to promote student learning through conceptualization of physiological knowledge. Students were enrolled in a 300 level physiology lecture with a lab component. We worked only in the lab for concept mapping, where, during the first year we started halfway through the semester and had several full labs on concept mapping covering respiratory, blood pressure, and fluid balance control. We use concept mapping to focus more on conceptualization and application instead of rote memorization (however, students need to know the proper terms to create a good map). The second year we integrated concept mapping into the normal labs as pre‐labs with an initial lab on “how to create a concept map”. This would be typical of an instructor initially adding concept mapping to their existing labs. We discuss how to implement concept mapping into a lab using both years as case studies. The first year results focus on student opinion and logistics within the lab. The second year results focus on streamlining the procedures that worked and experimentally testing the effect of using concept maps as pre labs on student performance. Students report higher learning on concept map labs as well as feeling they better prepare them for the future.