Mind Maps As Teaching Aids
This is part 1 in a series of posts highlighting how mind mapping can be used in education. In this first post we’re going to see how mind mapping can be used as teaching aid.
Trying to capture your students attention and focus? Then why not use mind maps to give them a more visual aid to their learning? By using mind maps, you can capture the interest of your students with something that involves everyone and at the same time conveys information in a more stimulating and short hand medium.
The Same Old Method
The bane of any teachers day is trying to capture the attention and focus of their students. Whether demonstrating mathematical equations or dissecting the plot of a classic novel, teachers often rely on blackboards, whiteboards, and smartboards to explain and educate. More often than not though, the students will be faced with lines and lines of notes put in front of them that they must copy to remember or condense in their own style.
The problem with this is that the students aren’t engaged in any way and therefore act like drones, simply scribbling away what they see in front of them.
In order to involve the students more and capture their interest, we need to give them a way of communicating their ideas through a medium that is recognisable and easy to read. Enter the mind map!
The Big Picture
Probably the easiest way to start introducing mind mapping as a teaching aid, is to use mind mapping to explain topics and subjects by giving them the big picture.
Before a lesson starts, take 5 minutes to quickly mind map out the subject on the board that is going to be covered in the lesson. If your more prepared and technically able, then you could also use mind mapping software and a projector to show the mind map complete with all the visual aids required like coloured keywords and images.
By using this method, you are giving your students a more visual and appealing format that they are more likely to associate with, rather than lines of notes. At the end of the lesson the mind map could be duplicated to a medium suitable for distribution whether it be simple paper or as a digital file that the students can take away.
Class Mind Mapping
The second method involves the class and is best suited to subjects where students can collaborate on a topic or subject.
At the beginning of the lesson, start the mind map with a core topic using an image or keyword. This is the starting point of our mind map. In order to break the students into mind mapping, you might want to take suggestions for the core topic from them. This gives them a chance to see how mind mapping works.
Next, identify the main topics surrounding the core topic. Add these to your mind map, explaining to the students how these main topics are associated with the core topic.
Once the students have an understanding of how the mind map works, ask each student to approach the mind map and add a keyword or image to a main topic of their choice. The only rule is that each student must add something and it must associate with a main topic.
Finally, take a few minutes to discuss with the students what’s been added to the mind map. You can discuss with the students the associations between topics, and the keywords and images they have added to each topic and their reason why.
This is almost like a brainstorming session except your not asking the students to generate ideas. Instead your asking them what they know on the topic. It helps students to re-inforce what they know and find out things that perhaps they should know.
As you can see from these examples, mind mapping is a great way for teachers to interact with their students. Not only does it grab their attention, it encourages participation from your students in a way that you might not have thought possible.
In the next part of the series, we’ll be looking at how mind maps can be used as learning aids.
Related Articles:
- Starting off with Mind Maps
- Mind Maps As Learning Aids
- The Benefits Of Using A Mind Map As A Personal Dashboard
- Mind Maps As Examination Aids
2 Comments
Mind Maps As Learning Aids | MindMapSwitch on December 18th, 2008
[...] This is part 2 in a series of posts highlighting how mind mapping can be used in education. In the second post we’re going to look at how mind mapping can be used as a learning aid. Part 1 of the series, “Mind Maps As Teaching Aids”, can be found here. [...]
Mind Maps As Learning Aids | Matthew Lang on November 25th, 2008
[...] This is part 2 in a series of posts highlighting how mind mapping can be used in education. In the second post we’re going to look at how mind mapping can be used as a learning aid. Part 1 of the series, “Mind Maps As Teaching Aids”, can be found here. [...]