Free Idea Maps Towards Agile Mapping

Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Free Idea Maps Towards Agile Mapping Federico Gobbo [email protected] Dipartimento di Informatica e Comunicazione Universitàdegli Studi dell’Insubria Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Cognitive mapping history: origins Information visualization studies and started in the francophone world in the late 1960s (Bertin, Piaget) and indipendently in the UK by Tony Buzan. In the 1970s cognitive psychologists and US-scholars started to study psychological implication, applying concept maps into educational settings (Ausubel, Novak). Tony Buzan took PhD at the London School of Economics and then put ‘radiant thinking’ and ‘mind mapping’ under copyright. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Cognitive mapping history: now In the late 1980s and in the 1990s mapping software entered the arena esp. for educational purposes – i.e. for creating lecture notes or for active studying – but not only: brainstorming, time management, life self-coaching, information management, etc. The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) developed CmapTools, MindJet released MindManager for Buzan’s mind mapping. After 2000 a lot of clones spread out, but always along the two main models – concept mapping (IHMC) vs. mind mapping (Buzan). Notable exception is the Compendium Institute, which developed a third way, i.e. conversational or dialog mapping, enabling groups to build shared knowledge – revealing collective intelligence. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Why cognitive mapping? Empirical evidences. Our brain process complex information conveyed visually in a very effective way, we typically identify visual patterns easier than not-visual (e.g. words as concepts). Forthermore, visual images can overcome language barriers. Knowledge elicitation. Information visualization doesn’t merely communicate ideas but it actively, organizes, concises, and clarifies info chunks (Dawkins’ memes) revealing hidden patterns, gaining insights and discovering new ideas and relations. Cognitive mapping is the ability to see and move through the “big picture” (Gestalt) as well as into details: thinking is considered as a complex adaptive system. i.e. informations grow and change maintain accuracy and relevance. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Assimilation and learning in cognitive psychology Concept mapping started in 1972 in a research program about how children represent knowledge. Ausubel’s cognitive psychology, spread from Piaget’s, has at the core the idea of assimilation. New concepts and propositions may be assimilated only if they find a place into existing concept network, i.e. individual’s cognitive structure. In general, the introduction of a new concept inplies a reconfiguration of the concept network for assimilation. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Concept map for collaborative and distance learning Members of a social group share the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD, Vygotsky 1978), i.e. a social space where dialogue and cooperation can effectively support learning with minimal aid from a tutor. Teachers are similar to coaches. Concept maps started as a tool to externalize the cognitive structures behind ZPDs. Ausubel distinguish two ways to learn: rote learning vs. meaningful learning. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Learning in the constructive learning theory Ref: Novak-Cañas(2006) on the theory and how to construct concept maps Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Maps, concepts, propositions and tagged arcs Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. • A concept is a ‘perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label’ (Novak-Cañas 2006). • A proposition is meaningful statement obtained connecting two or more concepts using linking words. • Linking words are represented by tagged arcs. A basic concept map Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions Hierarchical fashion and cross-linking In concept maps, general concepts are at the top of the map and less general concepts are arranged hierarchically below. Cross-links are links that put into relations concepts in different segments or domains. Note that in the previous map there were no cross-links, and the map itself was very simple indeed. A concept map on concept mapping Ref: Novak-Cañas(2006) on the theory and how to construct concept maps Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions It works in well-structured knowledge domains Learners evaluated by their concept maps are engaged into meaningful learning, Concept proved very helpful to avoid misconceptions in science and mathematics in education. CmapTools was used to prepare NASA material on Mars before the mission. The epistemological foundation in concept mapping is semantic atomicity: with about 100 atoms you may have a great number of molecules; with appox. 460,000 words in English you may express a lot of sentences; analogously, with a not-too-great set of concepts you may express a lot of maps. The knowledge portfolio by NASA for MArs Exploration Ref: Novak-Cañas(2006) on the theory and how to construct concept maps 2. Then build a list of concept as a parking lot, as a set of Post-its. Avoid “sentences in the boxes”. 3. Organize your concepts in domains (horizontal axis) and in generality (vertical axis) and define the relations between them. 4. Refine your concept map adding cross-links. 5. Eventually link your concept map with previous ones, so to demonstrate that your understanding is not limited to a single concept map, i.e. build a Knowledge Model (Cañas2003). Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions How to build a concept map 1. Start from a Focus Question, i.e. it should cleary states the issue as an open problem or topic. Prefer “how” and “why” questions (descriptive and explicative) to “what” or “who” ones (prescriptive and classificatory). If the problem/topic is very hard, let an expert in the field prepare an “expert skeleton” map. 3. Organize your concepts in domains (horizontal axis) and in generality (vertical axis) and define the relations between them. 4. Refine your concept map adding cross-links. 5. Eventually link your concept map with previous ones, so to demonstrate that your understanding is not limited to a single concept map, i.e. build a Knowledge Model (Cañas2003). Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions How to build a concept map 1. Start from a Focus Question, i.e. it should cleary states the issue as an open problem or topic. Prefer “how” and “why” questions (descriptive and explicative) to “what” or “who” ones (prescriptive and classificatory). If the problem/topic is very hard, let an expert in the field prepare an “expert skeleton” map. 2. Then build a list of concept as a parking lot, as a set of Post-its. Avoid “sentences in the boxes”. 4. Refine your concept map adding cross-links. 5. Eventually link your concept map with previous ones, so to demonstrate that your understanding is not limited to a single concept map, i.e. build a Knowledge Model (Cañas2003). Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions How to build a concept map 1. Start from a Focus Question, i.e. it should cleary states the issue as an open problem or topic. Prefer “how” and “why” questions (descriptive and explicative) to “what” or “who” ones (prescriptive and classificatory). If the problem/topic is very hard, let an expert in the field prepare an “expert skeleton” map. 2. Then build a list of concept as a parking lot, as a set of Post-its. Avoid “sentences in the boxes”. 3. Organize your concepts in domains (horizontal axis) and in generality (vertical axis) and define the relations between them. 5. Eventually link your concept map with previous ones, so to demonstrate that your understanding is not limited to a single concept map, i.e. build a Knowledge Model (Cañas2003). Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions How to build a concept map 1. Start from a Focus Question, i.e. it should cleary states the issue as an open problem or topic. Prefer “how” and “why” questions (descriptive and explicative) to “what” or “who” ones (prescriptive and classificatory). If the problem/topic is very hard, let an expert in the field prepare an “expert skeleton” map. 2. Then build a list of concept as a parking lot, as a set of Post-its. Avoid “sentences in the boxes”. 3. Organize your concepts in domains (horizontal axis) and in generality (vertical axis) and define the relations between them. 4. Refine your concept map adding cross-links. Introduction Concept maps Dialog maps Mind maps Pitfalls Agile intersections Conclusions How to build a concept map 1. Start from a Focus Question, i.e. it should cleary states the issue as an open problem or topic. Prefer “how” and “why” questions (descriptive and explicative) to “what” or “who” ones (prescriptive and classificatory). If the problem/topic is very hard, let an expert in the field prepare an “expert skeleton” map. 2. Then build a list of concept as a parking lot, as a set of Post-its. Avoid “sentences in the boxes”. 3. Organize your concepts in domains (horizontal axis) and in generality (vertical axis) and define the relations between them. 4. Refine your concept map adding cross-links. 5. Eventually link your concept map with previous ones, so to demonstrate that your understanding is not limited to a single concept map, i.e. build a Knowledge Model (Cañas2003). A parking lot spread from a focus question..

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