Does feedback always increase learning from partial concept maps?

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 7:45 am
  In Poster Session: Learning Sciences Poster Session

Abstract

In this study, seventh-grade learners (n = 158) read educational texts on the musculoskeletal system and were randomly assigned to either complete a partial concept map with the concepts left blank or the labels left blank. In a subsequent restudy phase, they were provided with an expert map as feedback or restudied their own maps without any feedback. Results indicated that filling-in-the-concepts significantly outperformed filling-in-the-labels across different types of learning outcomes (i.e., retention and comprehension). Furthermore, interaction analyses revealed that when feedback was provided, filling-in-the-concepts significantly increased only retention but not comprehension scores. These findings highlight the importance of filling-in-the-concepts as an efficient concept mapping methodology and also the potential drawbacks of providing feedback due to its lack of elaboration.

Authors

• Yuxin Ren, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

• Zhe Wang, East China Normal University