Effects of Touch Technology-based Concept Mapping on Students' Learning Attitudes and Perceptions

Concept maps have become a widely used educational tool around the globe. The advancements in computerized interface technologies have enabled even more alternatives for using concept maps in teaching and learning. This study investigates the effects of two different touch technology-based concept mapping interaction modes on students' learning achievements and learning attitudes in a natural science course, as well as their degree of acceptance of using concept maps to learn. Ninety two sixth graders were randomly divided into three groups. Experimental Group One was taught using the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB)-based concept mapping approach, Experimental Group Two learned with the touchscreen-based concept mapping approach, while the control group learned with the traditional paper-and-pencil-based concept mapping approach. The experimental results show that, in terms of learning attitudes toward the natural science course and the degree of acceptance of using concept maps to learn, the students were significantly more positive about the two touch technology-based interaction modes than they were about the traditional paper-and-pencil mode.