Spontaneous Concept Mapping and Its Influence on Knowledge Consolidation in Grade 5

The present study deals with the implementation of concept mapping in grade 5 of German high school. Concept mapping was used as a means of knowledge consolidation. In order to check, if concept mapping positively affects a student’s knowledge gain we compared two instructional treatments: a hands-on instruction with an additional concept mapping phase for knowledge consolidation and a hands-on instruction without a concept mapping phase. We implemented a knowledge test at three different times to assess students pre-knowledge, their short-term and long-term learning success. We also examined the “corrected complexity” of the cmaps on their effect on students’ knowledge gain. In order to analyse which instructional type should precede a concept mapping phase we introduced as another treatment a teacher-centred instruction, followed by concept mapping. Our application of concept mapping positively affected a student’s short-term learning success, but had no effect on his or her long-term learning success. We found a significant correlation between students’ knowledge post-test scores and the “corrected complexity” of cmaps, but only if a hands-on instruction preceded the concept mapping phase.