Concept Maps in Nursing Education: A Historical Literature Review and Research Directions.

BACKGROUND Although concept mapping was created in the early 1980s, research in nursing education first appeared in 1992. This literature review analyzes the impact of concept mapping in nursing education. METHOD A total of 221 articles, books, and book chapters were reviewed on the topic of concept mapping in nursing education. RESULTS Results indicate that concept-mapping research progressed from the emergence state, to an expansion and adaptation stage, to an established stage. CONCLUSION Nursing education could benefit from further research on applying concept map scoring formulas, using concept maps with simulation, developing knowledge models, and creating concept map-centered learning environments. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(11):631-639.].