The Effect of Concept Map on Education: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Along with science and technology advancement, philosophy, content and educational methods are transforming. Modern approaches such as constructivism have replaced traditional approaches and the assumption of knowledge transfer from teachers to learners. One of these approaches is concept map. The purpose of this paper was to examine the application of concept maps in education and learning. Methods: In this review study, all of Persian studies published on the subject of concept map from 2001-15 were searched and reviewed through three electronic Persian databases (Magiran, SID and Iranmedex). Selected publications were analyzed by means of content analysis. Results: Sixty-one papers were excluded from a total of 98 publications based on inclusion criteria. Findings showed that 94.6 percent of the papers had assessed with the application of concept map in education, while the remainder dealt with its application in learning evaluation. The subject of 54 percent of the papers was in the field of health with 43.2 percent in the nursing education field. Conclusion: Concept map is introduced in education as a learning-teaching strategy which promotes deep and meaningful learning. In the field of health in general and nursing in particular, concept map has led to deep and meaningful learning, improved clinical decisions, enhanced critical thinking and problem solving skills, increased student interactions, enhanced self-efficacy and cognitive strategies. It also has improved creativity, patient training, leadership style, care management and has facilitated the analysis of disease information in complicated clinical environments.