Concept Maps

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Why it works

A concept map is a visual representation of concepts (as nodes) and the relationships between them (as labeled links), and having students create concept maps builds and reveals the organized, interconnected knowledge that underlies deep understanding. Unlike simply listing facts, concept mapping requires students to identify key concepts, articulate how they relate (the labeled links are crucial), and organize them into a coherent structure, which is a generative, meaning-making activity. Research supports concept mapping for building and assessing conceptual understanding: it makes students' thinking and the structure of their knowledge visible (to themselves and the teacher), surfaces gaps and misconceptions, and strengthens the connections that distinguish deep from shallow knowledge. The key is that students construct the maps (not just copy them) and that the relationships, not just the concepts, are the focus.

The research: Research on concept mapping (Novak).

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: have students map concepts and relationships

Teachers leave with a concept-mapping task focused on relationships.

Pick content where how concepts connect matters.
Have students construct a concept map (concepts as nodes, labeled links showing relationships).
Focus on the relationships, not just listing concepts.
Use the maps to build connected understanding and to surface gaps and misconceptions.

Map the connections, not just the factsConcept maps, with concepts and the labeled relationships between them, build the organized, connected knowledge of deep understanding. Have students construct them, focused on the relationships.

Facilitator notes

Have students construct maps (not copy), focused on labeled relationships.
Use to build connected understanding.
Surface gaps and misconceptions.

A list of concepts without relationships is not a concept mapConcepts alone, without articulating how they relate, miss the point. Have students construct maps focused on the labeled relationships between concepts.

Adapt it

Elementary: concepts and simple links, construct.
Secondary: concepts, labeled relationships, structure.
All settings: construct maps, focus on relationships.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Concept Maps: map the connections

Connected knowledge: students construct maps of concepts and labeled relationships, focused on how ideas connect.

The content where how concepts connect matters:
How students construct the concept map (nodes + labeled links):
How I focus on the relationships, not just listing concepts:
How I use the maps to build understanding and surface gaps:
A topic to map:

Make it stick

Map the connections:

Have students map concepts and relationships.
Focus on connections.
Bring a concept-mapping use to the next PLC.

Common questions

Aren't concept maps just graphic organizers?

They are a specific kind: students diagram concepts and the labeled relationships between them, which requires identifying how ideas connect, not just listing them. The relationships, and students constructing the map, are what make it powerful.

What does concept mapping build?

Organized, connected knowledge (the structure of understanding), by requiring students to articulate how concepts relate. It also makes thinking visible and surfaces gaps and misconceptions.

How do I use them well?

Have students construct the maps themselves (not copy), and focus on the relationships (the labeled links), not just the concepts. Use them to build and to see conceptual understanding.