Running head: CONCEPT MAPS FOR ALL

Advance Organizers, Graphic Organizers and Concept Maps for All

Laurie James

Seattle Pacific University

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CONCEPT MAPS FOR ALL

Advance Organizers, Graphic Organizers, and 'Concept Maps for All

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Use of instructional strategies such as advance and graphic organizers, as well as concept

maps by general education teachers, special education teachers, and teachers for English

language learners (ELL) can serve to increase vocabulary acquisition and comprehension in

content area classes at the secondary level. Researching and implementing these strategies in a

collaborative fashion along with general education staff will positively influence my work in

addressing the needs of special education students enrolled in mainstream general education

classes. I believe that creating a structure around which general and special educators may

collaborate to determine key concepts to be learned=will support each student's educational

needs. Specific strategy examples, when implemented skillfully in secondary content areas, offer

opportunities for increasing academic achievement of all students, addressing cultural

competencies, and promoting student wellbeing.

Theoretical Aspects

Advance Organizers, originally developed by David Ausubel, allow teachers to create a

framework through which concepts are arranged and new learning is attached-with

corresponding levels of complexity (Dell'Olio & Donk, 2007). As teachers consider using an

advance organizer, they must decide whether the lesson involves unfamiliar or familiar

information, as this will influence their selection of an expository or comparative organizer,

respectively. "Concept maps and graphic organizers are variations of advance organizers (Story,

1998)", (as cited within Dell'Olio & Donk, p. 396). Graphic organizers function in much the

same way as bins and shelving provide containers and structure for sorting, classifying, and

organizing tools and items in a person's garage or home. Just as the tangible containers promote

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clarification, access, and effective use of materials=graphic organizers. facilitate the same type of

skills with regard to ideas and concepts needed for learning and problem- solving.

Contrary to the perception of mapping as "filling in the blanks" and thinking that concept

maps are merely a collection of words within images arranged into a pattern, the practice of

creating connections to display the relationships between concepts is what gives power to this

instructional strategy. When effectively designed, "a good concept map is at once simple, but

also elegantly complex with profound meanings" (Novak & Cafias, p. 30). "Graphic organizers

help students by providing visual models (Ausubel 1960) for sorting and processing information.

They serve as tools by which students can immediately become engaged in recording and

evaluating information" (as cited within Gallavan & Kottler, 2010, p. 1). A concept map gives

the basic structure of content, including important vocabulary while allowing flexibility for

students to make connections with both prior and new knowledge-from their own perspective

(Khourey-Bowers, 2011). I personally have found that students seem to appreciate the visual

connections between ideas that can be seen on the paper, and at times will comment, "Oh, now I

get it. I see what you mean."

Responsiveness to Cultural Diversity

The ethnic background of the student population in my current high school is categorized

as follows: 80% White, 10% Native American, 5.2% Hispanic, 2.6% Asian American, 0.4%

African American, and 0.1 % Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. Although I do not have data reflecting

the specific breakdown by percentage of the ethnic background of students with IEPS, 9.4% of

the total student population qualifies for special education services. The percentage of students

receiving free and reduced lunch is 39.4%. I believe a healthy sense of cultural responsiveness

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can be fostered through the use of advance organizers, graphic organizers, and concept maps.

Teachers have the flexibility to address the learning needs of all students by offering this

instructional approach that invites students to bring together ideas and experiences from multiple

perspectives, encourages participation to the best of one's ability and, is student-centered--as

suggested in the PowerPoint presentation entitled, Understanding Cultural Responsiveness

(2012, slide 68). I also believe that the following statement is applicable for all teachers

endeavoring to meet the needs of all students, "we need to present material in more than just one

mode ... students should have more than just one way to learn material, to interact with it, and to

be assessed on it (Dunn, 2010, p. 21).

Practical Applications

Although I am not currently using concept maps in my classes, I have seen the beauty of

using this strategy in the general education classroom. A number of years ago, I participated in a

district wide training on the use of Thinking Maps, based on the works of David Hyerle (1995).

Following the training, I recall observing the ELL teacher (who also taught two periods of

general education history) having wonderful success in using these concept maps with all of her

students. The training emphasized creating a frame a reference and noting this perspective in the

outer portion of the map to convey the context. "Thinking is influenced by 'frames' ... our

overlapping personal and cultural experiences, values, and belief systems" (Hyerle, 1995, p.

1.20). While taking their tests, I noted the ELL teacher's students competently drawing maps and

including key ideas of the unit content.

In the article entitled, Rethinking Instructional Delivery for Diverse Student Populations:

Serving All Learners with Concept-Based Instruction, the authors described a study conducted at

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University of Oregon in which teachers determined the overarching concepts in their course

content prior to presentation of the material to students. The specific focus in the study involved

the use of examples and nonexamples as well as creating graphic organizers. Results

demonstrated not only increased understanding among all students (including special needs and

talented and gifted) but also allowed teachers to measure higher-order thinking skills through

assessments based on concepts versus facts (McCoy & Ketterlin-Geller 2004). A concept map

offers to all students the same structure and basic content. With this foundation, teachers can

challenge students to extend their thinking and demonstrate their level of understanding in

accordance with their capabilities. During the years when I taught a special education history

class, I used graphic organizers consistently. The older versions of the general education

textbooks were made available to my students, yet the reading level was well above the

comprehension levels of my students. I created graphic organizers to focus on key information

from the chapters and used this strategy to guide discussions and create a method for structured

note taking. Although students with low proficiency in writing struggled to convey key concepts

in written form, they were still able to participate in class discussions with access to the same set

of notes available to all students. My students with stronger skills could use the notes we

generated together as a class as a basis for writing richer, more detailed essays.

Addressing Educational Reform

With an increasing awareness of policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the

exponential focus on standards-based curriculum, the stress on (and over) assessment is perhaps

more in the forefront of teachers minds than ever before (Struble, 2007). All students must be

provided with the opportunity to engage in learning general education curriculum to the

maximum extent possible and must participate in state assessments. Many teachers realize the

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benefits of implementing a greater number of formative assessments (informal assessments

conducted) while students are in the midst of learning. Participants in a study at Johnson and

Wales University, found graphic organizers not only to effectively invite ongoing formative

assessment of all students, but also to be instrumental in facilitating designing and modification

of instruction to address the specific needs of student with learning disabilities or limited English

(Burns, 2010).

Beginning with students using the concept maps as a pre-reading strategy by noting

background information prior to a lesson, allows a collective opportunity for class discussion.

During instruction, concept maps provide a structure for taking notes and collecting information-

- whether as individuals, pairs, cooperative learning groups, or an entire class. As an evaluation

tool, concept maps can effectively and quickly allow teachers to assess the level of conceptual

understanding and connections expressed by each student. Writing assignments designed to meet

state standards can be generated from concept maps-prompting highly capable students to

express and expand upon their understandings, while less capable students are encouraged to

express their understandings of the general education curriculum to the best of their ability.

Impacting Academic Achievement in Content Areas

Graphic organizers, frequently used as brainstorming tools to assist students with written

assignments in English, are applicable and adaptable to most content areas settings. The content

area of social studies requires all students to meet extensive reading and demanding vocabulary

expectations. Authors, Key, Bradley, and Bradley, (2010) explain how content mapping

techniques can support student learning before, during, and after textbook readings. Featured in

an article by, Gallavan & Kottler (2007) are results of studies in which graphic organizers were

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implemented social studies classrooms. Examples of eight specific types of graphic organizers

designed to address specific concepts emphasized within social studies curriculum are entitled as

follows: Assume and Anticipate, Position and Pattern, Group and Organize, Compare and

Contrast, Relate and Reason, Identify and Imagine, Estimate and Evaluate, and Combine and

Create. Each skill is accompanied by a series of creatively constructed concept maps for both

teacher and student use. As an in-depth example of these eight graphic organizers, specifically

tailored to convey lessons in a unit on Henry VIII, a "relate and reason" concept map with the

descriptive title of "fishbones", serves to assist the class in noting and seeing the family

connections between Henry VIII's wives and children. Another example demonstrates the

usefulness of a "Position and pattern" style of concept map for outlining timelines (Gallavan &

Kottler, 2010).

Mathematics as a content area, involves students solving problems far beyond what is

required through mere calculations and computations. "Graphic organizers help students

organize and then clarify their thoughts, infer solutions to problems, and communicate their

thinking strategies" (Zollman, 2009, para. 3). An example of a graphic organizer created to

develop students' math skills is entitled, "four comers and a diamond" and guides students

through a sequence of steps. In the process, students consider five areas pertaining to information

that is needed, what is known, possible solutions, attempts to solve the problem, and information

to include in the final answer (Zollman, 2009). The structure of a graphic organizer is especially

beneficial for students who may have difficulty with abstract thinking and according to the action

research in Zollman's study, led to an increase in test scores (2009).

Science curriculum is particularly conducive to the use of concept mapping--especially

in light of the often complex vocabulary terms, extensive processes, analysis of cause and effect

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relationships, and the heavy emphasis on research and data collection. Clearly, the structure and

process nature of concept mapping techniques offer support to all levels of students both in the

completion of classroom assignments, projects, and preparations for statewide testing.

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Although technology and digital resources are not specific content areas, they are

becoming an increasingly integral and often overwhelming part of our work with students in the

classroom. Graphic organizers can also facilitate the teaching of appropriate research skills. A

tool designed to assist students in effectively utilizing online information versus taking excessive

time in searching the web, is WebQuest. The WebQuest research process involves the

development of an introduction to a research project, use of specific web sites throughout a

sequence for researching, collecting, synthesizing, information, and composing concluding

remarks (Skylar, Higgins, & Boone, 2007). Not only are online assignments often highly

motivating to students, but also very conducive to the use of many assistive technologies-often

required for students with disabilities. The authors offer a wealth of suggestions on how the use

of both advance and graphic organizers involve all students in the process, but especially

facilitate modifications as needed for both ELL students and those with disabilities such as pre-

teaching vocabulary, increasing comprehension of difficult material by highlighting key

information, and guiding students through each step to completion of the project (Skylar et al.,

2007).

Enhancing Student Well-being

Regardless of the subject areas teachers select for implementing the tools of advance

organizers, graphic organizers, and concept maps, the reported impact on student well-being-

based upon both research and personal observation=appears to be positive. Whether the intent of

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the teacher is to streamline complex content into succinct concepts, display ideas in a manner

which brings new and old learning together, demonstrate relationships and connections between

concepts, or to increase accessibility to online materials--students are invited to participate. Both

collectively and individually, students who choose to engage in concept mapping activities

experience a connectedness and form of integration that offers a new perspective-and well-

being is enhanced.

In the interest of promoting both student and teacher well-being, my school's special

education team's Professional Learning Community is already preparing to embark on a new

project involving collaboration with each of the content area PLCs. Beginning with English

classes, our intent is to focus on content specific vocabulary acquisition and comprehension

skills--using concept maps as a basis for instruction. Though still a bit overwhelmed by the

immensity of the task before me, I am encouraged to know that I am not alone. I am continuing

to learn that the secret to success with students in the classroom lies in the communication and

collaboration with my colleagues as we together-share our thoughts, ideas, and strategies, and

endeavor to develop learning connections within the students whom we share.

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References

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Burns, R. (2010). Implementation of formative assessment strategies as perceived by high school

students and teachers: Professional development implications. Ed.D. dissertation,

Johnson & Wales University, United States -- Rhode Island. Retrieved February 17,

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Dell'Olio, J. M., Donk, T. (2007). Models of Teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Dunn, P. (2010). Re-Seeing (Dis)Ability: Ten suggestions. English Journal. Stony Brook

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Gallavan, N., & Kottler, E .. (2010). Visualizing the life and legacy of Henry VIII: Guiding

students with eight types of graphic organizers. The Social Studies, 101(3),93-102.

Retrieved February 18,2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2114112251).

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r I,

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