concept map assignment #2

Concept Maps

What are concept maps.

Concept maps are visual representations of information. They can take the form of charts, graphic organizers, tables, flowcharts, Venn Diagrams, timelines, or T-charts. Concept maps are especially useful for students who learn better visually, although they can benefit any type of learner. They are a powerful study strategy because they help you see the big picture: by starting with higher-level concepts, concept maps help you chunk information based on meaningful connections. In other words, knowing the big picture makes details more significant and easier to remember.

Concept maps work very well for classes or content that have visual elements or in times when it is important to see and understand relationships between different things. They can also be used to analyze information and compare and contrast.

Making and using concept maps

Making one is simple. There is no right or wrong way to make a concept map. The one key step is to focus on the ways ideas are linked to each other. For a few ideas on how to get started, take out a sheet of paper and try following the steps below:

• Identify a concept.
• From memory, try creating a graphic organizer related to this concept. Starting from memory is an excellent way to assess what you already understand and what you need to review.
• Go through lecture notes, readings and any other resources you have to fill in any gaps.
• Focus on how concepts are related to each other.

Your completed concept map is a great study tool. Try the following steps when studying:

• Elaborate (out loud or in writing) each part of the map.
• List related examples, where applicable, for sections of the map.
• Re-create your concept map without looking at the original, talking through each section as you do.

Examples of concept maps

Example 1 : This example illustrates the similarities and differences between two ideas, such as Series and Parallel Circuits. Notice the similarities are in the intersection of the 2 circles.

Example 2 : This example illustrates the relationship between ideas that are part of a process, such as a Food Chain.

Example 3 : This example illustrates the relationship between a main idea, such as climate change, and supporting details.

Example 4 : Outlining is a less visual form of concept mapping, but it might be the one you’re most familiar with. Outlining by starting with high-level course concepts and then drilling down to fill in details is a great way to determine what you know (and what you don’t know) when you’re studying. Creating an outline to start your studying will allow you to assess your knowledge base and figure out what gaps you need to fill in. You can type your outline or create a handwritten, color-coded one as seen in Example 5.

Additional study strategies

A concept map is one tool that you can use to study effectively, but there are many other effective study strategies. Check out these resources and experiment with a few other strategies to pair with concept mapping.

• Study Smarter, Not Harder
• Higher Order Thinking
• Metacognitive Study Strategies
• Studying with Classmates
• Reading Comprehension Tips

Make an appointment with an academic coach to practice using concept maps, make a study plan, or discuss any academic issue.

Attend a workshop on study strategies to learn about more options, get some practice, and talk with a coach.

How can technology help?

You can create virtual concept maps using applications like Mindomo , TheBrain , and Miro . You may be interested in features that allow you to:

• Connect links, embed documents and media, and integrate notes into your concept maps
• Search across maps for keywords
• See your concept maps from multiple perspectives
• Convert maps into checklists and outlines
• Incorporate photos of your hand-written mapping

Testimonials

Learn more about how a Writing Center coach uses TheBrain to create concept maps in our blog post, TheBrain and Zotero: Tech for Research Efficiency .

Works consulted

Holschuh, J. and Nist, S. (2000). Active learning: Strategies for college success. Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

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The Ultimate Guide to Concept Maps: From Its Origin to Concept Map Best Practices

This concept map tutorial is to help you master the technique of using concept maps, whether it is for your education or for your business.

In this concept map guide, you will find insight into,

What is a Concept Map?

Origin of concept maps.

• The Characteristics of a Concept Map

How to Draw a Concept Map

• How Do You Fine-tune a Concept Map
• Concept Map Templates

Uses of Concept Maps

• What are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Concept Map
• Concept Map Best Practices

Concept maps are a graphical tool that is used to visualize meaningful relationships among concepts. It’s used as a knowledge representation tool, meaning they basically represent the knowledge structure that we humans store in our minds about a certain topic.

Both simple and complex concept maps consist of two things: concepts and relationships among them.

Concept maps were the outcome of a research done in the 1970s at Cornell University by Joseph Novak – an American Educator and Research Scientist – and his research team.

In order to study how children understand basic science concepts, they studied and interviewed many children. However, they found it difficult to identify the changes in the ways children understood science concepts with the detailed interview transcripts alone.

The need to find a better solution to represent children’s conceptual understanding led to the development of the concept map in 1972.

Since then it has been used extensively not only in the fields of education and research but also in business.

The Key Characteristics of a Concept Map

Not all diagrams that have words/ phrases inside nodes are concept maps. Concept maps have specific characteristics that distinguish themselves from other diagrams that are used to represent knowledge. And they are,

Nodes are the circles or the boxes that are used to represent a concept or an idea. These may vary in size, according to their hierarchy on the map; for example, more general nodes at the top of the map may be bigger than the more specific nodes that follow them.

Cross-Links

Concept maps consist of concepts in different domains.  And the relationships between these different domains of knowledge are shown with cross-links.

Linking Words

Or linking phrases if it contains more than a word. These describe the type of relationship between the two concepts and appear on the line connecting them.

Hierarchical Structure

Usually, concept maps are organized hierarchically. This means the most general and inclusive concepts are placed at the top of the map. Those that are more specific are positioned below them. Accordingly, hierarchical concept maps are read from top to bottom.

However, the structure of a concept map is not limited to this structure, it could take a free-form approach too – starting from the center and spreading outwards.

Propositional Structure

A concept map illustrates a set of meaningful propositions about a topic.

Every two concepts (in some cases more than two,) along with the linking phrases, form a meaningful sentence, otherwise known as a proposition.

Focus Question

Generally, a concept map should be woven around a focus question, which is the problem or the issue the concept map seeks to resolve. The better the focus question, the richer the concept map will be.

Underlying Theory

Concept maps are based on Ausubel’s Assimilation theory . This is built around the fact that new knowledge can be learned effectively by linking it to what is already known. Concept maps are seen as a methodological tool of this theory.

Generate new ideas and add structure to your thoughts with concept maps. Explore connections between concepts to better understand them with Creately.

Create a Concept Map

You can either draw a concept map on a piece of paper or on a concept mapping software. Either way, stick to the following steps when you are drawing one.

Step 1: Pick a Topic

The first step is to identify a topic you need to study with your concept map. This could be an idea, a question or an issue.

For example, let’s say you are interested in SEO or Search Engine Optimization.

Step 2: Do a Quick Brainstorm

What are the facts, ideas, concepts, themes, queries etc. that come to your mind when you think about this topic? Note these down as you brainstorm around the topic you have selected. Remember to keep these as concise as possible.

Step 3: Start to Draw the Map

It’s recommended to start a concept map from the top and develop it downward, although you can put down your topic at the center and expand it outwards. Either way make sure that the central topic stands out from the rest (use a bigger node, a different color etc.).

Step 4: Connect the Concepts

Now it’s time to connect what you have brainstormed to the central topic and to each other. Remember, the more important the idea, the closer it should be to the top or the center.

As you identify these connections put down the linking words or phrases to indicate the relationship between the two concepts you are linking.

Once the direct connections between concepts have been identified, look for crosslinks that link together concepts from different areas or domains.

Step 5: Anything Missing?

Scrutinize what you have created to make sure that you haven’t missed anything and that the relationships you have identified make sense.

How Do You Fine-tune a Concept Map?

Fine-tuning the concept map is a crucial step when effectively visualizing complex information. Below are some key pointers to follow.

• Begin by reviewing the entire map to identify areas needing improvement or some adjustments.
• Refine the central idea, if necessary, to ensure that the central idea accurately represents the main topic of the concept map.
• If there are long labels, simplify them using specific or descriptive keywords that represent the concept or idea of the map. This will help to reflect the content of each node accurately.
• Evaluate whether any nodes should be added or removed depending on their relevance and redundancy. Look to see if any additional concepts or ideas should be included.
• Review the connections to ensure they correctly represent the relationships between the concepts. If necessary, add or remove connections or adjust the placement of nodes to reflect the connections better.
• Test the map! Test the map with others for feedback, especially on its accuracy and effectiveness.

Editable Concept Map Examples and Templates

Here are some concept map diagram templates you can edit right away on Creately. Click the image to open it in the editor. Make changes according to your needs and export them as images, PNG, PDF, or JPEG.

Concept Map Example 1

Concept Map Example 2

Concept Map Example 3

Concept Map Example 4

Concept Map Example 5

Concept Map Example 6

Concept Map Example 7

Although first introduced to the field of education, concept maps have gained popularity across a number of other fields over the last few decades.

Concept Maps in Education

In the field of education, concept maps are used as both a learning tool and an evaluation tool to assess student learning.

• Foster meaningful learning by helping create connections between what students already know and new knowledge they acquire
• Organize knowledge around a subject for quick analysis
• Assess students’ understanding to see where their knowledge needs improvement
• Conduct effective brainstorming around a topic
• Present complex concepts in an easily digestible way
• Organize instructional material for courses or curricula
• Can be used as a basis for discussion among students
• Help identify valid and invalid ideas held by students
• Help promote creative and critical thinking among students
• Can be used as an alternative to traditional note-taking and writing assignments

Concept Maps in Business

By design, concept maps are apt for business analysis. In the field of business, concept maps are popularly used to preserve, generate and share knowledge.  

• To facilitate team brainstorming sessions to come up with new strategies, new business concepts etc.
• Support creative and result-oriented approach towards business development
• Can be used as a systematic way to share expert business ideas, insights etc. with others
• Help with planning and drafting business documents, business presentations etc.

Concept Maps in Qualitative Research

Concept maps in qualitative research are used as a methodical research strategy.

• Can be used to plan a research project
• Can help reduce voluminous text-based data into a manageable form without losing the meaning
• Identify interconnections between concepts in a study and analyze themes
• Analyze the information provided by interviewees in a study; help the researcher maintain the meaning of the interview
• Present findings in an effective way

What are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid when Creating a Concept Map

When creating your concept map, avoid the below common mistakes that will undermine the map’s effectiveness.

• Overcomplicating. This will make the map too complex or difficult to understand.
• Focusing too much on the details. Getting bogged down with too many details will derail you from the main focus with too much irrelevant and unnecessary information.
• Not using a hierarchy. Without a hierarchy, the concept map will be too complicated to follow and disorganized.
• Not using consistent formatting. It will be difficult to read or understand without consistent formatting and symbols throughout the map, leading to confusion and misunderstandings.
• Being too rigid by not making changes as and when necessary to reflect new information or insights.
• Not testing the map for effectiveness to help identify areas that may need further improvement.

Concept Mapping Best Practices

Start with a clear central idea.

Begin the concept map with a clear yet concise central idea representing the main topic or theme. The central idea should be easily understood, and it should also be the focal point of the map.

Stick with the Hierarchical Structure

Concept maps organized according to the hierarchical structure are easier to read. As the most general concepts go at the top and the more specific ones coming below them, it can easily be read from top to bottom.

Keep a Single Root Concept

A concept map can have two root concepts, but limiting it to one helps the learner easily identify how concepts are constructed. On the other hand, having two root concepts may make it confusing.

Use Meaningful Keywords

Use meaningful and specific keywords to label the concepts. The labels should be descriptive and accurately represent the content of each node.

Color Code Your Concept Maps

Colors help distinguish concepts in different domains immediately. This does not only make it easier to read the map but when it comes to recalling information, color coding plays a vital role.

Add Visual Cues to the Map

Add visual cues such as symbols and images if necessary to highlight important information and to make the concept map more engaging and visually appealing.

Connect Related Ideas

Add visual cues such as symbols and images to highlight important information and make the concept map more engaging and visually appealing.

Make Sure Linking Phrases Make Sense

Two concepts and a linking phrase should make a meaningful sentence. This could be a word, phrase or sometimes even a symbol such as + or %. In any case, make sure that your concept map reads well.

Be Consistent

Use consistent formatting, symbols, and color codes throughout the concept map to make it easier to read and understand.

Always Base Your Concept Map on a Focus Question

Having one single question to answer will help you better structure your concept map and keep yourself from deviating from your focus.

Keep it Simple

If possible, avoid using complex sentences or too much text. Instead, use simple phrases or keywords to communicate the main ideas and connections.

Link to Further Resources

If you are drawing your concept maps with a concept mapping software, you have the ability to make it more resourceful. When mentioning concepts, you can add active links to your concept maps allowing the reader to study the idea more thoroughly.

Review and Revise

One thing to remember is that concept maps can be changed and updated regularly as needed. This will help to refine your ideas and to identify new connections between concepts.

Feed Back on the Comprehensive Concept Map Tutorial

In this concept map tutorial we have covered, everything – whether you are a stranger to concept mapping or have used it before – you should know when it comes to concept map diagrams. If you are ready to go ahead and draw your concept map, start with the Creately Concept Map Maker .

And don’t forget to leave your feedback!

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

FAQs About Concept Maps

What are the benefits of using a concept map, are there different types of concept maps if so, what are they, can you use concept maps in business or professional settings, are there any software or online tools that can help create concept maps, more related articles.

Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, using concept maps.

Concept maps are a graphic representation of students’ knowledge. Having students create concept maps can provide you with insights into how they organize and represent knowledge. This can be a useful strategy for assessing both the knowledge students have coming into a program or course and their developing knowledge of course material.

Concept maps include concepts , usually enclosed in circles or boxes, and relationships between concepts, indicated by a connecting line. Words on the line are linking words and specify the relationship between concepts. See an example (pdf) .

Designing a concept map exercise

To structure a concept map exercise for students, follow these three steps:

• Create a focus question that clearly specifies the issue that the concept map should address, such as “What are the potential effects of cap-and-trade policies?” or “What is materials science?”
• Tell students (individually or in groups) to begin by generating a list of relevant concepts and organizing them before constructing a preliminary map.
• Give students the opportunity to revise. Concept maps evolve as they become more detailed and may require rethinking and reconfiguring.

Encourage students to create maps that:

• Employ a hierarchical structure that distinguishes concepts and facts at different levels of specificity
• Draw multiple connections, or cross-links, that illustrate how ideas in different domains are related
• Include specific examples of events and objects that clarify the meaning of a given concept

Using concept maps throughout the semester

Concept maps can be used at different points throughout the semester to gauge students’ knowledge. Here are some ideas:

• Ask students to create a concept map at the beginning of the semester to assess the knowledge they have coming into a course. This can give you a quick window into the knowledge, assumptions, and misconceptions they bring with them and can help you pitch the course appropriately.
• Assign the same concept map activity several times over the course of the semester. Seeing how the concept maps grow and develop greater nuance and complexity over time helps students (and the instructor) see what they are learning.
• Create a fill-in-the-blank concept map in which some circles are blank or some lines are unlabeled. Give the map to students to complete. 

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18 Concept Mapping – Seven Steps

Creating a concept map is a way of organizing your brainstorming around key concepts. Mapping was introduced in Chapter 8 – Note-taking Skills.

This video from the University of Guelph offers a brief and helpful overview of concept mapping: [1]

Let’s use our example where an instructor has given us the assignment: Write a 1000 word persuasive essay that responds to the question: “Are transit services effective for Kwantlen University students?” Include your own perspective in your analysis and draw on two primary and two academic sources.

We’ll follow the seven steps of concept mapping outlined in the video below and I’ll include some examples.

If you have your own assignment that you are currently working on, use the steps below to make your own concept map for your assignment.

• Identify the main topic
• Brainstorm everything you know about the topic
• Use relevant content from course, lectures, textbooks, and course material

Sticky notes can be a great way of jotting down ideas – you can move the notes around as you begin to identify similarities and differences. You can also ask questions  and include reminders of work that you need to do. See the example below of some sticky notes I might use to start my assignment:

I’ll add more sticky notes with key questions that relate back to the assignment – I’ll need to find primary and academic sources . I can use these questions as I begin my research process and identify the primary and academic sources I need to support the argument that I will make:

• Organize information into main points

After noting down what I know about my topic and identifying key questions that I’ll need to research, I can focus on a few things that will be important to describe and  analyze in my essay. I’ve made a list of some I can use:

Based on what I’ve done so far, I’m setting up a descriptive comparison of transit options for KPU students, though I will emphasize that current transit options are not effective. I want to look for further connections between ideas and see how I can shape my argument.

• Start creating map
• Begin with main points
• Branch out to supporting details

Give it a try! Based on your experience of public transport and the ideas that I’ve outlined so far, how might you start to create a concept map? You can use a piece of paper, or concept mapping software, to make notes of ideas and start to connect them.

• Review map and look for more connections
• Use arrows, symbols, and colours, to show relationships between ideas

I start to build layers of connections and relationships in my map:

• Include details

This is where I can provide more information about each point – below, I’ve taken one of the points and added to it:

• Analyze and improve map by asking questions
• How do ideas fit together?
• Have all necessary connections been made?

This is where I can step back and review my map and keep the purpose of my assignment in mind. This is also a good time to follow up on questions that I might have.  I can talk through my ideas with a classmate or visit my instructor as I continue to develop and refine my ideas.

• Update concept map as you learn more
• Ask key questions about connections between ideas

I’ll keep my map with me as I meet with my instructor to discuss my ideas and when I visit the library to locate any academic resources that I might need; this way, I can keep everything together.

• “ How to Create a Concept Map ” by University of Guelph Library CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ↵

first; original A primary source is one that is unmediated such as a first-hand account of events.

researched, reliable, written by academics and published by reputable publishers; often, but not always peer reviewed

Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2021 by Patricia Williamson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Evidence-Based Teaching

How to Make a Concept Map Easily – with Examples

Concept mapping is an evidence-based and a high-impact teaching strategy . But many teachers and students are unsure how to make a concept map easily. Discover how to make a concept map easily and with the help of an example.

A review of meta-analytic research shows that concept mapping has a typical impact of d=0.66 . This is a much larger impact than most other teaching strategies. Therefore, it is essential that you know how to make a concept map!

But what does concept mapping involve and how can you use it?

This guide answers these and many other questions you may have.

As this a complete guide , it is quite long. If you want to go straight to a particular section, click on it in the following list of contents.

What Is Concept Mapping?

Concept mapping involves representing and organising interrelated knowledge visually and hierarchically. They are a specific type of graphic organiser .

Concept maps have 3 key parts. The first two parts are the:

• Concepts – usually written within rectangles or ovals
• Relationships between them – often represented by labelled arrows

Together, the concept-relationship-concept structure makes propositions. Propositions form the third key part of concept maps and they reflect the key understandings of the material.

Here is a simple example of a concept map about the states of matter. It shows the concepts within rectangles and the relationships with labelled arrows . The propositions or key understandings that it shows are:

• Matter has different states
• Solids are a type of state  and  states include solids
• Liquids are another type of state  and  states include liquids
• Gases are the third form of state  and  states include gases

Note: Propositions don’t have to be grammatically correct. For example, solid → type of → state translates into solids are a type of state.

Here is a more developed example of a concept map of the concepts related to the states of matter .

What Is NOT a Concept Map?

The next two diagrams are not concept maps . They do not explicitly show the relationships between concepts. Nor do they show a real hierarchy, as:

• Hard Life, Chains and Australian History
• Performing, Music, and Drama

should not be placed on the same hierarchical level.

Why Use Concept Mapping?

Your students’ minds do not store bits of information randomly. Rather, they store them in organised fashion using what psychologists call schema . These schema help students see how different pieces of information fit together. This includes how:

• New information fits with what students already know
• Various bits of new information fit together

Research 1 shows that helping students integrate information into meaningful schema enhances learning.

Concept mapping offers you with a concrete way to do this. And, it has its own specific body of research which shows how powerful it can be.

Concept Mapping is Useful in Many Year Levels & in Many Subjects

One recent meta-analysis of research has shown that concept mapping has a positive impact on all levels of schooling. However, most studies focused on students in:

• Middle school
• Secondary school

The same research found that concept mapping is useful in both STEM and non-STEM subjects, as well as:

However, there was a different review of research , finding that concept mapping wasn’t helpful in Mathematics. The study showing support for STEM subjects didn’t drill down further than classifying subjects as STEM vs non-STEM. And, as a different study found that using concept maps in Mathematics is not a good idea, I would proceed with caution in that area.

Two Ways to Make a Concept Map

There are two ways to make concept maps:

• Using a computer (or iPad or similar)

You can create concept maps by hand . However, the process often involves moving concepts around, which can then require a lot of rubbing out. You’ll appreciate this more after you complete your first concept map. If you want your students to make a complex concept map by hand, then I suggest a bit of creative thinking. For example, you could use small Post-it® notes on a blank piece of A3 paper. You can use different coloured notes to help identify each hierarchical level. You connect the separate post-it notes with hand-drawn arrows and relationships. It may still involve some rubbing out, but not as much. Once you are happy with your map, you can copy it into a notebook.

You can also use software (or apps) to create concept maps . You can do this manually, using a generic graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator. However, it is easier to use a program specifically designed for concept mapping . Many schools already have a program called Inspiration . However, you can also download a free program called CMap from the Florida Institute for Machine & Human Cognition . It is the one I use. It comes in Computer, Server, iPad and Cloud versions.

For making your own concept maps, I recommend using CMap Tools (Windows, Mac, Linux), or otherwise CMap Tools for iPad ,

How to Make a Concept Map Yourself a Simple Example

Before you start asking your students to make concept maps, it is a good idea to start making some concept maps yourself. It will help you:

• Understand what concept maps are good for, and what they are not
• To give better feedback and assistance to your students

Download & Install CMap Tools

Concept mapping can get a bit complex. So, I recommend using CMap Tools . It’s free! But you can donate at any time. Once you are familiar with the software, consider doing this.

• Click the above link
• Scroll to the bottom and click on the download button It will open a new page
• Scroll down until you see a form, enter your details in that form , and click submit
• Click on the download button for your operating system (e.g. mine was Windows 64-bit) The file will download to your computer
• Open or run the file . It’s an install file, not the program itself The installation program has several steps . Most of them are self-explanatory In step 3, choose Typical Installation In step 4, choose your usual program file location. For Windows, this is simply C:\Program Files and the folder \IMHC CMap Tools In step 5, choose some shortcut locations , such as Desktop & Start Bar
• Review and confirm your options , and then you are all done

Making Concepts 

In this section, you will learn how to create concepts and the linking relationships between them. This is the essence of concept mapping. You will also learn the necessary formatting skills you need to make more complex maps.

Start by opening CMap. Then click File and New. Maximise your CMap, so it fits a full screen.

Double click anywhere on the page and a blank concept rectangle appears with ???? acting as a placeholder for your concept.

When the concept is selected, it has a blue rectangle around it and 2 arrows at the top. While your blank concept rectangle is selected, type the word dogs . You have made your first concept.

Now create a new concept for Labrador beside dogs .

Linking Relationships

It’s time to link these two concepts. When linking concepts, directions are important. In this case, I want to show that Labradors are a breed of dog . So I start from Labrador and draw a line to dogs.

• Select Labrador so that it has a blue line around it and two arrows at the top.
• Click on the two arrows, hold the mouse button down and drag across towards dogs
• When you get close to dogs , you will see a blue border around it and several anchor points
• Then, simply let go when you are over an anchor point

Once you let go, you will see ???? acting as a placeholder for your link label . Select ???? and then simply type your label, breed of .

You have now used the concept-link-concept format to create a proposition. If you have not left enough room between concepts to fit the words, breed of, select and drag one of the concepts, so they are further apart. You can also select and drag the words breed of to centre them again.

Propositions, concepts and the relationships (labelled arrows) between them are the basis of concept mapping.

How to Make a Basic Concept Map

There are steps you should consider when making a complete concept map. I expand on these concept mapping steps later in this guide, but they include:

• Identifying your focus
• Listing your key concepts
• Grouping your key concepts into hierarchical levels

Linking your concepts

In this example of a basic map, I have chosen to focus on breeds of dogs that I have owned . Why? Partly because I love dogs, but mainly because it keeps the concept map nice and simple.

Listing Concepts

After deciding upon my focus, I simply list the relevant concepts .

Hierarchical Grouping

Next, you need to arrange your concepts into a basic hierarchy . Using the above concepts, Dogs would be at the top of the hierarchy, and the 3 breeds of dogs would be underneath. To move a concept, you simply click on it, hold the mouse button down and move your mouse.

I suggest that you also format each level of your hierarchy differently. To format an object, simply select it, then select the Format at the top of the screen. And, from the drop menu items, select Styles .

A small screen, such as the one below, will appear on your screen. Don’t worry if it looks different to mine. I will explain it.

About ¾ of the way down the style screen , you will see 4 tabs – font, object, line and CMap . On mine, Object is selected. This allows me to format things such as shape (rectangle, rounded rectangle, circle), and the background colour. On yours, a different tab may be selected. Under the font tab, I can choose the font style, size and colour. Under the line tab, I can play around with arrows and line types.

With the style screen still open, select Dogs . It is the top concept in this map, so we want to make it stand out. I gave it a:

• Red background
• Bold, white, size 24 font

The concepts, Labrador, Maltese Terriers and Border Collies, are all on the same level of our hierarchy, so we want them to look the same. While they already do, I want to show you how to style multiple concepts at once.

• Click to the top left of Labradors
• Hold the mouse key down
• Drag to the bottom right of Border Collies

You simply click and drag around the objects you want to include. In this example:

You can now go back to your Style screen ( Format then Style ), and style these 3 concepts all at once. I gave them a light orange background, and a black, size 16 font.

It is now time to create some linking relationships . Think about the direction of your relationship before making it. For example, I want to show that Labradors are a breed of dog . This relationship goes from Labradors to dogs, so I draw it that way. I repeated this process for Maltese Terriers and Border Collies .

You now have a completed, albeit basic concept map. Next, we look in more detail at the steps involved in concept mapping.

How to Make a Concept Map in 6 Easy Steps

There is no single set of steps to follow to make a concept map. However, the following steps give you a good starting point. You can go back and forth between the steps as needed.

Select a focus

It is common to use questions to focus your concept maps. For example, ‘What are the states of matter?’. You should save your blank concept map straight away. Then, as part of the saving process, you can specify your focus question.

Identify key concepts

You can identify key concepts by drawing on your existing knowledge. You can also refer to relevant written material, including textbooks (headings, subheadings, bolded vocabulary), trustworthy online websites and the online Australian Curriculum . In this step, you are just creating a list.

Levelling your concepts

You can use a top-down or a left-to-right You can also use different colours to help highlight the basic levels. You can also add different colours and font sizes for each level of your hierarchy.

Link your key concepts , making sure that each concept-relationship-concept in your map forms a proposition and that your propositions are factually correct.

Enhancing your map

Look for ways to enhance your map. Add in cross-links, examples and additional concepts. Things will come to mind, as the process of creating your map will get you thinking about your own understanding of the topic at hand. Note – as examples are not generalised concepts, make them look different in some way.

Review and publish

Review your work, including that it is factually correct as well proofreading spelling. Then it is time to publish!

A Step by Step Example

A unit on the solar system.

Year 4 students learn about our solar system as part of their science curriculum . Involving them in concept mapping can enhance their learning. However, before I ask students to make concept maps, I make one myself. I normally do this as part of my unit planning process as it helps clarify the things students must understand. These steps describe the steps I took to create a concept map on the solar system.

Concept Mapping Step 1: The Focus Question

The topic of the concept map is the solar system . Yet, phrasing the topic as a question helps to focus the concept map, by avoiding unnecessary details. What should my focus question be?

To help answer that I had a look at the Australian Curriculum for Year 5 Science . I like to start at the end, that is what must the students be able to do. The achievement standard states that students should be able to describe the key features of the solar system .

So, I made my focus question:

What are the key features of the solar system?

Step 2: Identify & List Key Concepts

Brainstorming.

With the focus question in mind, I brainstormed some key concepts that I believed would help answer my focus question. These included:

• Solar System

Trustworthy Websites

Then I looked up Solar System on NASA’s website . In a nutshell, it described our solar system as the Sun and the things that go around it . Things I had missed, included:

• Dwarf Planets

I also needed better words than things and go around. So I changed them:

• Things became objects
• Go around became orbit

Next, I went to a more in-depth overview of our solar system on NASA’s website. In addition to the above, they mentioned:

• Stars – specifically that our Sun is one of many stars
• Kuiper Belt

I then looked up NASA’s webpage on planets and found 3 types of planets, within 2 categories. The 2 categories were:

The 3 types of planets were:

Australian Curriculum

I then had a quick look at the relevant learning descriptor in the Australian Curriculum. It stated that the Earth is part of a system  of planets orbiting around a star (the sun). Nothing to add from that.

Then I had a look at the elaborations and added the following concepts:

• Time (different planets take different amounts of time to orbit the Sun)
• Size (of the Sun and objects orbiting it)
• Distance (of planets from the Sun)

To finish this step, I listed my 21 concepts at the top of my concept map page.

Step 3: Levelling Concepts

Next, I took the listed concepts and grouped them into a basic hierarchy. My hierarchy goes from left to right.

Essentially, I used colour and font size, as well as the physical location to show this hierarchy. Some concepts have different shades of the same colour, to show that while they technically at the same hierarchical level, some are more ‘key’ than others.

I also wanted the concept star to be close to the concept Sun . But as other stars are not part of our solar system, I left star as a plain white box with a small font size.

I still had not decided where to place the concepts, size, time and distance, so I left them unformatted at the top of the page to deal with later.

Concept Mapping Step 4: Linking Concepts

Step 4, when concept mapping, involves showing the key relationships between concepts in the above hierarchy. The shape of the map remains fairly like that shown in Step 3. However, as I had to add labelled arrowed lines, I moved some for aesthetic reasons.

I also decided to remove the concepts of size, distance and time . Instead, I referred to them in the labels of some of the arrowed lines. Here is what it looks like.

Step 5: Enhancing the Map

Next, I added in examples of some of the key concepts. These examples included all 8 planets , plus representative examples of some other concepts. I made my examples all look the same, black text in a white dotted rectangle.

I also added some additional concepts, such as natural satellites, clear orbit, spherical shape, belt and thick shell.

Concept Mapping Step 6: Reviewing Your Concept Map

Overall, I was quite happy with my concept map. But I now needed to review it, proofread it and improve it.

Reviewing a complex map involves asking yourself questions, such as:

• How well does my map answer the focus question ?
• Can my concept labels and link labels be more succinct?
• Are any concept labels listed more than once?
• Are my propositions factually correct?
• How accurate are my hierarchical levels ?

After reflecting on these questions, and doing some further reading, I found 5 ways I could improve my map:

• The Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud are not objects orbiting the Sun, but rather a collection of objects orbiting the Sun, so they would be better placed on a different hierarchical level
• The Kuiper Belt needed some further clarification
• Belt (asteroid) needed to be in the same hierarchical level as the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud
• The object meteoroid is a sub-class of asteroids
• The concepts orbit and clear orbit needed to be a single concept orbit with an appropriate link clear between planets and orbit
• Noticed, I had accidentally deleted meteoroids , so I added it back in
• Added some more details to some link labels

What Could You Get Out of this Form of Concept Mapping?

In addition to clarifying in my own mind what I was about to teach. This process allows me to generate propositions that I can use as part of my unit objectives.

See this example .

Concept Mapping Has More Impact on Student Learning in These 3 Situations

You can use concept mapping yourself to help you do things like getting your own head around a unit topic. This is what I did with the above concept map on the Key Features of Our Solar System. Research shows that such clarity has its own benefits, but concept mapping is only one way to achieve it. Furthermore, there is no research showing that using concept mapping in this way is any more effective than other ways of clarifying the focus and scope of intended learning. No research shows that concept mapping isn’t better either – there is just no research on the topic.

But research has shown that concept mapping has a more substantial impact on student learning when:

• Used to help students learn central ideas , rather than details
• Used within and beyond your classroom
• Your students actively engage with the map

Working with Central Ideas

If I was teaching this unit, I would not use the whole map with my students.

The concept map I made about our solar system was quite complex and detailed. Yet, research shows that concept mapping with school students works best when it focuses on central ideas rather than details.

I would start with the first 4 hierarchical levels.

I would then ask students to use their prior knowledge to come up with a list of what those objects include. Next, I would clarify and correct their ideas by including the fifth level of the hierarchy. When doing so, I would only show the key relationships between them.

When expanding on other concepts, such as planets or asteroids, I would make separate concept maps. I would do the same thing for additional concepts, such as the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud . For example:

I would only show them in the overarching map, to explain key relationships – and then, only the relevant parts.

Done Within & Beyond Your Classroom

Essentially, this means that concept mapping has more impact on student results when students use it in class, and for:

• Assignments

As with all homework and assignment work, you shouldn’t ask students to do something you haven’t shown them how to do in class.

Active Engagement

Active engagement involves thinking hard, and one of the best ways to get students thinking hard is through retrieval practice. This can take the form of:

• Fill in the blanks type maps
• Making their own maps

For example, in my first lesson on our solar system, after showing them the first 5 hierarchical levels of my own map, I may ask them to complete the following by themselves.

I would then ask them to do it for homework. I would repeat this task over time, each time asking them to do more of it themselves. Eventually, I would ask them to make the map from scratch.

It Doesn’t Matter …

The research shows that it doesn’t seem to matter:

• How long you use concept maps for (e.g. a 3-week unit, or a 10-week unit)
• If students complete concept maps individually or in small groups
• If students use static, animated or interactive concept maps

I trust found this guide on concept mapping in the classroom helpful.

Please feel welcome to link to it from your website.

Infographic on Concept Mapping

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1 See for example: Rayner, Vanessa; Bernard, Robert; Osana, Helena (2013). A Meta-Analysis of Transfer of Learning in Mathematics with a Focus on Teaching Interventions . Conference Paper: American Educational Research Association; and, Donker, A. S.; de Boer, H.; Kostons, D.; Dignath van Ewijk, C. C.; van der Werf, M. P. C.(2014). Effectiveness of Learning Strategy Instruction on Academic Performance: A Meta-Analysis . Educational Research Review, 11, 1-26.

SHAUN KILLIAN (MEd., MLead.)

Shaun Killian (me) is an experienced and passionate teacher, as well as a past school principal. After a heart transplant and having both my legs amputated, I am not yet capable of returning to work. Yet, my passion for helping students succeed has led me to use my time to research teaching and associated practices. I then share what I find in practical ways through this website. The greatest compliment I have ever received from a past student was I never left any student behind. That is mission of most teachers and I hope you find the information on this site useful.

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How to Make a Concept Map: Beginner’s Guide (& Templates)

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

Concept maps are incredibly useful tools for learning and explaining new concepts. They help visualize information and organize it in a way that’s easy to understand and remember.

If you’re wondering how to create a concept map for any purpose, this post will help you get started on the right foot.

In this article, we’ll help you understand what a concept map is and how you can create one in 8 easy steps. We’ll also show you concept map examples and templates along the way.

Let’s get into it.

If you’re ready to create your concept map, use our concept map maker to get started for free. It’s quick, easy and works in your browser.

Table of Contents

What is a concept map, the key elements of a concept map.

Step #1: Identify the Focus Question

Step #2: Jot Down the Related Ideas

Step #3: Choose a Concept Mapping Tool

Step #4: Start Drawing Your Concept Map

Step #5: Link the Ideas Together

Step #6: Describe the Relationships

Step #7: Revise Your Concept Map As Needed

Step #8: Customize Your Concept Map Design

Concept Map Best Practices

A concept map is a mind map-like visual diagram, or graphic organizer , that shows relationships between various ideas and concepts.

Since humans process visuals faster than text , concept maps are much more effective than traditional note-taking when it comes to understanding and recalling information.

Concept maps are widely used in education, engineering and even business. They promote clear thinking, better memory retention and improved understanding of complex concepts by helping you:

• Organize thoughts
• Dig into a topic in detail
• Visually show relationships between ideas and concepts
• Show the big picture by connecting thoughts, ideas and concepts

Here’s an example of a simple concept map explaining the solar system and how its different elements are related to each other:

Image Source

This concept map would be useful for teachers trying to explain to their students how the solar system works and what it’s made of.

A concept map consists of several different features. Before you can create a concept map, you need to know the meaning and purpose of each feature.

The graphic below summarizes the various elements that make up a concept map. We’ll discuss each element in more detail below.

• Concepts: Technically called ‘nodes’, concepts are the central elements of your concept map. You can use ovals, boxes, squares or any fancy shapes to denote ideas and concepts.
• Links: Different concepts under one domain are linked together using lines and arrows.
• Cross-Links: Concepts under different domains are linked together using cross-links. These are also usually depicted with lines or arrows.
• Linking Words: Links and cross-links often have text written between or next to them. These words or phrases describe the relationship between the concepts. For example, linking words could be “includes,” “is part of” or “is caused by.”
• Propositions: Also known as semantic units, propositions are meaningful sentences made up of linking words and two or more concepts. A concept map essentially visualizes multiple propositions surrounding a specific topic.
• Hierarchical Structure: A good concept map follows a hierarchical structure that helps to read the diagram from top to bottom. This means that broader and more important concepts are at the top and the most specific ideas are at the bottom.

Now that you know what a concept map is and what it's made of, let’s get to the step-by-step guide to making one.

Step 1: Identify the Focus Question

Choosing a topic for your concept map is more important than you’d think.

If you pick a broad topic or multiple topics, you might end up with a messy concept map with too many shapes and lines. This defeats the purpose of presenting information in an organized way.

You might already have a topic in mind for your concept map, but you need to narrow it down to the core concept — or focus question — to create a diagram that’s easy to understand.

This focus question could be:

• A business problem
• A research question
• A social issue
• A topic from the sixth grade’s biology book

Here’s an example of a concept map that focuses on one main issue: climate change.

Write down your focus question or topic once you’ve finalized it.

In the following steps, you’ll learn how to break down this main concept into related ideas, and then connect those ideas with other concepts and ideas using lines, arrows and text.

Step 2: Jot Down the Related Ideas

Now that you have your focus question ready, it’s time to write down all the related ideas and concepts you’ll be adding to your concept map.

It’s helpful to brainstorm and create a list of ideas before you start designing. This will save time and you’ll have a clear direction of what you want your map to include.

Otherwise, you might end up wasting time thinking while drawing or feel the need to go back and restructure your map over and over again.

Note that you might need to revisit this step at a later stage in case you miss something. But, for now, jot down all the related ideas and concepts.

So, for example, if you’re creating a concept map on energy sources, you can roughly write down the following ideas:

This is also called the parking lot of your concept map — a place where all your ideas are “parked.”

You can create a “parking lot” for your concept map by listing your ideas on paper, drawing a table on your computer or inputting the concepts directly into your diagramming tool.

In the next step, you’ll see how we organize these ideas into a concept map with the help of a diagramming tool.

Step 3: Choose a Concept Mapping Tool

Now, it’s time to pick up your medium of choice and create a concept map diagram using all the ideas and concepts you jotted down in the previous step.

You have two options:

• Draw a concept map on paper or a whiteboard
• Use an online concept mapping tool (e.g. Visme)

While you may have a preference for paper, working with it comes with some ugly downsides: your handwriting might not be accessible to all (even yourself once you revisit the visual representation) and you can’t share it easily with a remote team.

Not to mention, your concept map will see its natural death on a whiteboard as the ink starts to dull (we’re going to pretend like there’s no such thing as someone accidentally erasing the content.)

Using an online concept mapping tool like Visme can help you collaborate with your team on making the diagram in real-time. You can easily save the final visualization by downloading it or getting the embed link to feature it on your website.

Most of all: you’d never be out of space with a diagramming tool, so you can easily work on highly detailed, complex concept maps.

Visme also comes with concept map templates that are fully customizable, which speeds up the process of making a diagram. You can add or remove shapes, animate the concept map, and change the direction of arrows connecting different concepts among other things.

Step 4: Start Drawing Your Concept Map

Regardless of the medium you choose, the first step is to add your key concept.

Remember, it’s best practice to follow a hierarchical structure for your concept map, so make sure you start at the top.

Now, before adding ideas and linking them to your key concept, make sure you have a ‘parking lot’ ready. If you’re using a diagramming tool like Visme, you can create a parking lot of all your ideas on the side of your canvas.

Here’s an example of what that could look like:

If you’re using a pen and paper, or drawing your diagram on a whiteboard, keep the list of all your ideas close by. This will help you add the right idea at the right place.

Step 5: Link the Ideas Together

Now that you have your key concept in place, it’s time to drag and drop ideas from the parking lot onto your concept map and link them together.

Keep in mind the hierarchical structure. Start by adding the broader and more important concepts first and then move on to the more specific ones.

When linking your ideas together, you can use lines or arrows. We recommend using arrows to connect the concepts as they specify direction and make it easier for readers to grasp a proposition.

Once you’ve fleshed out your concept map and its various domains, try to find opportunities to connect concepts between different domains with cross-links.

Step 6: Describe the Relationships

Finally, make sure you add text (or, linking words and phrases) to describe the relationships between the concepts.

Here are some examples of connecting words you can use:

• Can be/cannot be
• Type of/form of
• Such as/for example

The text you add along the connecting lines should be short. Ideally, it should be one word or two words — never a sentence.

This way, you can focus on the relationships among complex ideas while keeping the concept map visualization clutter-free.

You’re almost done with your concept map!

Step 7: Revise Your Concept Map as Needed

Finally, it’s time to carefully scrutinize the concept map you have in front of you and look for opportunities to improve and fine-tune it.

Ask yourself the following questions when examining your diagram:

• Are there any concepts that are too similar to each other?
• Can I group some ideas under a broader concept?
• Can I use a better word to describe this relationship?
• Do any of these ideas fit better under a different domain?

You can also look for opportunities to add more cross-links to your concept map. This might require you to rearrange some of your nodes, but it will help you create a comprehensive concept map without any clutter.

You might even find that you left out some important ideas that you didn’t think of when you were creating your parking lot. This would be a good time to fit those into your diagram.

Step 8: Customize Your Concept Map Design

At this point, your concept map is almost ready.

To finalize it, you might want to customize its design so it matches the rest of your visual brand identity. This is especially relevant for businesses looking to create concept maps to share with their team or for marketing purposes.

For example, you can give your concept map a nice, bold header, like this:

This makes your concept map ready to be used on its own — print it out, embed it in a web page, add it to a document, report or presentation, or share it on social media.

If you’re making your concept map in Visme, you can also:

• Tweak the colors of the shapes and lines
• Change the fonts, text size and styling
• Add a solid, gradient or image background
• Add animated icons and illustrations to your diagram
• Make your concept map interactive with links and hover effects

Another design idea is to add your company logo to your concept map. This is useful for generating brand awareness if your diagram is going to be shared on social media.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up your brand kit in Visme . This allows you to upload and store your brand fonts, colors and logo, and use them in any design project.

Concept Mapping Best Practices

If you stick to the step-by-step guide above, you’ll be able to create a fully functional concept map to use for virtually any purpose.

But if you want to take your concept map from good to great, here are tips and best practices you can follow:

1. Stick to one key concept.

Sure, you can add more than one key concept to your concept map. But would we recommend it? Probably not.

Your key concept is based on your focus question. It’s the first thing you add to your hierarchical concept map, with all the other ideas branching out from this one main concept.

If you add more than one key concept, you might end up with a very complex (and messy) diagram that your audience might have difficulty understanding.

So, try to stick to a single key concept. If you have two or more key concepts you want to visualize, it’s best to just create two separate concept maps for each of them.

2. Group similar concepts together.

If you’re finding that your general concepts are branching out into too many smaller, more specific concepts, try to find similar ideas and group them under a sub-concept.

For example, if you’re making a concept map of planets, you might want to make two main groups of “Inner” and “Outer” planets, and then create sub-groups within these groups.

Grouping similar ideas will not only make your concept map look cleaner and less cluttered, but it will also make it easier for readers to absorb the information and recall it later.

3. Color-code your concept map.

Colors can help distinguish between the different domains in your concept map.

This not only makes it easier to read the diagram, but it also helps readers remember the information for longer by associating each domain with a specific color.

Here’s an example of a color-coded concept map of energy sources:

Notice how renewable sources are color-coded in various shades of green, while non-renewable sources are color-coded in various shades of red.

The concept map above is also a great example of how you can color-code a hierarchical diagram. How? By incorporating different shades of the same color based on an element’s position in the hierarchy.

4. Use images and icons to visualize concepts.

Make your concept map more engaging by adding images or icons in place of text when describing your concepts.

Here’s an example of a concept map that does exactly that:

In the diagram above, the concepts of “coffee beans” and “hot water” are visualized using outline icons.

If you look closely, even the impact of caffeine on mental alertness and sleep is depicted with the help of arrows pointing in different directions.

Adding visuals aids faster learning and better recall as your brain is able to make stronger associations with images as opposed to plain text.

4. Add meaningful linking words.

When adding linking words or phrases to describe the relationships between different concepts, make sure they make sense.

This means when someone reads your concept map, they should be able to form a meaningful sentence out of just the linking words and the two concepts.

For example, take a look at this concept map about Trees:

With the help of the linking words, you can quickly form the following sentences or conclusions:

• Trees give wood, which is used to build houses, furniture and paper.
• Trees give oxygen, which is important to animals, humans and plants.

In some cases, you might not need to use any words at all to help readers make a complete sentence. You can also use symbols like + or - to indicate addition or subtraction of ideas.

5. Make your concept map interactive.

If you’re planning on sharing your concept map online, you can make it interactive and turn it into an engaging experience for the readers.

For example, you can make a node pop out, spin into place or add any of the variety of animations that Visme offers.

You can also add links to your concept maps. So, for example, clicking on a node labeled as “Rising Sea Levels” in a Climate Change concept map might take the reader to an external web page that discusses rising sea levels in more detail.

You can also add additional resources and further reading at the bottom of your concept map. Or, link to various online sources you used to extract the information for your diagram.

Ready to Make a Concept Map?

Creating a concept map is not as difficult as you may think. All you need are the right tools, some research, and a solid purpose in mind.

Follow the systematic approach illustrated in the steps above to easily make a concept map from scratch or with the help of pre-designed concept map templates .

If you’re ready to create your own concept map, try Visme’s concept map maker to get started for free. It’s quick, easy and comes with drag-and-drop diagramming and design tools.

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About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

What is a Concept Map

What do you want to do with concept maps, i want to create my own concept map on lucidchart., i want to create a concept map from a ready-made template..

Use a concept map maker to help others better understand and visualize various ideas and how they work. This guide covers everything you need to know about concept maps, from definitions and key features to use cases and history.

15 minute read

Want to create your own concept map? Try Lucidchart. It's fast, easy, and totally free.

What is a concept map?

A concept map is a diagram or graphical tool that visually represents relationships between concepts and ideas. Most concept maps depict ideas as boxes or circles (also called nodes), which are structured hierarchically and connected with lines or arrows (also called arcs). These lines are labeled with linking words and phrases to help explain the connections between concepts.

Key features of concept maps

Concept maps are also referred to as conceptual diagrams. While other types of diagrams may look similar, concept maps have specific characteristics differentiating them from other visual tools.

Concepts are defined as “perceived regularities or patterns in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label” and are depicted as shapes in the diagram.

Linking words/phrases

Linking words or phrases are located on the lines connecting objects in a concept map, and these words describe the relationship between two concepts. They are as concise as possible and typically contain a verb. Examples include "causes," "includes" and "requires."

Propositional structure

Propositions are meaningful statements made up of two or more concepts connected with linking words. These statements are also known as semantic units or units of meaning. Concepts and propositions are the foundation for the creation of new knowledge in a domain. Essentially, a concept map visually conveys a set of propositions about a certain topic.

Hierarchical structure

A key element of the concept map is its hierarchical structure. The most general and inclusive concepts are positioned at the top of a concept map with the more specific and exclusive concepts arranged hierarchically below. As such, a concept map is designed to read from top to bottom.

Focus question

A focus question defines the issue or problem the concept map needs to solve. Developing a focus question allows you to design with a context in mind and thus helps guide and maintain the direction of your concept map. Within the hierarchical structure, the focus question should be at the very top of the concept map and serve as a reference point.

Parking lot

Before beginning your concept map, it can be helpful to come up with a list identifying the key concepts that need to be included. Establish a rank ordered list from the most general concept to the most specific. This list is referred to as a parking lot, as you will move the items into the map as you figure out where they fit in.  

Cross-links

Cross-links are relationships between concepts in different domains of the concept map, allowing you to visualize how ideas within these different domains are connected. Both the cross-links and the hierarchical structure facilitate creative thinking, and these cross-links often indicate moments of creativity.

Why use a concept map?

The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it processes text. Designed as a tool to organize and represent knowledge, concept mapping can help you visualize relationships between various concepts and test your understanding of complex subjects. Thinking through and visually representing relationships between ideas forms mental connections that allow for better retention of knowledge. This diagram is a popular way to capture understanding of a topic for work, school, or personal study. It's used most frequently in academia, but the process can be easily applied to other fields.

Concept mapping offers benefits for any learning process:

• Facilitates comprehension with its visual format
• Synthesizes information by integrating new and old concepts to better grasp the big picture
• Encourages brainstorming and high-level thinking
• Fosters discovery of new concepts and their connections
• Provides clear communication of complex ideas
• Promotes collaborative learning
• Sparks creativity
• Snapshots your current knowledge to assess understanding
• Identifies areas that need further knowledge or review

When to make a concept map

Concept maps are an optimal learning tool for students and educators, whether the contributors are enrolled in school, teaching or tutoring a subject, or developing new skills on their own. The process of connecting ideas in a tangible space can solidify your topical knowledge, as well as clarify which areas need a little work.

Making a concept map can be helpful when:

• Presenting concise overviews of a field
• Absorbing information while studying for an exam
• Assessing a student’s grasp of a particular topic
• Consolidating knowledge during the learning process
• Demonstrating an acceptable level of understanding on a subject
• Defining knowledge that exists in your head but hasn’t been formally documented

Concept maps are similar to other node-linking mapping methods such as topic maps or UML diagrams. However, concept maps differ due to their philosophical basis, which holds that concepts and propositions are the foundation of new knowledge and meaning.

Keep in mind that concept maps are not the same as mind maps, though they’re frequently confused (see below for more details). Concept maps aren’t the best tool for visualizing new ideas, organizing meetings, or managing tasks and projects. You may want to try mind maps or another type of diagram in these scenarios.

Concept maps vs. mind maps

Many people have trouble telling concept maps and mind maps apart. Here’s how to determine if you’re dealing with a concept map or a mind map:

Concept maps

• Are used to represent tacit knowledge, like an existing theory or concept. The ideas are usually generated externally.
• Tend to represent academic knowledge, so their application is more formal.
• Contain general knowledge near the top of the map, with related concepts arranged hierarchically below.
• Show topics with cross-linking and multiple relationships.
• Are used to flesh out a set of ideas, which are often generated internally.
• Tend to represent a greater variety of tasks and concepts, so their application is more flexible.
• Contain a single word, phrase, or image in the center of the map, with related ideas radiating outward in all directions.
• Show topics with a single parent and several children.

Concept mapping for education

Students can use concept mapping to:

• Organize and structure new material
• Increase learning by relating new and old knowledge
• Map out relationships between things such as vocab words, characters in a story, events in history, etc.
• Plan/outline writing projects
• Design their own representations of knowledge
• Brainstorm new ideas
• Create study guides
• Design complex structures

Teachers can use concept mapping to:

• Plan curriculum
• Assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding of students
• Explain complex ideas
• Assist struggling readers

As educators incorporate concept maps into their teaching methodology, they can provide aids to help facilitate the process for students:

• Give a focus question to get the wheels turning.
• Create a parking lot (list of key concepts) to help students determine what to include in their map.
• Provide expert skeleton maps so students have a structure to follow. These are small concept maps started by an expert on the topic which students can then expand upon.

Research indicates that students working in small groups and cooperating while learning results in positive cognitive and affective outcomes. Concept mapping allows for this productive small group work among students and teachers in any subject matter.

Concept mapping for business

While widely used in education, concept maps have expanded to the business world as well. Concept maps communicate ideas well and prompt intuitive visual thinking that aid business analysis. Concept mapping is a group process, making it an ideal activity for teams or groups of stakeholders, and it is especially when solving problems, whether they be in marketing, new product design or administration. They allow all organization members to evaluate where they are currently and where they would like to go, and they can be easily made and maintained by anyone, even the non-technical users.

Concept maps bring a creative and results-oriented approach known as design thinking to business. Within this approach, concept maps can be used for inspiration, ideation and implementation. These diagrams are excellent storytellers, helping in the ideation and inspiration phases. When it comes time for implementation, concept maps help with instruction, documentation and communication.

Concept mapping can serve a variety of purposes in a business organization:

• Promoting company-wide understanding of business requirements
• Spotting gaps and contradictions
• Identifying complex relationships among ideas
• Learning the “language” of a client
• Establishing a consistent language for a project
• Identifying potential requirements dependencies
• Modeling inventory flows, cash flows, relationship flows, etc
• Product development
• Market analysis
• Decision-making
• Formulating research projects
• Mapping team knowledge
• Archiving expert knowledge
• Creating a shared vision within a team or organization
• Generating advance organizers
• Training new employees
• Software design
• Ontology-building

Concept mapping for healthcare

Within the healthcare industry, concept mapping allows for prioritizing ideas, evaluating consensus, identifying gaps and creating improved action plans. It allows the various stakeholders of an organization to come together and formulate effective plans, as faculty are able to create a shared representation of the patient’s condition and situation and determine the proper next steps.

Applications of concept mapping within healthcare include:

• Organizing workloads
• Prioritizing patient assignments
• Critically thinking through abnormal assessments
• Mapping out plans of care
• Identifying relationships between symptoms
• Revealing diagnosis
• Training medical staff

History of concept mapping

Concept mapping as a method was developed by Joseph Novak and a team of researchers at Cornell University in the 1970’s. Dr. Novak was searching for a new tool to describe explicit changes in children’s conceptual understanding.

Both he and his colleagues at Cornell had studied psychologist Jean Piaget’s theories on cognitive operational stages. Piaget and other experts assumed that children weren’t capable of comprehending abstract concepts, like the nature of matter, before the age of 11. Dr. Novak decided to launch a research project that would observe minute changes in the way children learned new ideas. He was inspired by a theory from David Ausubel, a proponent of Piaget’s theories. Ausubel wrote,

“If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, I would say this: the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly” (Ausubel, 1968, p. vi)

With this idea as their guiding light, the Cornell team developed a new tool during their longitudinal study: the concept map. These maps were simple—just one or two words to represent the main idea, and lines showing linking words that created a meaningful statement. The most general concepts were grouped at the top of the map and the most specific ones at the bottom. Novak taught students to build concept maps to demonstrate their knowledge on focus questions such as “What is water”.

The research team explained,

“We found that a 15- or 20-page interview transcript could be converted into a one-page concept map without losing essential concept and propositional meanings expressed by the interviewee. We soon realized this was a very powerful and concise knowledge representation tool, a tool that changed our research program from this point on.”

Since 1972, concept mapping has become extremely popular, as specialists in fields from education to healthcare realize the unique benefits of this type of diagram.

Theoretical foundation

Concept maps are based on Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory and Novak’s Theory of Learning, which discuss how people learn new information by incorporating new knowledge with knowledge they already posses. Novak stated,

“Meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures.”

Through meaningful learning, discussed more below, the integration of new concepts into our cognitive knowledge structure occurs through linking the new knowledge to concepts already understood. A concept map provides a visual demonstration of these relationships between concepts in our cognitive structure. The origin of concept maps stems is based in constructivism, which discusses how learners actively construct knowledge.

Physiological foundation

Children acquire concepts during the age of birth to three years as they start identifying labels or symbols for regularities they observe in the world around them. This early and autonomous learning is known as the discovery learning process. After age three, the reception learning process begins, where new meanings are formed by asking questions and understanding the relationships between old and new concepts—concepts are no longer defined by the learner but described by others and transferred to the learner.

In addition to exploring these two learning processes, Ausubel also differentiates between rote and meaningful learning. Rote learning occurs when there is little or no relevant knowledge to the new information being presented and no internal commitment to incorporate new and existing knowledge. As a result, information is easily forgotten. The cognitive structure is not enhanced to clear up faulty ideas.

Meaningful learning can only occur under the following three circumstances:

The new material being presented must be clear and relatable to the learner’s prior knowledge. Concept maps are helpful here, as they identify general concepts held by the learner which can then be built upon.

The learner needs to possess relevant prior knowledge, especially when trying to comprehend detailed and specific knowledge in an area.

The first two conditions can be controlled directly by the instructor. However, the third cannot, as it requires that the learner choose to learn meaningfully. In other words, they make an effort to assimilate new and old information rather than just memorizing.

The distinction between rote and meaningful learning is a continuum, as individuals possess different amounts of relevant knowledge and different motivation levels for knowledge assimilation. Creativity is a a very high level of meaningful learning on this continuum.

Working and short-term memory are the most important for getting knowledge into long-term memory. Information is processed in the working memory through interaction with knowledge in long-term memory; however, the working memory can only process a small number of units at a time. However, if these units can be grouped together, it is much easily recalled. Organizing large amounts of information requires repetition between working memory and long-term memory. Concept mapping is powerful for meaningful learning because it acts as a template to help organize and structure knowledge, even though the structure must be built piece by piece with small units of interacting concepts and propositions. This process allows for the use of knowledge in new contexts and for increased retention. In addition, research shows that our brain prefers to organize information in the hierarchical structure characteristic of concept mapping.

Epistemological foundation

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy dealing with knowledge and new knowledge creation. There exists a growing consensus that new knowledge creation is a constructive process that involves our knowledge and our emotions. Novak believes that new knowledge creation is high meaningful learning by those with an organized knowledge structure on a certain topic and a strong motivation to find new meaning.

Concept maps are associated with constructivist theories of learning in which learners are active participants rather than passive recipients of knowledge. Learners must make an effort to bring new meaning to information they already know. Building concept maps is a creative process, as concepts and propositions are the foundation for knowledge in any domain.

How to build a concept map

Here are the basic steps in constructing a concept map. We have a much more detailed article with instructions on how to make a concept map step by step, if you’re ready to learn more . 

Identify the focus question or main topic—think about the problem or issue you want the concept map to resolve. This idea should connect to all others on your map and will guide the hierarchical structure.

Identify all the key concepts that relate to the main idea you identified. Order them with the most general concepts first and the more specific concepts last. This list is referred to as the parking lot.

Create a preliminary concept map linking the concepts together. Remember to add linking words or phrases on the lines to demonstrate how the concepts are related.

Add cross-links to connect concepts in different domains.

• Continually revise your concept map as needed.

Helpful Resources

• What is concept map and how to create one
• How to Make a Concept Map
• Create a concept map

Instead of struggling with clunky software or a desk full of colored pencils, use Lucidchart. You can write, organize and style your concept maps in record time and then share it with others.