An Action Research of Learning Effectiveness Applying Concept Mapping Teaching Strategy to Social Studies in Higher Grades of Elementary School

• Main Authors: Yun-Wei Fan, 范芸葳
• Other Authors: Li-Kang Chiu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/57703663038101021025

碩士 === 國立臺北教育大學 === 社會與區域發展學系碩士班 === 102 === The purpose of this study is to apply concept mapping teaching strategy to social studies in elementary schools. The participants will be members of the Grade 6 class instructed by the researcher. The paper will explore problems students are likely to encounter during the course of action and their coping strategies. Furthermore, it will explore the effectiveness of students’ learning strategies and attitude, and analyze whether or not concept mapping is a useful tool in helping them learn. We will collect data via observation, document analysis, and interviews, and analyze it with triangulation. This is in order to self-reflect during the research and use it as a basis for further action. The main findings and conclusions are as follows: 1.Students in Grade 5 and 6 are taught concept mapping teaching strategies in three phases; (1) the teacher-student co-mapping phase; (2) the group cooperation mapping phase, (3) and the individual mapping phase. In the teacher-student co-mapping phase, students interact with their teachers in order to map concepts. Teachers guide them in collaborating with each other. The next is group cooperation mapping phase, where interactions and discussions among peers will deepen their understanding of the relationship between the concepts of the learning content, and to work together towards completing group mapping. The final phase, the individual mapping phase, guides students to independently complete and activate the use of mapping through their own experience and via problem scenarios designed by the teacher. 2.Used in the teaching of social studies, concept mapping can enhance students’ learning effectiveness. In terms of paper tests, comparing standard score variation of the average three term scores of the class researched to those of other classes, it is clearly seen that student achievement in social studies enhances with the evolution of concept mapping process. 3.Given sufficient time to sharpen their skills, students’ mapping ability gradually enhances and matures with the increase of teaching hours and number of practices. 4.In terms of learning attitude and experience, the majority of students react positively to concept mapping and believe it helps enhance their learning interest and confidence in social studies. 5.The action research on concept mapping teaching strategies can assist the researcher reflect on teaching styles and cause them to pay better attention to students' learning, which then improves the teaching and professional growth of the researcher. Based on the above findings, the researcher proposes recommendations for teaching practice and future study. Keywords: concept mapping, social studies, learning effectiveness, learning attitude