Using a computerized concept mapping program to assess preservice teachers' thinking about effective teaching

Concept mapping with Learning Tool , a computerized mapping program, was used to assess changes in the content and organization of 17 preservice teachers' concept maps for the topic of effective teaching . Preservice teachers in their senior year of an early childhood teacher education program constructed and revised concept maps with a partner. They entered reflections on each mapping experience into their reflective journals, developing implications for teaching. Analysis of the concept maps revealed that these students had a primary concern with classroom management throughout the year, linking diverse information to that concept. They evidenced detailed and diverse understandings under the labels of knowledge and organization. Professionalism was a common item, though it was less well developed. Their reflective journals indicated that these students moved from describing emotional reactions to using the computer program as a basis for reflection on the teaching/learning process. This study illustrates how concept mapping can be useful in describing students' evolving constructions of knowledge in a particular subject area, and in promoting reflection.