Investigating the Use of Concept Maps and Graph-Based Analysis to Evaluate Learning

Abstract Concept maps have been widely used in education as a means for knowledge assessment. In engineering design research, concept maps have been used to represent participant's mental models of a product, system, or phenomenon. Researchers have examined various uses of concept maps including assessment of student understanding of the design process, teaching physics concepts, and measuring changes in sustainability knowledge. Moreover, collaborative concept mapping and scoring rubrics for concept maps have been proposed. While there has been an abundance of discussion regarding the use cases, validity, and versatility of concept maps as an educational tool, few studies present empirical and analytical evidence. This paper presents results from a preliminary study where concepts maps have been used to assess the effectiveness of a learning activity focused on engineering design topics. A graph-based analysis of concept maps is presented, with findings compared to traditional evaluations of learning outcomes. Results suggest that the proposed approach provides an objective comparison of concept maps and helps identify concepts that are not commonly absorbed by the students. Current and future work will continue to collect more data from student participants and examine other analytical approaches for evaluating concept maps.