The Concept Diagram has been used with two different topics so far this school year. The first time using the diagram took longer than expected and lesson plans had to be updated to allow additional time. The students were intimidated by the diagram and needed intense prompting and frequent encouragement while working with the diagram. After they saw how the diagram worked and how they got to participate in the creation of the diagram, they started to relax and learn from the process. Both times, the students have found the diagrams to be fun to create and helpful in learning and remembering the concept presented in the diagrams. They especially enjoyed helping create the examples and non-examples. The interaction with the diagrams seems to be a great benefit to the students. The second time we used the concept diagram, the students were much more comfortable with the process and the work went much more smoothly. In reflection, we believe that we need to better explain how the diagram works and the benefits of creating and using it. The students, at least our current group, appear to need more prompting and guidance when first exposed to the concept diagram. Finally, after using the diagram twice, we have realized several other topics that will be beneficial to use with the diagram.
Rhonda Hall