| Concept mapping is being introduced into traditional medical education as a tool to help students integrate information and learn meaningfully. There is strong theoretical support for concept mapping, but studies have determined that a substantial proportion of students do not perceive concept mapping to be useful. 182 medical students at St. George's University took the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and completed an original questionnaire examining student perceptions of concept mapping and perceptions of a range of factors which have been proposed to influence perceptions of the usefulness of the strategy. The results of this study provide support for the assertion that concept mapping can be a useful learning tool for some students, even in a traditional basic science medical curriculum. However, it also provides evidence that a substantial percent of students do not find concept mapping to be useful in this context. MBTI Personality type, perceptions of the learning environment and perceptions of the implementation of concept mapping were found to be related to perceptions of usefulness and use of the strategy. |
