Concept Map In The Middle School Physics Teaching

Concept maps is a graphic expression of definitions and interlaced relations among a series of concepts within a statement network. Domestic and international research on this topic suggests that concept maps has powerful application in the practice of teaching.This dissertation studied the background of concept maps and summarized on the contemporary researches on concept maps both at home and abroad. This research studied the theoretical basics of concept maps from the perspectives of cognitive learning theory, theory of constructionism and physiology. Based upon the theoretical study and practical application of concept maps, the dissertation explored the significance of the introduction of concept maps to the physics education at the level of middle school. The study also proposed a strategic flow chart for the application of concept maps in teaching, exploring and reviewing physics in middle school education. The proposal was tested and examined with a real case study. The theoretical results from this dissertation were put into practice and tested in the classes of 3(2) and 3(3) at the Zhi Yuan Campus of the 29^th Middle School of Nanjing. The students of the experimenting classes were instructed to create concept maps both independently and in the cooperation within a small group for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching methodology with concept maps.The experiments with the application of concept maps in physics education produced the following results:1. Application of concept maps improves the overall performance of students at various levels, from high-achieving group to middle-and low-achieving groups, in learning physics compared with traditional methods. The strategy of applying concept maps in physics education does not cause different results among students due to gender difference.2. Compared with creating concept maps independently, making concept maps in a group is more efficient in improving the physics exam scores for high- and middle-achieving student groups, but not effective for low-achieving student group. The attitude for study of each student has a certain effect upon the results of creating concept maps cooperatively within a group.3. The majority of the students participated in the experiments agree that concept maps helps in learning physics and improving scores of physics exams. The students prefer to make concept maps cooperatively in a group than independently.