Pre-school teachers' digital concept maps and instructional design practices

Abstract

Concept mapping has been a useful and effective technique for representing and assessing science content knowledge. Technological advances have also allowed the creation of user-friendly digital concept map applications. However, there appears a need to examine pre-service teachers' digital concept mapping practices in relation to their instructional design practices i.e. lesson planning. Hence, this study investigated the quality of pre-service pre-school teachers' (n = 26) digital concept maps in reference to the quality of their lesson plans. The quality of the digital concept maps was assessed based on an examination of the quality of a) structure, b) content, and c) their overall quality. Furthermore, it examined teachers' preferences and reflections on digital concept maps in relation to physical (i.e. paper-and-pencil) concept maps. Mixed methods were used including qualitative analysis and statistical correlations of the quality scores of the lesson plans and concept maps. Findings revealed no significant correlation between the quality of digital concept maps and the quality of lesson plans, while the consistency of the focus between the two correlated significantly with the quality of the digital concept maps. The number of concepts, propositions and cross-links as well as conceptual hierarchy were found as indicators of the overall quality of the digital concept maps. A comparison between digital and physical concept maps revealed that teachers' views and arguments varied between the two. The findings of the study speak to the relevance and applicability of digital concept maps for teacher training programmes.