J Sci Educ Technol (2011) 20:186200 DOI 10.

1007/s10956-010-9245-4

Constructivist-Visual Mind Map Teaching Approach and the Quality of Students Cognitive Structures
Harkirat S. Dhindsa Makarimi-Kasim O. Roger Anderson

Published online: 31 August 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Abstract This study compared the effects of a constructivist-visual mind map teaching approach (CMA) and of a traditional teaching approach (TTA) on (a) the quality and richness of students knowledge structures and (b) TTA and CMA students perceptions of the extent that a constructivist learning environment (CLE) was created in their classes. The sample of the study consisted of six classes (140 Form 3 students of 1315 years old) selected from a typical coeducational school in Brunei. Three classes (40 boys and 30 girls) were taught using the TTA while three other classes (41 boys and 29 girls) used the CMA, enriched with PowerPoint presentations. After the interventions (lessons on magnetism), the students in both groups were asked to describe in writing their understanding of magnetism accrued from the lessons. Their written descriptions were analyzed using ow map analyses to assess their content knowledge and its organisation in memory as evidence of cognitive structure. The extent of CLE was measured using a published CLE survey. The results showed that the cognitive structures of the CMA students were more extensive, thematically organised and richer in interconnectedness of thoughts than those of TTA students. Moreover, CMA students also perceived their classroom learning environment to be more constructivist than their counterparts. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers consider using the CMA teaching technique to help students enrich their understanding, especially for more complex or abstract scientic content.

Keywords Mind mapping Traditional teaching Constructivism Cognitive structures Secondary Education Science

Introduction According to cognitive constructivist theory, prior conceptions and knowledge structures are major factors inuencing science learning (Anderson 1992; Ausubel et al. 1978; Bodner 1986; Novak 1977). This theoretical perspective incorporates, and elaborates upon, a key element of Ausubels theory, i.e. the most important single factor inuencing learning is what the learner already knows (Ausubel et al. 1978). As an extension to Ausubels theory, Mitchell and Lawson (1988) reported that general reasoning ability, as compared to prior knowledge, is the most consistent predictor of achievement in genetics, further emphasizing the role of active learning and plasticity of thinking in construction of knowledge. Reasoning requires processing many pieces of information at a time, which is facilitated by the effective organisation of prior knowledge. Thus, the organisation of knowledge in memory, as opposed to an emphasis on only the amount, is an important factor associated with increased reasoning ability, understanding of concepts and academic achievement. The composition and organisation of prior knowledge are critically important for effective learning. The US-National Research Council considers it to be of major signicance, and stated that academic assessment should include all outcomes of achievement, including probing the extent and organisation of students knowledge, rather than checking whether students have memorized certain items of information (Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering

H. S. Dhindsa (&) Makarimi-Kasim SHBIE, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei e-mail: hdhindsa11@gmail.com O. Roger Anderson Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

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Education (CSMEE) 1996). Hence, there is increasing evidence that we are advised to use teaching techniques that help students organize their knowledge effectively in memory to enhance knowledge accessibility and its application more broadly in new situations. Conceptual Change Strategies and Constructivist Learning Conceptual change strategies of teaching, which are subsets of more general constructivist views of learning and teaching of science, have been used to enhance learning of complex scientic ideas. This approach involves reconciliation of disparate prior conceptions with more scientically accepted new information through active student involvement in resolving inconsistencies, thus improving the organisation and scientic accuracy of conceptual representations during learning, often leading to improved students science learning outcomes (Ebenezer and Gaskell 1995; Linder 1993; Nieswandt 2001; Smith et al. 1993). Teaching for active construction of new knowledge, is a process of helping students mobilize their prior understanding and reorganize them in light of current experience. During conceptual change, learners are challenged by new experiences that require them to rethink their understanding based on scientic evidence from experience. The effectiveness of conceptual change is enhanced by many approaches, such as small group discussions to foster contrasting ideas, encouraging reection on experimental data, and motivating students to re-evaluate prior ideas in relation to emerging evidence. The active construction of new knowledge using a conceptual change process can be promoted or hindered by the students prior conceptions and its organisation, depending on the compatibility and integrity of the existing structures relative to accepted scientic conceptions; because during information construction, the brain actively interprets new experiences based on mobilization of stored information in memory centers of the brain as a framework for new knowledge construction (e.g., Anderson 1992). Therefore, in the process of construction of new information, previous knowledge structures may undergo transformations including (a) conceptual growth (structures will be partly supplemented or broadened) or (b) conceptual change (rearrangement of existing and/or development of new cognitive structures) as the learner actively searches for ways to merge new knowledge within existing frameworks. During this process, the richness of network connections in memory and their linkages to sensory input are often enhanced (Duit 1994). These enriched network connections improve the learners knowledge application ability partially due to the richness of information retrieval that can be mobilized in relation to a more diverse set of sensory inputs.

Recent research has documented the effectiveness of specic conceptual change strategies in improving teaching and learning outcomes when supplemented with technology and/or knowledge organisation techniques. For example, Dhindsa and Anderson (2004) reported that a conceptual change approach can be a useful way to educate teachers to be exible in their thinking and to reorganize their ideational networks which may help them become more capable of dealing with individual student cognitive differences and experiential diversity in their classrooms. Marzidah-Majid (2007) found that the memory organisation and problem solving abilities of female teachers who had undergone Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) training were signicantly superior to their counterparts who had not. CoRT training involved generating ideas, problem solving and critical thinking experiences. Sharizal (2005) reported that the memory organisation of students who were learning in an interactive white board technology-rich constructivist learning environment was signicantly better when compared to those who were learning in a traditional teaching environment. He further reported that the mean achievement gain scores of the students in a constructivist learning environment, supported by the use of interactive white board technology, were higher than those who experienced traditional teaching. These results emphasize the use of strategies that improve memory organisation to improve students achievement. Mind Mapping Techniques and Constructivist Approaches to Science Learning Mind mapping is a technique of representing knowledge by organizing it as a network or other non-linear diagram incorporating verbal and symbolic elements. In general, the techniques are consistent with modern constructivist approaches to learning, emphasizing the active involvement of the learner who utilizes existing knowledge structures to construct new knowledge by inter-relating new content with existing knowledge in memory. Longo, Anderson and Wicht (2002) examined the science learning effectiveness of three knowledge network representation techniques, two where students constructed elaborate network diagrams using graphic and verbal elements called visual-thinking-networking (VTN), either with or without colouring (using coloured felt tip pens), and a third more traditional teaching method. They reported higher achievement gain scores for the group that used the colourvisual-thinking-networking technique when compared to traditional teaching that emphasized lecture and student memorization of transmitted information. It is believed that the colour-enriched VTNs particularly helped the students to organize their knowledge and make it more salient in long-term memory compared to the more traditional

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lecture-centered format of teaching. However, these researchers did not analyze the students outcome cognitive structures. Dhindsa and Makrimi-Kasim (2007) reported that the mean achievement scores for students who were taught science using a mind mapping technique in a constructivist learning environment were signicantly higher than those who were taught using traditional teaching. Moreover, Buzan and Buzan (2003) also reported that use of a mind mapping technique improved students achievement in science. Mind mapping teaching techniques, compared to some traditional methods that emphasize knowledge transmission from expert teacher to novice students, are more student-centered and involve students active participation in the learning process. It is, therefore, hypothesized that a mind mapping technique can enhance students ability to improve the organisation of their knowledge structures and this in turn, should improve their learning outcomes as represented by achievement scores. The salutary effects of a mind mapping teaching technique, when used in a constructivist learning environment, on the students organisation of knowledge is not fully understood. The present study compares the knowledge structures of students who were taught using a mind mapping teaching technique in a constructivist learning environment relative to those taught using a traditional approach as described more fully below. Constructivist-Visual-Mind-Mapping (CMA) Teaching Techniques The purpose of the CMA was in part to allow the students to integrate as much as possible of their content specic and more abstract knowledge of magnetism into a composite CMA, thus encouraging them to organize their knowledge in a more comprehensive way. The CMA approach is a combination of three main teaching techniques that include the use of a constructivist learning environment, information and communication technology (ICT) using power point presentations for visualization, and mind mapping for teaching the content. In this context, constructivist teaching and learning environments are dened as learning environments where the students are actively engaged cognitively and operatively (hands-on) in reectively processing information that is presented in a way that encourages the learner to relate new knowledge to prior existing knowledge in memory and goes beyond some traditional approaches where students typically sit passively and receive information largely delivered by the teacher. The constructivist teaching approach in this study operationally means that the teacher used approaches that encouraged active student participation individually and collectively in learning. These included small group

discussions to foster contrasting ideas, encouraging students to reect on experimental data, and motivating students to re-evaluate prior ideas in relation to emerging evidence. During discussion, students were encouraged to share ideas and reach an agreed-upon structure for the organisation of their ideas. In such a student-centered learning environment, where students were given a greater role in the organisation of learning activities, we theorize that this facilitates more effective and efcient construction of new knowledge. We recognize that appropriately organised lecture presentations can include attention to building on students prior knowledge, assuming that the teacher has taken care to determine the prior status of the students learning. However, some traditional approaches of this kind are limited. They may not provide for student active feedback, or encourage interaction among students to actively reect on the content and engage in multi-modal learning activities. Theoretically, we assume that the topic of magnetism, involving some abstract and conceptually complex scientic ideas, may be challenging for students and a constructivist, active learning approach incorporating visual technology and student small group discussion may help them comprehend and better integrate the scientic information into stable knowledge structures in memory. The term visual in the title of this study refers to a colorful display of graphic/iconic information during classroom teaching and learning. Prior research has indicated a positive effect of including gural and polychromatic colored materials during student active learning in science (e.g., Longo et al. 2002). One of the most productive innovations in the use of ICT for science learning has been the installation of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projectors linked to a PC or laptop computer (Ngan et al. 2003). This technology, combined with student active involvement in learning through construction of mind maps, promises to yield further enhancements in science learning. The theoretical advantages of using mind maps in learning is partially rooted in scientic evidence that early visual processing systems of the brain categorise visual input into constructs of colour, shape, location and motion (Ungerleider 1995) and moreover that higher order information processing includes iconic representations, that is stated most directly, The mind thinks in Pictures (Trudeau 1991). Analysis of Students Knowledge Structures as Learning Outcome Variables Given the assumption that knowledge organisation during construction is a dynamic process and that its mobilization and retrieval is also an active process as described by Anderson and Demetrius (1993) their technique of owmapping was chosen to assess knowledge organisation in

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this study, because the assumptions and procedures of the ow mapping technique are consistent with the theoretical assumptions of the constructivist theory guiding our study. Prior published research has documented the validity of using ow-mapping as a representation of knowledge organisation and its effects on science learning outcomes (e.g., Anderson 1990; Anderson and Demetrius 1993; Anderson et al. 2001; Dhindsa and Anderson 2004; Tsai 1998). This technique also has been successfully used in a number of studies involving constructivist teaching to obtain evidence of students cognitive structures (e.g., Anderson 2009a, b; Dhindsa and Anderson 2004; Marzidah-Majid 2007; Sharizal 2005). The study reported here examined seven dimensions of cognitive structures as variables (see Table 3) that are associated with the extent and organisation of knowledge structures of students based on ow map analyses of their written narrative in freerecall format essays as explained more fully in the Methods section.

Aim and Objectives This study aimed to compare the dimensions of cognitive structures of TTA and CMA students taught using traditional teaching, and, constructivist teaching enriched with ICT and mind mapping. In addition, the constructivist leaning environments in CMA and TTA classes were also compared to answer the following specic research questions. 1. 2. 3. How did CMA and TTA students perceptions of constructivist learning compare? How did the quality of cognitive structures of CMA and TTA students compare? How did the quality of cognitive structures of male and female students in CMA as well as in TTA groups compare?

constructivist strategies in our experimental intervention. To more fully document the nature of the experimental and control interventions in the classroom, we have collected data using observation instruments and students reports. Recent studies have reported some differences in experts and students opinions about classroom experiences (Chang 2010; Dhindsa and Monaliza-Abdul-Halim 2003). Therefore, experts observation and students perceptual data have been used in our research to monitor the learning experiences implemented in the experimental and control classrooms. There is increasing evidence that gender may be an important variable in science learning and can interact with the conditions of the learning experience (e.g., Baram-Tsabari and Yarden 2008; Dhindsa and Chung 2003; Dhindsa and Shahrizal-Emran 2007; McGinnis and Collins 2008; Wiens et al. 2003) including neuroscientic evidence that some parts of the brain develop differently in males and females (NIH/NIMH 2007). Moreover, science learning is a cultural activity and social cultures may signicantly inuence classroom learning (Jegede 1999). The roles of females and males vary across different cultures and this perspective needs to be kept in mind, especially in research that involves active student involvement, where gender roles may be inuenced by local social norms and values. Brunei culture enjoys distinct features that are guided by Islamic values and are different from other cultures especially from western cultures, where most of prior research of this kind has been conducted (Sharizal 2005). Therefore, it was considered important to examine how the male and female students react to the new teaching package.

Methodology Subjects The subjects of this study were 140 Form 3 (Grade 9; 1315 years old) students enrolled in a government school in Brunei Darussalam. Most of them come from families with medium to low economic status. Academically, they were average level students. Prior to being in Form 3, they had learned science for three years in the upper primary and two years in the secondary levels. The instruction was in English despite it being their second or third language. The intervention content was new to the students. Half of the total 140 sample students were taught a magnetism topic (subtopics: magnets, magnetic elds, electromagnets and application of magnetism) using traditional teaching (TTA) and the other half using a constructivist technique enriched with mind-mapping (CMA) for four weeks. The details of the outcome objectives for the topic taught can be requested from the authors.

Rationale for the Research Questions Classroom teaching and learning processes are complex and involve interactions among many variables (see Rennie 1998) resulting in nonlinear accumulative effects. Also, it is well known that teachers in a classroom do not use a single teaching technique, which adds to the complexity. Despite the above stated facts, a signicant amount of research has been published to examine the effects of single variables in a classroom setting. As a contribution toward a more holistic view of these complexities, we have chosen to examine the roles of several coherent variables including mind mapping, power point technology, and

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CMA and TTA Group Implementations The CMA implementation involved training of mind mapping technique and teaching the magnetism content. During the rst lesson in the CMA treatment, the students were oriented to mind mapping, but no new science content was presented. The teacher introduced the mind mapping technique to CMA students using a power point presentation followed by group work where the students worked in a constructivist setting to review the Form 3 science topics involving pressure exerted by solids and liquids. The students had already covered these topics. Each group selected a topic of their own choice, identied important concepts and made a group mind-map (GMM) using a variety of coloured pens/pencils. Following this, each student was asked to develop an individualized mind map on a subtopic within the Form 3 content they had chosen and then merge their mind maps to produce a composite mind map of their chosen topic. In a subsequent step, they compared the composite map with the previously created GMM. The students were asked to revise their mind map and also develop another mind map as a homework assignment. The implementation of CMA and TTA is summarized in Table 1. While teaching the rst lesson on magnetism, the teacher started with the introduction to magnets and asked the students to review their individual mind map they had prepared at home to reect upon the steps involved in the mind mapping technique (see Appendix 1 for additional details). The teacher asked the students some question on uses of magnets to activate their prior knowledge and then taught the lesson on magnetism using power point presentation. The topics included in this lesson were classication of materials that are and are not attracted by magnets. The students were divided into small groups and were asked to make a GMM using the lesson content by following the steps they had learned during training (Example in Appendix 2). Thereafter, the students were asked to develop their mind map individually. The teacher then introduced his mind map and students compared their mind maps to it. They also had the opportunity to add additional details to their mind maps. They were asked to examine, review and revise (if needed) their mind map at
Table 1 Description of implementation of CMA and TTA activities Lesson stages Prior knowledge activation New content teaching Class work and revision Home work CMA activities

home and copy it on a large sheet of paper in a way so that in future more details can be added to develop a topic mind map (Appendix 2). During the following lesson on magnetism, the topics of discussion were uses of magnets. This allowed the content taught to be arranged from known to unknown. The students reviewed their mind map they had developed at home as a prior knowledge activation exercise. The teacher then taught the new lesson and students repeated all the steps as described for the rst class lesson. They were instructed to combine the mind map for each lesson with that from the previous lesson(s) to prepare a topic mind map as homework. To teach the TTA group using a traditional teaching method, the teachers used an overhead projector to present transparencies and for most of the time lectured while students listened. The teacher followed the organisation of content as was proposed by the curriculum development department and the order of subtopics is listed under the heading Sample There was no use of mind mapping, group discussions or power point presentation during instruction. This has been a norm of teaching in most of the local science classes in the institution where this research was done. Verication Factors A major limitation of this study was that two groups of students were taught by two teachers; therefore, the teacher factor was not controlled. However, this factor had been anticipated before the interventions. If the two groups were taught by the same teacher, then there was a possibility of teacher overlapping traditional and constructivist-visual mind map teaching approaches in the classes of both groups of students. Hence it would have produced yet a different limitation. In order to ensure that the teaching strategies were implemented as planned, the authors invited two independent observers to observe two lessons per teacher to document the differences in lessons taught to TTA and CMA groups, to provide evidence of comparability in basic content taught in the two settings and thus to provide evidence that the intended treatments were implemented properly. Both of the observers had more than

TTA activities Teacher asking questions Black and white overhead projector transparencies, Teacher asking questions to the whole class Teacher going over subtopics covered in the lesson Teacher given question to be answer at home

Student reviewing multi-colour mind map on content covered in previous lesson Power point presentations as well as demonstrations Group work: preparing group mind maps Individual work: preparing individual mind map Completing topic mind map

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14 years of experience teaching science subjects, and one of them was the Head of the science department in a school. They observed two 70-min lessons using a Classroom Independent Observation Schedule (CIOS) developed by Norlina (2002). The CIOS includes data on observer and class involved, and, covers resources used, lesson sequence, verbal or written language used by the teacher, levels of teacher and students questioning, group work used, work set in class and homework given and observers overview of the whole lesson. The observers recorded the students activities, teacher activities, teaching style and remarks at number of time intervals from the beginning to the end of the lesson. This systematic record of time, activities and remarks helped the researchers to verify the differences in the implementation of the two teaching approaches. The interobserver agreement was 86%. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) The constructivist learning environment survey (actual form), developed by Taylor et al. (1994), was used to monitor the extent to which a constructivist approach was used for teaching during the intervention in TTA and CMA classes. The CLES is divided into two sections. The rst section deals with the respondents demographic data, and the second section includes CLES items. The 25 item instrument consists of ve scales: Personal Relevance, Uncertainty, Critical Voice, Shared Control, and Student Negotiation. Table 2 reports a brief description of and a sample item for each scale. Each scale is comprised of ve items. Each scale was designed to obtain measures of students individual perception of their constructivist learning

environment in his or her class. Each item was translated into Malay language and items in both languages were used in the instrument administered to the students. The response options were almost always = 4, often = 3, seldom = 2, almost never = 1. The scale item mean score for a scale would indicate how the students perceived their classroom environment. Students who perceive their learning environment to be highly constructivist versus more traditional will score closer to four and vice versa. For the CLES scales, the coefcients of (a) reliability, computed as the Cronbachs alpha reliability, ranged from 0.67 to 0.79 and (b) discriminant validity coefcient, computed as mean absolute partial correlation of a scale with other scales, ranged from 0.16 to 0.26. These data support that the scales in the instrument, though sufciently internally consistent, provided discriminative evidence of the varied constructivist environmental dimensions measured by the subscales. Overall, these results suggest that the instrument was sufciently reliable and valid to be applied for the purposes of data collection in our study. The instrument was administered to the sample students at the end of intervention. The instructions on the instruments are clearly stated and have been used in previous studies (Taylor et al. 1994). However, the administrator of the CLES was told to explain the items if any student requested for. The administrator did not report and serious problem. Students Conceptual Understanding of the Taught Content Two measures were used to evaluate students conceptual understanding of the lesson concepts. The rst measure was students mean achievement score for a content test consisting of 15 questions (11 multiple choice, 3 short answer and 1 essay type questions). These questions covered knowledge (17%), comprehension (28%), application (11%), analysis (33%) and synthesis (11%) elements of

Table 2 Description of and sample items for the CLES scales Scale Personal relevance Uncertainty Description Focuses on the connectedness of school science to students out-of-school experiences and making use of the experience for the development of scientic knowledge The extent to which opportunities are provided for students to experience scientic knowledge arising from theory-dependent inquiry involving human experiences and values The extent to which social climate has been established in which students feel that it is rational to express critical opinion Concerned with students being invited to participate in planning and assessing of learning The extent to which opportunities exist for students to involve with other students in assessing the viability of new ideas Sample item In this science class I learn about the world outside the school I learn that the views of science have changed over time It is OK to ask the teacher, Why do we have to do this? I help the teacher to plan what Im going to learn I ask other students to explain their ideas

Critical voice Shared control Student negotiation

Table adopted from Fisher and Kim (1999)

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192 Table 3 Denitions of the eight dimensions of cognitive structure S. No. Variable 1. 2. Concept Discourse unit (DU) Denition Information unit stored in long-term memory A sentence or a clause comprising a single statement. A written communication can be decomposed into discourse units using procedures described by Authors (1993) Number of linearly connected ideas in the ow map

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Association of variable with cognitive structure A measure of the amount of information embedded in a cognitive structure The number of discourse units describes the extent of information in memory as part of the cognitive structure represented by the entire network of ideas in the ow map Number of linear links is the number of connected discourse units

3. 4.

Linear linkages (LL) Complex linkages (CL)

Links between non-consecutive statements Number of complex linkages is a measure of how where the same content has been revisited in a information in cognitive structure is interlinked new statement and usually in a new context

5.

6.

A concept or idea supported by three or more Number of focal points represents the thematic complex linkages when introduced for the rst organization of information in the cognitive structure time in the discourse Association density (AD) Association density of cognitive structure is a The relative extent of cross-linked statements in ratio of complex linkages to total linkages discourse to the total number of linkages between and (CL/CL?LL). A derived quantity not used in among statements uttered previous studies Incorrectness Number of incorrectly linked concepts per DU A measure of the extent of activation of wrong concepts that do not t into the context of the discourse unit

Focal point (FP)

Blooms Taxonomy (Anderson 1990). A signicant difference in mean achievement scores in favour of CMA students was observed. These data are reported elsewhere (see MakarimiKasim 2006). The second measure involved the analysis of content for incorrectness in essay question. Since this aspect is associated with organisation and activation of memory, therefore it is included in this study and is described in the following section. The Flow Map Technique To obtain evidence of how the students in the two different instructional groups organised their science knowledge that was attained from the classes on magnetism, a ow map technique was used (Anderson and Demetrius 1993). The students were asked to write an essay on magnetism before, immediately after, and 10 days after the intervention. The essays of those students who were able to write three or more discourse units were analysed using the ow map technique to detect the quality of students cognitive structures using dimensions cited in Table 3 and outcomes reported in Tables 5, 6, 7. An example of the procedures for the technique is shown in Fig. 1. Accuracy of the students content was evaluated by reading the discourse units and judging the scientic accuracy of each essay statement. Inter-coder reliability for different dimensions ranged from 0.87 to 0.99. The ow map analysis procedures are described below. The ow map was constructed by listing the written statements for each essay in the same order in which the

i.

Magnet (1) has 3 properties (2).

ii

Magnet (1) has two poles (3), north (4) and south (5) poles.

iii

A magnet(1) hanging (6) freely (7) will rest (8) in the north (4) and south (5) direction (9).

iv

Two magnets (1) will attract (10) each other when unlike (11) poles (3) meet, for example north(4) attract to south (5).

Two magnets(1) will repel(12) each other when like (13) poles meet, for example north (4) repel to north.

vi

Two magnets (1) repelling (12) each other is a test (14) for magnet.

Fig. 1 (a) The number of a discourse unit (written statement) is assigned as shown in the rst column (ivi), (b) the content-specic concepts are coded in each discourse unit, (c) linear links between successive discourse units are shown by vertical downward arrows, (d) complex network linkages are shown by recursive arrows, showing where previously uttered content-specic concepts are reintroduced in a new context and the initial statement (arrow head) where they rst appeared, and (e) the focal point(s) is shown by convergence of a majority of recursive arrows onto an initial statement

students presented them. Then the key elements (concepts) were identied and coded. The presence of linking concept elements was identied by the use of connecting arrows (serial or cross-linking) to identify successive discourse units (statements) where linking concepts appeared. Linear linkages (LL), represents the extent to which information is serially reconstructed from the memory. Complex linkages

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(CL) are networked linkages connecting each pair of statements where new ideas and earlier ones are connected that is reiterated within a new context. Focal points (FP) represent signicant nodes where there is a conuence of a majority of complex linkages pointing to them (e.g., statements (nodes) i and ii, Fig. 1). In this way, six basic (discourse units, concepts, linear linkages, complex linkages, and focal points), and one derived (association density) dimension (in total seven dimensions) of cognitive structure were analysed (e.g., Dhindsa and Anderson 2004). Figure 1 shows an example of narrative with six discourse units, 14 key elements, ve linear links, 14 complex links and two major focal points. Content accuracy data are not included in this gure. Readers should note that Anderson and Demetrius (1993) did not report linear links as a separate dimension as has been done in this study. It is believed that it may be possible for some students to reconstruct irrelevant information, thus producing the number of linear links that are not associated with content-relevant discourse units; therefore, this additional measure was included in this study. Analysis of Data Pre-, post- and delayed post-intervention data generated for each dimension were coded for analysis using an SPSS program. The data for TTA and CMA students were compared using an independent-sample t test. To quantify the differences in the mean scores between both groups and to determine whether the effectiveness of the treatment was of educational value, Cohens d effect size values were calculated. Cohens d has two advantages: (1) its growing popularity is making it the standard, thus its calculation enables immediate comparison with increasingly larger numbers of published studies and (2) Cohens suggestion that effect size of 0.20 is small, 0.50 is medium, and 0.80 is large, enables us to compare experimental effect size results form our study to known benchmarks (Cohen 1999). Using the same procedure, the data were analysed for gender differences.

Results and Discussion This section is divided into two parts: a comparison of (a) the CMA and TTA students perceptions of extent of constructivist teaching occurred in their classes, and (b) their cognitive structure. CMA and TTA Students Perceptions of Extent of Constructivist Teaching Occurred in Their Classes The mean, standard deviation, t- test analysis and effect size (ES) data for TTA and CMA groups are reported in Table 4 for the ve scales of the Constructivist Learning Environment instrument. The data in the Table show that the scale item mean values for uncertainty, critical voice, shared control and student negotiation scales were signicantly higher (p \ 0.01) with moderate to large (ES = 0.501.08) effect size values for the CMA compared to the TTA students. The signicantly higher mean value for the uncertainty scale for CMA students (p = 0.002, ES = 0.57) than that for TTA students, suggests that CMA students perceived that uses of magnets in the real world has changed overtime and people from different countries and cultures use them for different purposes. The signicantly higher mean perceived value for the critical voice scale (p \ 0.001, ES = 0.68) for CMA compared to TTA students suggests that they perceived that they had more opportunities for critical voice in their science lesson and they were more open and willing to express their critical opinion about the subject. We conclude that the group work environment provided them this opportunity. A signicantly higher shared control mean (p \ 0.001, ES = 1.24) of CMA students compared to TTA students suggests that the CMA students enjoyed opportunities for group participation in planning and assessing the learning topics on magnetism. Through the activities of sharing their ideas and challenging others ideas during planning and construction of group mind maps, students enjoyment during this learning experience might have been enhanced. Through a classroom

Table 4 CMA and TTA students perception of constructivist learning environment: post intervention data Scale CMA Mean SD Personal relevance Uncertainty Critical voice Shared control Student negotiation 2.94 0.48 2.92 0.63 2.49 0.60 2.32 0.58 2.92 0.60 TTA Mean SD 2.80 0.52 2.56 0.64 2.08 0.60 1.65 0.50 2.47 0.60 (CMA vs. TTA) t Value 1.53 3.16 3.84 6.83 4.21 p-Value 0.129 0.002** \0.001** \0.001** \0.001** ES 0.28 0.57 0.68 1.24 0.75

** p \ 0.01 [CMA (N = 63), TTA (N = 61)]

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J Sci Educ Technol (2011) 20:186200 Table 5 Pre-intervention data on seven dimensions of CMA and TTA students cognitive structures Variable Concepts Discourse units Linear links Complex links Association density Focal points Accuracy Group CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA Mean 9.88 8.80 4.73 4.85 3.73 3.85 7.27 8.00 0.61 0.64 0.42 0.55 1.04 1.10 SD 2.66 2.12 1.08 0.99 1.08 0.99 5.90 5.02 0.09 0.09 0.59 0.51 1.11 1.07 -0.19 0.851 0.05 -0.78 0.442 0.23 -0.96 0.341 0.33 -0.44 0.659 0.13 -0.39 -0.39 0.702 0.702 0.12 0.12 t Value 1.50 p-Value Effect size 0.44

atmosphere of shared control, the teacher appears to have fostered a sense of well-being among the students. Moreover, the higher level of student negotiation scale values for CMA students compared to the TTA students (p \ 0.001, ES = 0.75) suggests the students believed that there was ample opportunity for student negotiation during the process of creating the group mind map on magnets and electromagnets. The CMA students worked together during the process of selection of key elements including graphic material and concepts and their arrangement in the mind map. While doing all this, the students were apparently having fun and enjoying the creative aspect of these activities. However, the mean values on the Personal Relevance scale were not signicantly different. This might be due to the fact that both teachers, as reported by expert observations, attempted to relate the topic to students daily life; thus, both groups of students may have realized this to a comparable extent. Moreover, for this topic, it is easy to develop congruence between classroom teaching and daily life experience as students see many uses of magnets and electromagnets. These data, overall, show signicant differences in favour of CMA compared to TTA classes in terms of using this kind of CMA-based constructivist learning environment for teaching complex topics such as magnetism. These results suggest that the constructivistvisual mind map approach created a learning environment that was saliently discriminating from the traditional teaching approach. Cognitive Structure Data Using Flow Map Analyses Pre- and Post-intervention Data The pre-intervention results (Table 5) indicate that the two intervention groups were not statistically different on major indicator variables. Values for all the dimensions of cognitive structures were non-signicantly different for the two intervention groups. It implies that the cognitive structures of TTA and CMA groups were comparable to start with. The reader should also note that the information in the topic was novel for the students. Therefore, the number of students who were able to write three or more discourse units on topic prior to the intervention is smaller than the sample of the study. The initial comparable cognitive structures of both groups were expected because each group consisted of equal number of classes of similar ability students judged by their previous year annual examination results. The post-intervention data (Table 6) show statistically signicant higher mean values for all the dimensions for CMA compared to TTA students for the cognitive structure dimensions, except for accuracy. The effect size values in the range of (0.851.13) imply that

0.341

N for CMA 26; and for TTA 20

Table 6 Post-intervention data on seven dimensions of CMA and TTA students cognitive structures Variable Concepts Discourse units Linear links Complex links Association density Focal points Accuracy Group CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA Mean 19.19 11.86 7.71 5.00 6.71 4.00 30.95 8.86 0.73 0.64 1.29 0.57 0.27 0.57 SD 8.07 3.74 3.26 1.35 3.26 1.35 38.06 8.12 0.11 0.10 0.93 0.61 0.52 1.06 -1.81 0.075 0.37 4.63 \0.001 0.90 4.93 \0.001 0.85 5.82 4.34 \0.001 \0.001 1.05 0.90 5.82 \0.001 1.05 t Value 6.22 p-value \0.001 Effect size 1.13

N for CMA 59; and for TTA 49

these differences are large and are of educational value. The signicantly higher mean number of concepts for the CMA group suggests that the CMA students were able to mobilize and coherently report more concepts in their narratives, hence their cognitive structures were more robust than those of TTA students. A signicantly higher number of discourse units indicate that CMA students were also able to establish more relationships between the activated concepts than TTA students. The signicantly higher mean number of complex network links indicate that CMA

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students possess more coherently cross-linked information in their cognitive structures, i.e. the narrative statements were more interlinked by recursive references to concepts compared to that of TTA students. The larger amount of focal points in CMA student narratives suggests that the interlinking of concepts in CMA students cognitive structures was more thematically organised in relation to one or more focal statements. These results highlight that the quality of cognitive structures of CMA students was signicantly better than that of TTA students. However, there was no signicant difference in the accuracy of content (p [ 0.05) in the essays for the two groups, indicating that two groups were comparable in terms of their accuracy of understanding, within the limitations of the free-recall methods we used. Delayed Post-intervention: Cognitive Structures for CMA and TTA Students The means, standard deviation, t-test analysis and effects size data for the seven dimensions of CMA and TTA students cognitive structures analyzed after 10-days Delayed Post-intervention are reported in the Table 7. The signicantly higher mean values for concepts, discourse units, linear links and the complex links dimensions with low to medium effect size values (0.350.42) in favour of CMA students suggest that the cognitive structures of CMA students were still more robust and better organised than those of the TTA students. Although, the mean values for association density, focal points and incorrectness were not signicantly different. These results suggest that certain

effects of the CMA intervention were long lasting. It is interesting to note that after 10 days the number of complex network links has increased remarkably for both groups. This may be evidence of consolidation and a resulting memory stabilization effect. Gender Differences A comparison of pre-, post- and delayed post-intervention mean data for the dimensions of cognitive structures of male and female students in each of the TTA and CMS groups revealed statistically non-signicant difference in mean values for most of the comparisons except a few cases described below (Non-signicant data sets not reported). A statistically signicant higher result was obtained for females compared to males for: (a) mean accuracy value at pre-intervention (p = 0.043; ES = 1.07), and, (b) association density in post-intervention (p = 0.026; ES = 0.78). The females in the CMA group compared to their male counterparts included signicantly more concepts in their essays in pre- (p = 0.019; ES = 0.99) and delayed post-intervention (p = 0.022; ES = 0.62) analyses. These results indicate that gender differences for only four out of 42 (21 for each TTA and CMA) comparisons were statistically signicant, suggesting that males and females students in TTA or CMA were only marginally different. However at this stage it is not clear how the cognitive structures of the male as well as of the female students from TTA and CMA groups compared. These data are discussed in the following section.

Table 7 Delayed post-intervention data on seven dimensions of CMA and TTA students cognitive structures Variable Concepts Discourse units Linear links Complex links Association density Focal points Incorrectness Group CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA Mean 20.38 17.32 9.43 8.09 8.47 7.09 52.90 35.05 0.79 0.76 1.73 1.48 0.30 0.52 SD 7.65 6.95 4.26 3.19 4.28 3.19 57.12 37.57 0.10 0.11 1.39 1.18 0.62 0.83 -1.60 0.114 0.30 1.05 0.297 0.19 1.47 0.143 0.29 2.00 0.048* 0.37 1.97 0.051* 0.36 1.93 0.056* 0.35 t Value 2.25 p-Value 0.026* Effect size 0.42

Table 8 Male CMA and TTA students cognitive structure dimensions data for seven variables: post-intervention Variable Concepts Group Mean SD CMA TTA Discourse units CMA TTA Linear links Complex links Association density Focal points Incorrectness CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA 17.89 11.03 7.22 4.68 6.22 3.68 24.89 6.74 0.73 0.61 1.16 0.48 0.24 0.61 7.01 3.07 2.64 0.87 2.64 0.87 23.17 3.72 0.10 0.09 0.76 0.57 0.44 -1.88 1.02 0.068 0.49 4.08 \0.001* 1.00 4.64 \0.001* 1.26 4.70 \0.001* 1.05 5.51 \0.001* 1.25 5.51 \0.001* 1.25 t Value p-Value 5.37 Effect size

\0.001* 1.23

N for CMA 59; and for TTA 49

N for TTA = 31 and for CMA = 37

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The post-intervention data (Table 8) for the dimensions of cognitive structures of male students from the TTA and CMA groups showed the difference in mean values in favour of males from CMA group for six dimensions, except for incorrectness to be statistically signicant. These results suggest that the cognitive structures of males from the CMA group were more extensive in conceptual size than those from TTA group. Moreover, they were also more complex in terms of inter conceptual connections and thematically better organised as well. However, both groups were statistically comparable on accuracy of information despite the fact that the mean content accuracy for the CMA group (incorrectness; 0.24 0.44) was higher than for the TTA group (incorrectness; 0.61 1.02). Moreover, the differences in mean values for all the scales for pre- and delayed post-intervention conditions were statistically non-signicant. These data not included in this report. Similar results were obtained when dimensions of cognitive structures of female students from TTA and CMA groups were compared (Table 9). The only difference was that the females from CMA group compared to TTA group were able to mobilize a signicantly higher number of concepts under both pre- and delayed post-intervention conditions. However, the readers should note that the number of complex links in the delayed post-intervention data increased signicantly for both TTA and CMA groups. Moreover, pre- and delayed post-intervention data are not reported in this paper because most of the mean differences were not statistically signicant.

Conclusions, Implications and Future Research Directions How did the CMA and TTA Students Perceptions of Constructivist Learning Environment in Their Classes Compare? The analysis of the post-intervention data for the ve scales of constructivist learning environment questionnaire revealed that the differences in mean values for four out of ve possible comparisons (except for personal relevance) were statistically signicant and all these signicant differences were in favour of CMA students. These results suggest that the mean values for uncertainty, critical voice, shared control and student negotiation scales were signicantly higher (p \ 0.01) with moderate to large (0.501.08) effect size values favouring the CMA students. It suggests that the CMA students were more open and willing to express critical opinions towards the subject while doing the group mind map work. The CMA students were also involved in negotiations, and sharing control to a greater extent than those of TTA students. These are the elements thought to be important in constructivist conceptual change strategies. These results are further supported by the classroom observation data reported by two independent observers and a researcher, indicating that the two groups were taught differently, in which CMA teaching involved more elements of constructivism than that of traditional teachingoverall lending credence to the conclusion that the CMA students classroom environment was more constructivist compared to that of their TTA counterparts. How did the Quality of Cognitive Structures of CMA and TTA Students Compare? Initially, prior to the interventions, a non-signicance in the mean values for the cognitive structure data for TTA and CMA students indicated that their cognitive structures were comparable to start with. A comparison of CMA and TTA students of post-intervention mean data suggested that the mean values for six out of seven dimensions of cognitive structures were signicantly higher (p \ 0.05) in favour of CMA. These dimensions were: number of discourse units, concepts, linear links, complex network linkages, focal points and association density. The effect size values (0.511.13) suggest that the differences were large enough to be considered of practical educational value. Moreover, these differences continued to exist in delayed postintervention data for four scales. These results suggest that the cognitive structures of CMA students were more extensive or robust, and better interconnected and more thematically organised. Hence, the quality of cognitive structures of CMA students was decidedly superior to those of TTA students.

Table 9 Females CMA and TTA students cognitive structure dimensions data for seven variables: post-intervention Variable Concepts Discourse units Linear links Complex links Association density Focal points Incorrectness Group CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA CMA TTA Mean 21.36 13.28 8.55 5.56 7.55 4.56 41.14 12.50 0.75 0.68 1.50 0.72 0.32 0.50 SD 9.37 4.42 4.03 1.82 4.03 1.82 53.91 11.81 0.11 0.09 1.14 0.67 0.65 1.15 -0.63 0.532 0.20 2.55 0.015* 0.81 2.19 0.035* 0.69 2.42 0.024* 0.70 3.11 0.004* 0.92 3.11 0.004* 0.92 t Value 3.59 p-Value 0.001* Effect size 1.07

N for TTA = 22 and for CMA = 18

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How did the Quality of Cognitive Structures of Male and Female Students in CMA as Well as in TTA Groups Compare? The differences in mean values for the dimensions of cognitive structure for the male and female TTA (as well as for the male and female CMA) students were found to be statistically non-signicant. These results suggest that the cognitive structures for the male and female students in each of the two groups (CMA or TTA) were comparable. Based on these results, we conclude that there was no relationship between gender and the dimensions used to assess cognitive structures for the two groups. However, the analysis of post-intervention male data suggest that the differences mean values for six out of seven (except for incorrectness) dimensions of cognitive structures for male CMA and TTA students were statistically signicant (p \ 0.000), all in favour of the CMA group. These dimensions include discourse unit, concepts, linear links, complex linkages, focal points and association density. The effect size values (1.001.26) suggest that the differences were large and hence they are of educational value. These results suggest that the cognitive structures of the male CMA students were better organised than that of male TTA students. These dimensions suggest that the cognitive structures of male CMA students were more substantial, and, better interconnected and arranged in themes. Similarly, the analysis of post-intervention mean female data suggest that the mean values for the discourse unit, concepts, linear links, complex linkages, focal points and association density dimensions of cognitive structures for female CMA compared to female TTA students were significantly higher (p \ 0.05). The effect size values (0.690.81) indicate that the differences were medium to large and hence were of educational value. The mean incorrectness values both groups were comparable despite the value being lower for CMA students. These results suggest that the cognitive structures of female CMA compared to female TTA students were more extensive, better interconnected and also arranged in themes. Hence the quality of cognitive structures of male and female CMA students was far superior to than their counterpart in TTA group. Implications and Future Research Directions The results of this study revealed that a package consisting of the use of the mind mapping teaching technique in a constructivist teaching environment signicantly improved information organisation in students cognitive structures when these gains were compared to those in a classroom where traditional teaching style was used. These results are comparable to those reported in studies that used interactive white board technology in a constructivist learning

environment, where signicant improvements were found in achievement and knowledge organisation for students taught using this combination compared to those taught in a traditional teaching style (Dhindsa and Emran 2006; Sharizal 2005). On the other hand, research studies that used either technology or a constructivist learning environment alone indicated little or no signicant affect on students achievement when researchers used (a) only power point technology to teach in a traditional teaching learning environment (Jabaidah 2002; Mohd-Zamri 2004) or (b) a constructivist approach for short durations (Khairol 2004). The latter is of interest by comparison to other studies that used long duration interventions and have reported signicant improvements in achievement scores (Hewson and Hewson 1983; Li 2001). These studies, however, did not evaluate the students knowledge organisation and this variable may be of signicance because it has been shown to be related to greater gains in higher order knowledge recall and higher scores on critical and scientic thinking measures (e.g., Anderson et al. 2001; Anderson 2009a, b; Tsai 1998). Thus far, a substantial amount of prior published research has been devoted to studying the impact of single-variable interventions in a classroom situation. However, teachers do not use one methodology/aspect in their classes. Moreover the impact of these particular variables may change when they are used in different learning environments. Therefore, it is important that researchers study the impact of more than one teaching technique in a packaged format that teachers can use to improve student learning outcomes. This is one of the reasons that we have chosen to examine the use of several coherent variables including mind mapping, power point technology, and constructivist strategies in our experimental intervention. According to Laight (2004), learning strategies that encourage active learning should be used more widely, particularly emphasizing the merits of mind maps as part of a larger package of student-centered approaches. We have attempted to capitalize on this rationale in our suite of variables used in the CMA intervention. The results of this study show a substantial increase in complex links for the delayed post-intervention condition. This appears to a case of consolidation and memory stabilization over time. But further research in this area is warranted, particularly to determine if the results of this study can be replicated. One of the major implications of this study is that assessment activities that involve free recall immediately after a lesson presentation might yield evidence of less networking of information than assessments at a later time. Teachers may want to take this into account when they are using free recall to evaluate students understandings and arrange to include delayed measures as well, thus checking for possible memory

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reorganisation and stabilization over time. Moreover, more research in this area of latent, or potential, gains in knowledge structure as a function of post-learning time may be productive to determine the optimum time interval for enhancing these stabilizing effects. Benyahia (2005) has incorporated mind maps in a difcult course that is often associated with information overload, and has successfully assisted students to move away from supercial surface learning towards a deeper approach to learning. The author believed that higher-order thinking skills would only be possible if the learners cognitive structure is of high quality. The results of our study support this supposition, namely the quality of the CMA students cognitive structures was better than those of the TTA students. The CMA students were able to recall more concepts correctly during the reconstruction of knowledge, which appears to explain the signicant difference in the achievement of these students (see Makarimi-Kasim 2006). We also conclude that the quality of information organisation in students cognitive structures may help them to reconstruct correct information quickly and to answer questions during examinations more accurately and in some cases more creatively. Thus the constructivist-visual mind map teaching approach may enhance student academic performance more broadly. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers use this approach in their classes not only to help students achieve higher grades in lower secondary science but also to help them organise their knowledge better for application to solving problems in daily life. One of the challenges in education is achieving gender equity in a classroom situation. Bruneian culture limits inter-gender mixing in school age populations, therefore males and females sit in different rows (Makarimi-Kasim 2006). Moreover, there is strong impetus for intra-gender than inter-gender communication among the students (Salwana 2005). These situations do not favour gender equity (Tobin and Gallagher 1987) and make the classroom environment less conducive for learning. Sharizal (2005) suggested that, although the culture limits the free mixing of opposite genders, the Bruneian culture will accept such mixing in presence of an adult, such as a teacher. In our study, the seating arrangement in CMA classes was different from that in TTA classes. The seating arrangement in CMA classes improved inter-gender communication and discussion during collaborative work under the teachers supervision; whereas in TTA classes, intra-gender communication was encouraged and the size of groups during discussion was variable but large. Therefore, it is recommended that teachers use something akin to the CMA approach to achieve gender equity in their classes. More research on the effects of inter-gender mixing, especially during constructivist classroom discussion, on the students achievement is further recommended.

Appendix 1 See Table 10.

Table 10 Detailed stages of intervention Lesson 1st lesson on Magnetism Stage Stage 1 (20 min) Introduction (Practical Approach): CMA students in their respective groups. Start lesson with ice-breaking group activities such as experiment on magnetic materials and non magnetic materials or make a simple magnet using a steel pin and a magnet Stage 2 (30 min) Students in their groups: (a) Taught new information about uses of magnets using PowerPoint that emphasize on important concepts/keywords in preparing Group Mind Map (GMM) (b) Discussion, planning and constructing GMM of new information Stage 3 (10 min) (1) Reviewing the Teachers Mind Map (TMM) and GMM (2) Preparing Individual Mind Map (IMM) by each member of the group as homework Second and subsequent lessons on Magnetism Stage 1 (5 min) Submit homework. Revision of previous lesson: Group questioning initiated by the leader Questions post on the screen Recheck with mind map Repetition of stages 2 & 3 from 1st lesson First lesson on magnetism. The above tabulated information shows that the rst lesson on magnetism was divided into three stages. The rst stage CMA students were given an ice-breaking group activity to create teamwork amongst members of the group. Second stage, the teacher taught the topic magnetism using the PowerPoint presentation. The teacher highlights the important concepts/keywords that the CMA students will use to prepare GMM. Once the teacher presentation is over, each group was asked to construct their own GMM. Later in the third stage the students compared their GMM with the teachers mind map (TMM). The lesson ended with a discussion on how to construct IMM as homework to be submitted in the next lesson Second and subsequent lessons on magnetism. The next lesson started with the checking of homework for any difculties faced by the students. The previous lesson was then revised using GMM. The lesson then continued following the second and third stages from the rst lesson. The unique part of the subsequent lessons on magnetism was that the previous homework in each submission grew in size in the form of IMM as all the information from the rst lesson of magnetism until the end of the subsequent lessons was included in it. Moreover, at the end of the topic each CMA student had reconstructed their own version of the complete IMM on the topic magnetism in one or two pieces of A3 paper

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Appendix 2 See Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Examples of student generated group and topic mind maps on magnetism

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