Subject Matter Problem-solving and Concept Mapping
The Interactive Multi-Media Exercises synthesizes creative problem-solving tasks in different subject topics at different grade levels...
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The Interactive Multi-Media Exercises synthesizes creative problem-solving tasks in different subject topics at different grade levels. Complementary software plots the concept-mapping of students onto a system of rubrics and performance outcomes.
The major advantage of this online system is that data about building concepts for an entire class can be aggregated, displayed and charted for progress.
While the topics, such as Desperately Seeking Solutions, may be creative and motivational for students, this system summarizes a great amount of data which would be tedious, if not impossible, for a single teacher to mine on an individual student or class protocol for an entire school year, say. In that regard, this project could be categorized alongside online student notebooks, such as CSILE, in which cognitive development is also made explicit.
CTOOLS offers cognitive mapping techniques for organizing knowledge.
Some recently developed models of thinking rely upon visualization so students can replicate how experts conceptualize a challenge. Making Learning Visible also stresses collaboration.
Intel's Teach to the Future provides many activities, including ranking conclusions, reasoning about cause and effect, and showing evidence, for concept mapping.
Annotation
IMMEX has been developed over many years and attacks a major challenge in understanding students' progress--what are they thinking with regard to a topic and is their thinking becoming more refined over time?
The developers would prefer that this system is used frequently but in the librarian's view it should be treated like a digital portfolio--implemented 2 or 3 times a year. While the software promotes complex compilation, it is still time-consuming.
