The Effect of using concept maps to improve the level of academic achievement of students at the basic stage in Jordan (Published)
This study aimed at assessing the impact of conceptual maps on academic achievement in Islamic education for fifth-grade primary students at Fatima Al-Zahraa Elementary School in Ghour Al-Safi. The sample of this study consisted of two groups, each of which equals (21) students (experimental and controlling). The concept maps required for teaching Islamic education were constructed using the “concept maps” method, while the same content was taught to the control group by the traditional lecture method. The two study groups were pre-tested, and after a two-month teaching period they continued for two months. The two study groups were tested post-test. The results of the study showed that the achievement of the experimental group students was better than the achievement of the control group, and with statistical significance, how the study results showed that the method of concept maps can benefit students who are scholastic, and students who are less distinguished equally.
Keywords: Academic Achievement, Students, concept maps, improve
IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION BY USING COMPUTER-BASED CONCEPT MAPS: A CASE STUDY OF ESP STUDENTS AT UMM-ALQURA UNIVERSITY (Published)
This study aims to investigate the impact of using a computer-based concept mapping technique on a group of pre-medical Saudi students’ reading comprehension. These students were registered for an ESP course during the second term of the academic year 2013-14.Twenty-five male subjects were engaged in this experiment which lasted for seven weeks. Participants completed a five-week training period on how to manipulate CMapTools software to generate concept maps to aid their reading comprehension. The findings indicate that using computer-generated concept maps as a learning strategy has a positive impact on students’ reading comprehension level. It is found the students’ mean score in a reading comprehension test has increased from (11.04) to reach (15.64) after they have completed their five-week training period to restructure their reading texts. The students have also shown very positive views towards this technique and report that it has made their reading process more tangible and interesting. They even claim the possibility of using this technique to facilitate learning other language skills and not only reading. These results verify the efficacy of this technique and the researcher recommends its application in Saudi institutions.
Keywords: MapTool., Reading Comprehension, background knowledge, cognitive load, concept maps