Concept Maps

CONCEPT MAPS

Students sometimes view biochemistry as a list of facts or equations to be memorized, rather than a body of concepts to be understood. Details provided to enrich understanding of these concepts inadvertently turn into distractions. What seems to be missing is a road map—a guide that provides the student with an understanding of how various topics fit together to make sense. Therefore, a series of biochemical concept maps have been created to graphically illustrate relationships between ideas presented in a chapter and to show how the information can be grouped or organized. A concept map is, thus, a tool for visualizing the connections between concepts. Material is represented in a hierarchic fashion, with the most inclusive, most general concepts at the top of the map and the more specific, less general concepts arranged beneath. The concept maps ideally function as templates or guides for organizing information, so the student can readily find the best ways to integrate new information into knowledge they already possess.

Figure 1.13 Symbols used in concept maps.

Figure 1.14 Key concept map for amino acids.

A. How is a concept map constructed?

1.Concept boxes and links: Educators define concepts as “perceived regularities in events or objects.” In the biochemical maps, concepts include abstractions (for example, free energy), processes (for example, oxidative phosphorylation), and compounds (for example, glucose 6-phosphate). These broadly defined concepts are prioritized with the central idea positioned at the top of the page. The concepts that follow from this central idea are then drawn in boxes (Figure 1.13A). The size of the type indicates the relative importance of each idea. Lines are drawn between concept boxes to show which are related. The label on the line defines the relationship between two concepts, so that it reads as a valid statement, that is, the connection creates meaning. The lines with arrowheads indicate in which direction the connection should be read (Figure 1.14).

2. Cross-links: Unlike linear flow charts or outlines, concept maps may contain cross-links that allow the reader to visualize complex relationships between ideas represented in different parts of the map (Figure 1.13B), or between the map and other chapters in this book (Figure 1.13C). Cross-links can, thus, identify concepts that are central to more than one topic in biochemistry, empowering students to be effective in clinical situations and on the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE) or other examinations that require integration of material. Students learn to visually perceive nonlinear relationships between facts, in contrast to cross-referencing within linear text.