A comparison of two ways to map a reading text together found a clear advantage for the guided approach.
When classes moved online, the hardest part was not delivering the material. It was keeping the discussion alive. Group work that once happened naturally around a table had to be rebuilt inside a browser window, and the tools had to carry the interaction that a room used to provide.
A concept map turns a text into nodes and labelled links, so students can see how the ideas fit together. Doing that in pairs adds another layer, because partners must agree on what connects to what. The authors built an online system where two students work on the same map at the same time, in real time.
The experiment compared two collaborative strategies with graduate students working in pairs. Everyone read the same material and took the same tests, so only the mapping method differed.
Comprehension improved in both groups, which is expected from any serious study session. The interesting part is the gap between them. On the test taken after the mapping activity, the Kit-Build pairs scored significantly higher than the open ended pairs.
The authors also asked about how the pairs managed their own collaboration, using a shared metacognition questionnaire. Here the Kit-Build method again came out ahead, with students reporting that they could monitor and manage their joint work more easily than with open ended mapping.
The conclusion is direct. For distance learning, the authors recommend Kit-Build concept map as the collaborative strategy, because the supplied components remove the uncertainty of where to start while leaving the reasoning to the students.
Pinandito, A., et al. (2021). Efficient Online Collaborative Learning Through Concept Mapping with Kit-Build Concept Map. 6th International Conference on Sustainable Information Engineering and Technology.
