What is the real secret to passing exams? Understanding the importance of how all the concepts are interconnected, enabling you to piece information together to find a solution. This can be achieved through active recall and connection based learning.
Why is reading lecture notes and textbooks over and over not sufficient? These passive study methods only do so much for piecing together ideas. Instead they serve as a guideline, providing a series of concepts to be familiar with. It is important to know and understand these concepts, but being able to recall how they all intertwine will often provide you with information that is not explicitly stated in an exam question, allowing you tos solve any unfamiliar problem.
Note: This thought process and study method is catered towards subjects focused on problem solving, such as math, physics, and engineering.
What is the Concept Map 2.0?
One method I have been utilizing to facilitate the process of understanding connected concepts is what I’m going to call the Concept Map 2.0. Let me explain the overall idea of this method, and then I will follow with some more details and helpful tips for getting the most out of the Concept Map 2.0.
- First you will create a concept map, which is a visual representation of ideas and their relationships, often using boxes or circles connected by arrows or lines
- Next, you will print this map large enough (more on how to do this using a basic printer below) that it can be read from a short distance away, and post it up in a central location
- As you prepare for your exam by doing past exams, previous homeworks, practice exercises, etc., when you get a question wrong, jot down the overall idea to solve the question that you failed to recognize
- Write this on a sticky note or write directly on your concept map, bridging the gap in your knowledge that you previously had. Repeat this step over and over until you aren’t getting any questions wrong!
- Try to recreate your new mind map without looking and see how much you can remember!
How Do I Make the Most out of the Concept Map 2.0?
To start, create a general concept map linking together ideas for the subject you are studying. You should have one or two central ideas, with several other pieces of information that link back to these main ideas or branch off of each other. Keep it simple, it doesn’t have to look perfect or have every idea. If you forget something you can add it later! There are two important advisories I have when it comes to creating your concept map.
- Involve active recall here by creating the concept map without looking at any outside material. Once you can’t think of anything else, then consult your notes, homework, and textbook to fill in the gaps.
- You should understand the things you are writing about, and why they link to each other. Information that makes sense to you is easier to memorize.
Here is what my concept map looked like when I was finished:
You can create this map on a big poster, or you can draw it on a tablet or laptop. If you created yours digitally, you can use Adobe Acrobat (free) to print it poster sized.
Open your file in Adobe Acrobat and click Print. Then under Page Sizing and Handling, select poster. Increase the tile scale from 100%. I chose 250% which I determined would fit well in my space. This will print your concept map across several sheets of paper in order to create a bigger image!
Then, post your concept map in a location that you will past by frequently. I chose the closet door, which is readable from my bed. Repeatedly seeing these ideas connected and trying to understand why they are connected introduces spaced repetition, which helps reduce the forgetting curve.
Time for everyone’s least favorite part (the part that requires the most effort). You need to practice solving problems. Solving problems is a skill in itself. Recalling the connections between ideas is what you are trying to train your brain to do in preparation for the exam.
If you are unable to solve a question correctly, write down the missing connection that you failed to recognize that would have helped you solve the question. You can write this on a sticky note and add it to your concept map or you can write directly on the poster. This will help you learn from your mistake and grow your knowledge of interweaving concepts! You will be surprised by how much different concepts can lend themselves to each other.
After lots of practice and adding to your concept map, try to rewrite it without looking and see how much you can recall. (Once again practicing that active recall and connection based learning!)
Hopefully you enjoy this fun spin on a basic concept map that utilizes active recall and connection based learning to effectively teach your brain how to answer questions! If you have any remarks or fun ideas on how to elevate this study method, please leave a comment below.
Good luck in your learning!
