Using the method of mind mapping in the Institute of Education and Communication of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague

The need to find a method of a logical and systematic arrangement of information arises from the long-term experience of the educational staff of the Institute of Education and Communication (“IEC”). A certain group of students, practice training teachers in particular, prepare for consultations by learning the whole passages of the respective textbooks or electronic support by heart. The knowledge acquired in this way is not very long-lasting and in practice it is almost inapplicable. There is no context with other topics, no systematic knowledge of basic concepts and in the subject matter learned in this way, the students are not able to trace for instance the hierarchy of the concepts used. The method that may help solve this problem is mind mapping. Mind maps represent a specific way of taking notes allowing to capture clearly the structure of the problem to be solved both in terms of individual elements of the structure and their mutual links. The author of the method of mind mapping is a Canadian psychologist Tony Buzan. In his statement: “A mind map is the most powerful organizational tool of our brain”, he expresses the findings of his long-term study of the function of the brain. In his view, mind maps respect the natural qualities of our mind