Mapping as a learning strategy in health professions education: a critical analysis

Context: Mapping is a means of representing knowledge in a visual network that is becoming more commonly used as a learning strategy in medical education. The driving hypothesis behind the development and use of concept mapping is the assumption that it supports and furthers meaningful learning. Purpose: The goal of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of concept mapping as a learning strategy in health professions education. Methods: The authors conducted a critical analysis of recent literature regarding the use of concept mapping as a learning strategy in the area of health professions education. Results: Among the 65 articles identified, 63% were classified as empirical work, with the majority (75.6%) of these being pre-experimental designs. Only 24.3% of empirical articles assessed the impact of mapping on meaningful learning. Results of the analysis do not support the hypothesis that mapping per se furthers and supports meaningful learning, memorization, or factual recall. When documented improvements in learning were found, it was often when mapping was used in concert with other strategies, such as collaborative learning or instructor modeling, scaffolding and feedback. Conclusion: Current empirical research on mapping as a learning strategy presents methodological shortcomings that limit its internal and external validity. The results of our analysis indicate that mapping strategies that make use of feedback and scaffolding have beneficial effects on learning. Accordingly, we see a need to expand the reflection process on the characteristics of the representational guidance of mapping techniques and tools based on field of knowledge, instructional objectives, and characteristics of learners in health professions education