Mind Maps: A Learning Tool

Similar to a road map, a mind map illustrates the connections between different ideas and provides a broad view of the information to be represented or remembered. In order to be effective, a mind map must provide a clear hierarchical structure that enables the user to visualize the core ideas of a topic and their interrelationships. Here are the main elements of a mind map:

• A title
• A central topic (symbolized by a term, image or illustration placed in the middle of the page)
• The main ideas (arranged around the topic)
• The secondary ideas (also called branches)
• Visuals (images, drawings, pictograms, etc.) and keywords (these are not essential, but they do help reinforce the important concepts)
• Etc. 

The process of building a mind map can be broken down into a few steps, which you can explain and model to your students:

1. If you haven’t already done so, start by asking a research question. Your students can help come up with a question by brainstorming the topic together to identify the most useful keywords as well as the main and secondary ideas. 
2. Place the research question or central idea in the middle of the mind map network to help guide the reflection process.
3. Spark discussion by asking questions on different aspects of the topic: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? How many?
4. Place the main ideas around the central idea, forming the branches of the network. Two or more ideas can be connected by adding linking words, such as verbs.
5. Add keywords, images, or short sentences to these branches during the reflection process.
6. Add secondary ideas (branches) for nuance or to flesh out an idea.
7. Draw or insert an image in the centre of the map to illustrate the theme. 
8. Generate and link new ideas together as needed, organizing the network structure as you go along.

Here are a few more tips for your students:

• Adapt the complexity of the mind map to your needs while avoiding unneeded information.
• If the branches of the mind map represent steps to be followed, you must be able to read them in the right order. They can flow in a clockwise direction or be organized as a two-part structure: first on the right, then on the left.
• Make sure the network is clear and evident, and avoid overloading the map. Furthermore, choose colours that are easy to interpret, relevant images, and a design that is aesthetically appealing.

Using mind maps in the classroom or as a tool to structure the studying process can help with the following:

• Activation of prior subject knowledge
• Hierarchical representation of ideas and reflective thinking 
• Memorization, thanks to its visual and heuristic elements
• Development of intellectual operations:
  • Establishing facts
  • Situating an element in space and time
  • Establishing connections between facts
  • Identifying differences and similarities between elements
  • Determining cause and effect
  • Establishing causal connections
  • Determining changes and continuities
• Motivation, by placing the student at the centre of the learning process 
• Reinvestment of the applied skills in other contexts: note taking, memorization methods, summarizing, etc. 
• Class discussion and cooperation, by sharing a point of view on a subject in the form of a graphic analysis
• Etc.

Here are a few ideas for using mind maps in the classroom in combination with Alloprof resources:

• English Language Arts and French
  • Build the narrative outline of a chosen literary work, including all steps in the structure.  
  • Diagram the grammar rules, vocabulary words, or expressions being studied in class. 
  • Represent a current event on an infographic.
• Mathematics
  • List the characteristics of a cube and give examples from everyday life.
  • Represent the relationships between the various geometric formulas of plane figures. 
• Social Sciences
  • Illustrate the relationships between the characteristics and organization of a tourist region.
  • Represent Earth’s main climates along with their characteristics.
  • Trace the causes and consequences of an historical event or connections between different periods and movements.
• Science and Technology
  • Illustrate the process of respiration in plants. 
  • Map human body systems, species classifications, or life cycles.
  • Connect the concepts of ecosystems, habitat, and food chains. 
  • Explain the differences between animal and plant cells.
  • Diagram the pH scale with examples of acids and bases.