Many thanks for the information about Novak and Gowin's book, and also for
the lead on C-Map.
>I am wondering what you plan to do with concept mapping in a Japanese
context? (I once >taught at Nanzan University in Nagoya.)
An excellent university! I want to use concept mapping in a number of ways.
One way is to use it as a framework for forming elements that are elicited
by a group. These can (hopefully) be used in a general repertory grid which
can be used with group member in order to study a number of issues
(cross-cultural views on pedagogy, for example). Perhaps it can be also
used as a focus instrument in Action Research, which you probably already
know is the use of ethnographic, short-term research projects aimed at
solving some sort of perceived problem in the classroom. Finally, I believe
at this moment that perhaps concept mapping and repertory grid techniques
might be used in Cooperative Development (CD), which is a group counselling
discipline currently being used among language teachers. A number of
cross-cultural tensions have surfaced in the last several years with the
increasing number of younger English teachers coming to Japan to "team
teach" with native Japanese English language teachers. I hope that the
conservative use of a number of these techiques and research instruments
might help facilitate cross-cultural understanding in the language classroom.
But before I can do that, I need to start reading up on the subject, and
experiment with the software. Again, many thanks for your help!
Greg.
Home Address:
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