Using Mind Maps for the pre and post-assessment of students’ learning is a practical and transparent form of measuring topic adoption, enjoyed by students and teachers alike. In this article, we take a look at the benefits of using Mind Maps for pre and post-assessment and how you can best apply this powerful creative thinking and organizational tool to this process.
Mind Mapping is a visual interpretation of your thoughts and ideas, arranged around a central topic or theme. It is used in thousands of schools, universities and colleges worldwide to aid comprehension, memory, creativity and innovation. Mind Mapping is commonly used in education as it allows students the freedom to interpret topics in their own way and make their own connections between ideas. The use of images, colors and keywords also ensure that students commit the information they Mind Map to memory, making it ideal to be used in assessment.
Mind Mapping is a great tool for assessment of students’ pre and post-learning to accurately gauge the knowledge they have absorbed. Essentially, students make a Mind Map before and after they have been taught a particular topic to determine what has been learned. This is an effective assessment of topic adoption. Mind Maps allow students to interpret and express ideas metaphorically, and as a method of assessment, it does not rely on your students’ language levels. Therefore, this gives a more accurate picture of the knowledge they have amassed. Plus, it allows students to display their contextual knowledge and requires deeper insight, as they make connections between topics and subsequent sub-topics.
The understanding measured by using Mind Mapping for assessment is transparent and realistic, based on actual knowledge learned rather than language or written skills. More importantly, unlike traditional assessments, students actually enjoy the process!
Mind Mapping for pre and post-assessment is suitable for a whole range of students as it encompasses a variety of techniques that can be adapted to suit any preferred style of learning. For visual and kinaesthetic learners, it makes it easier to express their ideas in a non-linear, colorful and image-filled way. It is particularly helpful for dyslexic students, who can find taking assessments via traditional methods frustrating and even demoralizing, as this is often based solely upon language levels. However, using Mind Mapping for assessments is also stimulating for students who prefer more traditional styles of learning, as Mind Mapping does not place a pre-defined ‘ceiling’ on how far they can take an exercise or how much knowledge they can display.
There are two ways in which you can practically apply Mind Mapping to pre and post-assessments. The first is for older or more able students to try:
The second application of Mind Mapping for pre and post-assessment is more suitable for younger students, or less able pupils:
Ayoa offers powerful and dynamic Mind Mapping features that can be used for pre and post-assessment. For example, if you want to turn your Mind Maps into templates for your students, the process couldn’t be easier – simply head to your Mind Map settings to save it as a template to reuse again and again.
In the post-assessment exercise, your students can attach files, documents and web links, as well as audio and video files onto their Map to further display their knowledge. For coursework purposes, students can export their self-assessment Maps as a PDF to showcase their work. Plus, younger students will love that they can print their assessment Maps off to use as study posters.
Younger students will love using the variety of colors, Central Idea stickers and branch styles in Ayoa’s Mind Maps, as this will capture their imagination for the group task. You can also use a variety of images from the Unsplash image library for the ‘restructuring the Map’ assessment – making life easy!
Visit our Mind Mapping for Education page to discover how you and your students can make the most out of Ayoa during your studies and teaching. Along with our basic, free plan, we also provide a 35% discount off our paid plans, so your students can unlock their greatest potential. Learn more about Mind Mapping in Ayoa here and get started for FREE today.
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