Journal 6

“Mapping Student Minds” by Ariel Owen

Owen talks about the use of causal mapping in her sixth grade science class. She specifically uses this technology to illustrate to her students the cause and effect relationships in Pine Creek but this way of imagining data is possible and beneficial in many other student studies. As part of this assignment, Owen uses a Palm Pilot in order to directly download student data and minimize any data input errors that may occur if the data were manually entered at a later time. Owen discusses the way that causal mapping helps students that are at various levels of understanding and ability. It is a somewhat free form expression of understanding in which students can go as deep as they like in thinking about the interrelationships in the data collected.

Do you think causal mapping is an effective tool for teaching?

This kind of technology is extremely effective because it promotes deep thought on data gathered by students, particularly in the way that Owen implements this practice. By taking the students on a field trip first and exposing them to the reality of what they are analyzing, it peaks the interest of the students from the start. She makes this activity something more than an abstract problem in a book. Moving from the real to the abstract, the students are able to apply the information they have gathered in a visual way and think about the relationships and issues in a deeper level.

Does causal mapping address the needs of most learning styles?

I think it does because it is both visual and tactile in that the students have a visual diagram of their thought process and they are actively and physically creating the connections. Auditory learning is also present in this process because the students and teacher are actively discussing their thought processes and the outcome of the project in general.