[Photo by Curtis MacNewton on Unsplash]
In this assignment, I would like to explore the contribution of Joseph Novak to the field of Educational Technology.
Joseph Novak (1930-) is a foundational author in the field of concept mapping – a knowledge representation tool. He has developed theoretical foundations for concept mapping in the 1970s at the Cornell University (currently Novak is a professor emeritus there) and has widely published and presented on the different applications of concept mapping in education (knowledge assessment, knowledge construction and representation, meaningful learning, and more). As a Senior Research Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), Joseph Novak has facilitated the development of the Cmap tool, which has been widely used in academic settings for a wide range of applications.
Novak has based his research on constructivism theory and Ausubel’s theory of learning, which is developed based on student’s acquisition of new concepts through meaningful learning, rather than just memorizing. Work developed by Joseph Novak has laid the foundations for the development of mind mapping by such authors as Tony Buzan.
I have chosen to focus my attention on this author due to my interest in the field of concept mapping and its application in information literacy instruction. Even though concept mapping has been partially used in information literacy (such as pre- and post-searching, assessment of students’ information literacy skills), I am particularly interested in using concept mapping as a teaching tool for information literacy instruction for the development of critical thinking skills. Because a concept map has the potential to provide authentic and meaningful learning, it can facilitate productive searching and critical thinking techniques and contribute to knowledge construction in Higher Education.
This is an interactive concept map about theoretical foundations and the use of concept mapping. In order to access the full interactive content (videos, articles, and related concept maps) of this concept map, click here.
Additional resources:
Novak, J., & Gowin, D. (1984). Learning how to learn. Cambridge Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press.
This is a foundational book by Novak, which contains theoretical foundations of concept mapping. Available here from the RRU library.
Cmap tool: https://cmap.ihmc.us/ This link includes free download for Windows, OS X, Linux and Ipad App.
Foundational articles and videos on the concept mapping and how to teach it to students: https://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/learn.php
Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas (2008). The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/pdf/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf
Bibliographic note and publications by Joseph Novak: https://www.ihmc.us/groups/jnovak/
“Key Ideas Underlying Concept Maps And How They Can Be Used”, short video by Joseph Novak
Research Publications on CmapTools & Concept Mapping: http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/research-publications.php
Novak’s autobiography “A Search to Create a Science of Education: The Life of an Ivy League Professor, Business Consultant, and Research Scientist”: https://www.ihmc.us/files/JNovak-ASearchToCreateAScienceOfEducation.pdf (Also narrated in two videos here and here).