Concept maps: a tool to assess student knowledge

Students are often expected to make connections among the concepts taught in a course, and among topics taught across the courses in the curriculum. Teachers are sometimes disappointed when students have not made the connections for themselves. Concept maps are tools that can help students make and understand connections among concepts. A concept map is a node and are diagram that represents a person's understanding of the relationships among concepts. Here, the author presents a concept map that a student may construct to represent how the courses they take as a freshman can help them become an effective engineer. Such concept maps can also be used as an effective tool to elicit a student's understanding of a topic both before and after instruction.