The use of concept maps in Computer Engineering education to promote meaningful learning, creativity and collaboration

Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. The fundamentals of concept mapping are in Ausubel's learning theory which is based on the assumption that meaningful learning occurs when the new concepts are linked to familiar concepts existing in the learner's cognitive structure. Creativity can be seen as a very high level of meaningful learning. Database Principles is a compulsory subject studied in the second year of the Computer Engineering degree at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. The study presented in the paper was designed pursuing a twofold goal: (1) to introduce engineering students the Concept Mapping technique as a way to promote meaningful learning, and (2) to involve engineering students in both a creative and collaborative learning experience using concept maps. Final exam marks showed significant statistical differences among the experimental group and the control group. In addition, participants admitted that the use of the concept mapping technique to fulfill the objectives of this study is applicable to other domains, situations and problems.