Utilization of concept maps in teaching leadership

Abstract The process of leadership is a complex phenomenon that is difficult for beginning leadership students to express and even harder for them to define. Concept maps are an advantageous pedogological activity for instructors to employ in leadership education. Concept maps provide a pictorial representation of students' mental models of leadership, and can be used to show the change and growth in those mental models. Introduction The process of leadership is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to define (Bass, 1990; Yukl, 1994; Northouse, 2007) especially for beginning leadership students. One instructional method used to assist students in operationalizing the term leadership is the use of concept maps. Concept maps are an advantageous pedogological activity for instructors to employ when they utilize a constructivist approach in the classroom. "A concept map is a pictorial representation of a domain that consists of concepts represented as nodes (circles) that are connected to each other by arcs (lines) . the connecting arcs represent the conceptual links--stating that the concepts are conceptually and logically related in some manner" (Freeman & Jessup, 2004, p. 151). Students often describe the end product of this activity as a leadership spider web, demonstrating the great interconnectivity of the maps. For the instructor, concept maps demonstrate the level at which the concept of leadership is understood. Concept maps have been equated to the pictorial representation of a mental model (Kinchin, Hay, & Adams, 2000). Senge et al. (1994) define a mental model as the "images, assumptions, and stories which we carry in our minds of ourselves, other people, institutions, and every aspect of the world" (p.235). Students come to leadership classes with a vast array of mental models about leadership due to their unique leadership training, education and development experiences (Brungardt, 1996). The concept maps create strong visuals of how students' mental models of leadership are arranged and then how their mental models might change after exposure to the class curriculum and to the collaborative learning environment of the class. Creating the baseline concept maps gives the course instructors a better idea of where the students' mental models of leadership are in relation to the class definition of leadership. "To put it in Ausubelian learning theory terms, a teacher needs to know what relevant concepts can serve as the framework for subsumption of new material. Concept maps are a simple tool for assessing where the learners are" (Novak & Gowin, 1984, p. 100-101). Concept Maps Originally utilized by bench science, concepts maps were designed "to represent how students linked hierarchical material together" (Nicoll, Francisco & Nakhelh, 2001, p. 863). For social science subjects, like leadership, concepts maps can make the abstract more visual and concrete. With hundreds of leadership definitions recorded, it is often difficult for leadership students to understand the complexity of the discipline, and concept maps allow students to see and represent the interconnectedness of leadership concepts (Lawless, Smee & O' Shea, 1998). Seeing this interconnectedness early in the class allows students to assess their perceptions of leadership as compared to the class definition of leadership, and seeing this interconnectedness later in the class allows for assessment of knowledge growth. "To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must have opportunities to learn with understanding. Deep understanding of subject matter transforms factual information into usable knowledge" (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000, p. 16). The theoretical origins of learning via concept mapping can be related back to constructivism, assimilation, and associationist theories. When utilized in small-groups, concept mapping can be classified as both cognitive and social constructivism. …