Outlining is linear and organized, but not the way our minds work . Learning combines what you already know with what you want to know, and links this new information within our store of knowledge. First reject the idea of an outline, or of paragraphs using sentences. Now think in terms of key words or symbols that represent ideas and words. The technique of concept mapping was developed by Joseph D Novak at Cornell.
Concept maps have their origin in the learning movement called constructivism.
In particular, constructivists hold that prior knowledge is used as a framework to learn new knowledge. In essence, how we think influences how and what we learn. Concept maps identify the way we think, the way we see relationships between knowledge. Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, print, transmit, and distribute Study Guides in educational, non-commerical, settings to benefit learners. On the WWW, however, please link here rather than put up your own page since pages are frequently modified and improved in consideration of educational research.