Comparison of the Effect of Lecture and Concept Mapping Methods on Student's Learning and Satisfaction

Promoting meaningful learning is one of the main objectives of education and an important factor in promoting creative thinking, critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in learners. Also, evaluating students’ learning is a teachers’ duty. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of teaching by lecture or concept mapping on cognitive learning levels of midwifery students and their satisfaction with concept mapping as the assignment.

In a quasi-experimental study, 35 third-semester midwifery students in “maternal and child heath course were selected by census method in Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2011. Students received education using lecture or concept mapping (using web-based tools), respectively, for 8 sessions in 2 months. Two researcher-made questionnaires were used for assessing their knowledge and satisfaction. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test.

Compared to conventional teaching, the concept mapping method had a significant effect (p=0.001, t=3.24) on promoting high levels of cognitive levels (meaningful learning). However, there were no significant differences between the two methods regarding lower cognitive domains (p=0.06). Also, among various forms of assignments, drawing a concept map received the highest score (0.95 out of 1).

Considering the positive effect of concept mapping method on students’ meaningful learning, it is recommended this method be employed in teaching and also in student assignments for courses which require a deep learning and high level of understanding.