HOW DO YOU CREATE A CONCEPT MAP? REVISION TIPS WITH MISS ESTRUCH ✏️

There are many different ways to go about revising your notes to help you study. One way I find extremely helpful, whether it be when revising for your GCSEs or A-levels is to use concept maps. 

WHAT IS A CONCEPT MAP? 

Concept maps are a revision strategy that presents your notes in a visual way.  The information is organised on the page to show links between concepts. Every arrow is representing some form of link to the information on the page. The key to successfully completing a concept map is through the way it’s organised, and making sure everything is properly linked together. 

WHY DOES IT HELP WITH YOUR REVISION?

The reason concept maps help you revise is connected to how your brain works. Our brains have an incredible storage strength or ability to store information, but a very poor retrieval strength, or ability to locate that information. 

The biological reason for this is because there are about 86 billion neurons (nerve cells) in our brains. Each neuron is connected to another via a synapse (the small gaps between the cells). This network of neurons and synapses is called a neural pathway. To be able to remember the stored information in your brain, the pathway must remain intact. 

Basically, in order to remember things, we need to present that information to our brains multiple times in multiple ways, so that information is strongly placed in our long-term memory. This is why we must continually use revision techniques and concept maps. Ideally, you should be doing at least 5 different techniques before every test, this will provide you with a range of different skills and connect lots of different pathways.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO USE DIFFERENT REVISION TECHNIQUES, AND HOW DO THEY HELP US?

When you first learn new information, you have a lot of different unconnected facts. They’re concepts in your brain, but they’re not linked together in any sort of specific way. After you do continual revision and consolidation activities, these concepts are then linked together. Your brain understands that they are attached and remembers that their information is reliant on each other.  Your brain uses this joined information to create knowledgeable long-term memory of different topics; essentially, it allows us to connect the unconnected. 

WHY DO WE USE CONCEPT MAPS? 

Concept maps are much more sophisticated than simple mindmaps. You actively have to think about the connections and categories of the information, which helps with long-term memory, and your ability to understand the content. 

Concept maps are great for students looking to achieve high marks in GCSE or A-level classes. The links help you to holistically understand the topic, so you’ll be better at applying this knowledge to the unknown examples in challenging application questions. This can account for a large portion of your grade, and can be difficult for many students to succeed in if they are not actively revising their notes.

WE CAN CREATE A CONCEPT MAP IN 4 SIMPLE STEPS:

1. Identifying all the key concepts in the topic you are mapping. 
2. Categorising the concepts – ex. group processes, definitions, reactions, bonds, etc.
3. Organising the concepts to show relationships or links.
4. Making use of different shapes or colours to represent different categories.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A CONCEPT MAP I HAVE CREATED USING THE TOPIC OF CARBOHYDRATES:

Step 1) Identify all the key concepts in the topic you are mapping: here I wrote out all the key terms and concepts on the topic of carbohydrates.

Step 2)  Categorising the concepts: I took from the key terms, and broke them down into different categories. The types, the bonds, the examples, and the tests and experiments are all neatly grouped and separated so they are easy to conceptualise and understand.  

Step 3) Links and relationships: From here I’ve shuffled them around to showcase the relationships the key concepts have with one another. 

While this is a good start, it’s still quite messy, which can make it hard to understand. Which brings us to…

Step 4) Make use of different shapes or colours to represent different categories: Here you can see I’ve put the types of carbohydrates in a different colour, the examples in a yellow box, the tests in a white box, and the bonds in oval shapes. This clearly helps to differentiate different concepts, while understanding how the concepts are connected to one another.

There you have it, your very first concept map! Keep in mind – this example is fairly straightforward and simple. To further your revision you could also include diagrams, write what the links between the concepts are, or incorporate even more information. 

Keep in mind: Concept maps are just one form of revision technique. As I said earlier, using up to 5 different techniques is the best way to test your brain and long-term memory to understand the concepts!

SOME DIFFERENT REVISION YOU CAN EXPLORE TECHNIQUES INCLUDE:

• Flash cards
• Blurting
• Graphic Organizers
• Text to image
• Practice questions 

If you would like to learn more about these revision techniques and why they benefit you, I have a helpful YouTube video that you can watch here.

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT CONCEPT MAPS?

I get it – sometimes we need an extra walk through to help that info sink in! If you need extra help, comment your question down below or visit me on Instagram and I’ll do my best to get back to you.

Hope you found this helpful and remember, you got this!

Miss Estruch 

P.S. ARE YOU A VISUAL LEARNER? 

Then skip this blog and head on over to my YouTube channel for a full breakdown of all the info listed above.