Using concept mapping as note taking strategy in college-level science courses

Students entering college are often shocked to receive failing grades on the first exam of large, lecture style biology classrooms. They usually do not know the science content they studied and have difficulties retaining and recalling the information. This continuation of research addresses the need to better equip undergraduate students in science courses with knowledge and skills that will help them encode, retain and recall concepts and principles using concept mapping as a study tool.

The need to continuously investigate how undergraduate students can be supported to perform better in their introductory biology courses is important. For undergraduate students, especially non-biology majors, to succeed, they need to be exposed to activities and resources that support encoding, retention and recall of science content.

Individuals that attend and participate in this presentation will learn how concept mapping was implemented into freshmen level biology courses and the impacts on the overall recall and retention of material learned based off unit exam averages following two semesters. A discussion of qualitative data focusing on challenges and improvements from one semester to the next to further support students’ performance will also be discussed.