On using concept maps to assess the comprehension effects of reading expository text

Data were collected from eighth graders to determine the feasibility of using concept maps as a measure of content achievement and whether these measures were sensitive to knowledge learned after reading expository text. All students were taught a mapping technique which required theato analyze ideas into propositions and then arrange them into concept maps. Then, some students were assigned into two roups which either read a passage about the processes of green leaves, or they read this passage and saw related slides. The remaining students were in the control group and received no instruction about the processes of green leaves. All students took a mapping test, a short ansWr "classrom-type" test and an attitude questionnaire. Results showed that most students from all ability g-oups learned to use the mapping technique. In addition, those students who received an extra session of practice learned to map better than those who did not. Scores from the mapping test were more sensitive to the increases in knowledge gained by reading and seeing the slide presentation than were those froi the short-answer test. In addition, the mapping test scores correlated with other indices of schoolng progress such as classroom grades and standardized measures of achievement. Although the diagnostit value of the tests seemed to be substantive and could be helpful to teachers and tudents as they attempt to determine what they do and do not understand, students did not express a positive attitude toward using mapping tests in schools, as indexed by the attitude questionnaire.