Thinking Maps for Deeper Learning

What are Thinking Maps?

Thinking maps are visual tools that help students organise their thoughts and ideas. These graphic organisers guide students through complex thinking tasks by making abstract concepts more concrete. When students can see their ideas on paper, they find it easier to make connections and solve problems.

Students use these visual tools across all subjects and grade levels. The maps support different types of thinking: creative, critical, and analytical. Teachers find them useful because they help all students access higher-order thinking skills, regardless of their starting ability.

The beauty of thinking maps lies in their simplicity. They turn complex ideas into manageable visual patterns. This makes learning more accessible for students who struggle with traditional text-based approaches.

These tools also work well for developing higher-order thinking skills. Students learn to analyse, evaluate, and create through structured visual activities. The spatial organisation helps them engage in clear reasoning as they work through their ideas.

Thinking maps provide a framework for creative thinking across topics. They help students make connections between concepts, ideas, values and knowledge. These tools offer opportunities for exploration, collaboration and finding original solutions to complex questions.

Teachers can use thinking maps to teach advanced science concepts such as scientific reasoning. Students learn to identify patterns and relationships between data points. The visual format helps them understand the scientific process and support their hypotheses with evidence.

These maps also work well for teaching abstract concepts like ethics, philosophy and morality. Students can see why certain decisions are made and learn to think critically about situations. The visual format helps them look beyond surface observations and spot patterns in underlying principles.

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You can explore a variety of graphic organisers by opening a free account on the Structural Learning website, where you can access and view a range of visual tools to support your teaching.

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How do Thinking Maps help Students Build Background Knowledge?

Thinking maps work as a common visual language for learning across entire school communities. When used systematically, they promote the cognitive thinking processes needed for understanding abstract ideas. Teachers can use these consistent, clear patterns to help all students access higher-order thinking tools.

These visual tools help students become aware of their own assumptions and biases. They notice patterns and connections that may not be obvious otherwise. Students can identify gaps in their knowledge and areas that need improvement.

The best part is there's no single right answer. Just as you might draw different aspects of yourself in a self-portrait, thinking maps allow students to explore different facets of complex topics. This flexibility makes them suitable for all learners.

When students use thinking maps, they learn to tackle abstract concepts more effectively. The visual format turns complex ideas into concrete representations. This helps students build the background knowledge they need for deeper learning.

If you want to learn more about different thinking processes and how to use them in daily classroom practice, the resources below will help your students turn abstract concepts into concrete ideas.

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Types of Thinking Processes

Thinking maps are organised into eight different types. Each type connects a specific cognitive skill with a visual pattern.

1. Circle map: Circle maps help students brainstorm ideas. They work as a quick assessment tool and students can create them independently. The structure includes a smaller circle inside a bigger circle, enclosed in a square. The smaller circle contains the concept name. Words or phrases that define this concept go in the outer circle. The square frame shows sources of information or references. Circle maps provide an effective way to explore and retain knowledge at the beginning of any topic.

2. Flow map: Flow maps help students organise a series of events. They show how things connect with one another through sub-stages that contain specific actions within each part of the event. Flow maps illustrate the stages of a system or cycle. They can guide people through step-by-step processes to reach destinations or understand procedures. They don't always follow straight lines. The life cycle of a plant or water cycle often appears in a circular flow map. These maps provide an excellent way to illustrate a sequence of instructions.

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3. Bubble Maps: Bubble maps help define qualities of a specific object, person, event or idea. They develop students' ability to use descriptive words and identify qualities. Create a bubble map by drawing a circle in the middle with the name of the thing being described. The outside circles contain adjectives or descriptive phrases. Bubble maps help students think more deeply about specific topics and summarise related adjectives. They work well for explaining characters or situations from fictional stories.

4. Double Bubble Map: Double bubble maps show similarities and differences between two things or concepts. Create one by drawing two large circles in the middle with the names of concepts being compared. The outer bubbles show the characteristics of each concept. Double bubble maps are more organised than Venn diagrams because the points are listed separately. Students often use these maps for literature analysis, describing what events or characteristics lead to success for different characters or groups.

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5. Tree Maps: Tree maps help classify objects, ideas, people or events. Create one by drawing a top line with the topic or category name. Below this, add sub-categories with specific members of each group. Some aspects may belong to multiple groups. Tree maps work well with abstract or conceptual ideas. The main goal is to identify details and organise ideas. Students might use tree maps to learn different types of verbs and find links between them. These maps help order details and summarise them effectively.

 

 

6. Multi-Flow Maps: Multi-Flow Maps show causes and effects. These maps help students analyse a concept by considering its outcomes. Create one by drawing a rectangle in the middle with the name of the event. Rectangles on the left list the causes of the event. Rectangles on the right contain the event's outcomes. For example, air pollution damages human lungs. It happens due to smoke from vehicles and factories and overuse of natural resources.

7. Brace Maps: Brace maps help students analyse the structure of an object by showing the relationship between a physical object and its parts. Create one by drawing a line on the left with the name of the physical object. Lines towards the right contain the names of the most important parts. More lines towards the right describe the sub-parts of each important part. Science teachers can use brace maps to teach about plant parts in a systematic and precise manner.

8. Bridge Maps: Bridge maps show metaphors and analogies. They mainly display the link between concrete and abstract concepts. These maps are commonly used for scientific concepts, mathematical relationships and historic events. When using a bridge map, specify the relating factors between items being compared. The item at the top of each pair relates to the item at the bottom. Things with the same relationship appear on the right side of the bridge with 'as'. Teachers can use bridge maps to teach children connections between nutrition terms and daily food. An apple provides iron and fibre 'as' an orange provides vitamin C.

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Using Thinking Maps in your Curriculum

Our school members have successfully implemented the language of thinking over the last 12 months. Our growing collection of common thinking models helps classroom teachers support all types of thinking processes.

We believe many students succeed based on how well they organise their thoughts. Developing concrete ideas requires focus, and thinking maps help students concentrate on important ideas and connections. Abstract concepts can sometimes block the development of background knowledge. Using visual representations of knowledge helps develop the understanding needed for deeper learning.

The thinking map acts as a common language for learning. This means students don't need to rely heavily on speaking skills. Our collection of visual tools provides classrooms with resources to tackle the most complex ideas.

Taking the thinking process out of a child's head and into cooperative learning helps teachers see inside their students' minds. When working in pairs, we bring social learning theory into action. The concept map now acts as a prompt for discussion. Central ideas can be talked through and expanded upon through rich classroom conversations.

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Using the Right Visual Tool

Choosing an appropriate graphic organiser has become easier. Within our library of visual tools, teachers need to decide what type of knowledge they are trying to build. The search function is built around key questions, for example, 'what happened?'.

A 'what happened' question corresponds to building a visual representation of chronological events. If a question starts with 'why did...?', this relates to causal analysis: what was the effect and the overall cause. Using a consistent language about thinking maps helps children make decisions about their learning.

Over time, pupils can begin to choose the right tool for the job. This helps school communities build understanding systematically and independently. Creating graphic organisers can take time, and our pre-built visual tools can increase teacher capacity in the classroom by letting them focus on instruction.

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Student Success and Visual Tools in your School

If this article has got you thinking about using visual tools and higher-order thinking skills across your school, please get in touch. We run courses that help teachers use thinking maps in different situations. This professional development can be expanded with guided action research projects.

These have become popular for teachers as they allow school communities to assess the impact of their interventions. Your curriculum content can come to life with straightforward visual tools. We have various scales and observation frameworks to help your colleagues measure how well these strategies work.

Please get in touch if you are interested in running a professional learning enquiry project.

Thinking maps provide excellent tools to show relationships between individual ideas, display hierarchy, and see the 'big picture' at a glance. These aspects also make thinking maps ideal for presenting information to others, creating knowledge pools and solving complex problems.

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9 Ways Thinking Maps Support Learning Development

Thinking Maps can promote various levels of thinking. They have also become helpful in supporting learning development, particularly in primary schools. Here's how they can be integrated across different subject areas to enhance learning:

1. Better Problem-Solving Skills in Maths: In maths class, Thinking Maps can visually represent complex problems. This helps students break down and understand problems, building problem-solving skills.
2. Higher-Order Thinking in Science: Students create Thinking Maps that link cause and effect or compare and contrast. This develops higher-order thinking skills, moving beyond simple memorisation.
3. Creative Thinking in Art: Students create Thinking Maps that explore various creative solutions. This promotes creative thinking, a key part of artistic expression.
4. Analytical Thinking in History: Thinking Maps can analyse historical events and their impact, improving analytical thinking.
5. Thoughtful Thinking in Literature: Through Thinking Maps, students reflect on characters and themes, deepening their understanding and thinking skills.
6. Alternative Thinking in Geography: Thinking Maps can explore geographical concepts from different perspectives, promoting alternative thinking.
7. Focused Thinking in Technology: Using Thinking Maps to combine knowledge from various sources improves focused thinking, vital in technological work.
8. 'What If' Thinking in Philosophy: Students explore 'what if' scenarios through Thinking Maps. This builds hypothetical thinking, a key aspect of philosophical inquiry.
9. Critical Thinking Across Subjects: Thinking Maps can be used across all subjects to promote critical thinking, encouraging students to become critical thinkers.

Thinking Maps are more than just visual aids. They are tools for mental processing that build higher-level thinking skills. These skills are important for combining knowledge and creating solutions.

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Key Points:

• Works Across Subjects: Improves learning across maths, science, art, history, literature, geography, technology, and philosophy.
• Builds Various Thinking Skills: Encourages problem-solving, higher-order, creative, analytical, thoughtful, alternative, focused, hypothetical, and critical thinking.
• Proven Results: 32% improvement in learning skills.

Thinking Maps are not limited to one subject but can be smoothly integrated into curriculum design. They build a wide range of thinking skills and engage students in active learning that prepares them for an increasingly complex world. Research further shows the effectiveness of Thinking Maps in improving learning development.

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Further Reading about Visual Tools

Many books cover this subject, but we feel the one that does this topic the most justice is the original text by David Hyerle. In his book 'Visual tools for constructing knowledge', David Hyerle outlines a visual language that has stood the test of time.

He provides compelling reasons for their use and explains the different types of graphics and how they can improve understanding. My version of the book dates back to 1996 and looks a little dated now. However, the content and principles remain as sharp as ever.

Think maps are particularly helpful when you're trying to understand a complex issue or process. For example, when your class works on an essay plan, you may use a thinking map to help organise thoughts and plan steps.

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Key Studies on Thinking Maps

Here are five key studies on how well graphic organisers and thinking maps help learning:

1. Thinking Maps: A Visual Language for Learning (Hyerle, 2008) This study looks at Thinking Maps, a set of eight mental maps used from early grades through college. These maps help mental development and subject learning. Tools like the multi-flow map and Tree Maps help understand complex ideas across various grade levels, improving critical thinking skills and mental processes through visual patterns and creative thinking.
2. The impact of graphic organisers on learning from presentations (Casteleyn et al., 2013) This study examined how graphic organisers in presentations affect learning in a university course. While there were no significant differences in mental load or confidence, students preferred lessons with graphic organisers like brace maps and circle maps. This highlights their role in helping complex mental skills and thinking patterns.
3. Graphic Organisers and Their Effects on the Reading Understanding of Students with Learning Difficulties (Kim et al., 2004) This review of 21 studies found that graphic organisers significantly improve reading understanding for students with learning difficulties. Tools like mental maps and meaning organisers help grasp complex ideas and improve critical thinking skills across different grade levels.
4. The Power of Graphic Organisers: Effects on Students' Word-Learning and Achievement Emotions in Social Studies (İlter, 2016) This study showed that using graphic organisers like the Concept Definition Map and Circle Thinking Map in social studies significantly improved word learning and positive achievement emotions. These tools support creative thinking and mental processes across different grade levels.
5. Digital Knowledge Mapping as a Teaching Strategy to Promote Visual Skills: A Case Study (Draper, 2015) This case study explored using digital knowledge mapping and graphic organisers to promote visual skills in an online graduate course. The findings suggest that tools like concept maps and knowledge diagrams effectively support higher-level mental skills and critical thinking needed for understanding complex ideas.

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