Abstract
This chapter focuses on the representation of flexible learning paths and teaching sequences with concept maps. It is based on the concept of the teacher as a learning designer and the flexibility and personalization of the learning process through student-centered strategies. Examples of concept maps based on two categories of representation are shown: 1) the learning path to be followed by the students (teacher's perspective) and 2) the student's personal learning path. Thus, supported by previous research on university teaching strategies, learning paths, and learning sequences, some examples are presented according to the three moments of intervention (activation, development, and closure) and the cyclical model of self-regulated learning (planning, execution, and self-reflection). In this way, concept maps are shown to be a powerful tool to represent personal learning paths and to enhance teaching-learning processes.
TopBackground
The growing expectations for innovation in technology-enhanced learning experiences have provided great momentum to approach effective design as a key strategy for improving the quality of higher education teaching.
Here, one of the important aspects is the processes of representation of the designs, their publication or the exchange and adaptive reuse of them, which are common lines of work (Conole & Culver, 2010; Hernández-Leo et al., 2014). And in this sense, the use of concept maps is approached as an effective tool to represent these designs as a guide on how to carry out certain learning or a flexible itinerary through which the student navigates based on their own individual differences, in an exercise of their own autonomy and in a negotiation process with the teacher (co-design) (Salinas & de-Benito, 2020).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Learning Itinerary: Construct that acts as an organiser of the concepts, topics, etc. to be learned, as well as the learning objects to be used, giving a complete picture of what needs to be done to understand a given topic or to develop a given competence.
Learning Design: An artefact that explicitly documents a set of learning tasks with the resources and tools that support the completion of the tasks.
Concept Map: A representation of a set of concepts that makes interrelationships among them evident, and that is useful as an interface to a model of a knowledge domain.
Flexible Learning: Process that enables learners to learn when they want (frequency, timing, duration), how they want (modes of learning), and what they want (that is, learners can define what constitutes learning to them).
Self-Regulated Learning: Where the individual applies his or her learning strategies, self-assesses to ensure that the content has actually been learned and provides, if necessary, corrective action to achieve the learning goals through other strategic choices.
Learning Path: A sequence of activities with objectives designed to help learners build their knowledge or skills in a subject área.
Agency: The capacity to act intentionally and achieve goals guided by cognitive, self-regulatory, motivational and attributional components that enable the learner to play an active role in their learning.
Co-Design: A methodology that favours learning through the active participation of those involved. It involves collaborating with others to achieve a common goal, designing a specific product (resource, object, sequence, process, itinerary, etc.) based on constant exchange, communication and agreement.
Learning Sequence: The organisation and presentation of the activities of a teaching-learning cycle in a complete structure, carried out by both teachers and pupils, with the aim of creating situations that enable to develop meaningful learning.