Applying concept mapping: A new learning strategy in business organisation courses

Abstract

European Higher Education Area is prompting a change in the teaching model towards the consideration of students as the main actors in the educational process. In this context, this work presents concept mapping as a useful teaching tool for promoting the development of generic and specific skills in students while also constituting a firm commitment to independent study. The technique is certainly very useful for understanding and framing strategies, theories and concepts and provides visualisation of typical connections between different concepts, interrelations among strategies, analysis of the consequences of business decision-making and so on among others. Concept mapping was used by 355 students on the Principles of Business Organisation course in the second year of the Industrial Technologies Engineering degree course. As a general outcome of the study, marks in the subject show considerable improvement in all the groups.