Use of Interactive Graphic Organisers for Developing Cognitive Skills in Higher Education

Abstract

This article presents research findings from a curricular integration experience of a software application denominated Interactive Graphic Organ-iser. Such integration was implemented through a series of learning activities in the Information Systems Design course that belongs to the seventh semester in the Industrial Civil Engineering degree at the University of Santiago of Chile. A set of eight different types of graphic organisers were used to foster the development of a series of cognitive skills and appropriation of specific disciplinary content. Research was conducted through a cuasi-experimental design where students from the experimental group (the course) were invited to use the selected set of graphic organisers in their learning and assessment activities. A working hypothesis was tested for the curriculum integration, confirming that the use of graphic organisers significantly improved the involved cognitive skills and the assessed disciplinary content.