Effect of Concept Mapping Teaching Method on Critical Thinking Skills of Medical Students

• Main Authors: Ramezani G, Norouzi A, Dehghani M, Aslami M, Ghanavati S, Kojuri J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-05-01
• Series: Advances in Medical Education and Practice
• Subjects: concept map; critical thinking; education; medical students
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/effect-of-concept-mapping-teaching-method-on-critical-thinking-skills--peer-reviewed-article-AMEP

Ghobad Ramezani, 1 Azam Norouzi, 1 Mohammadreza Dehghani, 2 Maryam Aslami, 2 Shirin Ghanavati, 2 Javad Kojuri 2 1Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Education Development Center, Quality Improvement in Clinical Education Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranCorrespondence: Ghobad RamezaniCenter for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranEmail [e-mail]: Fostering critical thinking among students is one of the most important objectives of medical education. Concept mapping is an assessment tool that has the potential to measure medical student’s evolving knowledge framework. This study examined the relationship between teaching methods and the ability of students to learn anatomy topics.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences in the medical students. Students were lectured using either the concept map method (n =  50) or a traditional lecturing method (n =  50). Student’s core critical thinking skills were assessed using a seven scales test which included: analysis - measured student’s analytical reasoning skills, inference - measured their ability to make inferences, evaluation - measured their evaluative reasoning skills, deduction - measured their decision-making skills in defined contexts, induction - measured students’ decision-making skills when there is a level of uncertainty, and overall reasoning skills - measured students’ overall strength in using reasoning to form reflective judgments about what to believe or what to do. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test.Results: Pretest score of California Critical Thinking Skills Test for concept map method was 6.68 ± 2.55 and the lecturing method was 6.64 ± 2.74. The posttest score for concept map was 11.64 ±  2.29 and for lecturing method was  10.04 ± 3.11. The comparison of mean scores’ differences for both groups before and after intervention demonstrated that students’ critical thinking score in the experimental group was significantly higher after intervention (4.88 versus 3.40, P =  0.021).Conclusion: Anatomy topics can be effectively incorporated into concept maps, making it easier for medical students to learn anatomy topics. This suggests that concept maps are an effective educational assessment tool and should be incorporated into the medical education curriculum because it encourages students to become independent learners and enhances medical students’ core critical thinking skills.Keywords: concept map, critical thinking, education, medical students