Concept Maps as an Alternative Technique for Assessing Students' Understanding of Telecommunications
Lee A. Freeman, Andrew Urbaczewski
An alternative methodofmeasuring the knowledge ofstudents is to use mental models, and more specifically, concept maps. Concept maps provide a visual representation 0/conceptual and relationship knowledge within a particular domain. This study builds on previous studies and attempts to reduce their methodological weaknesses. Students in several undergraduate sections ofan MIS Telecommunications course were asked to create concept maps oftheir Telecommunications knowledge at three distinct points throughout the semester. These concept maps were compared across all students at a singlepoint in time, within students across the three time periods, andagainst the concept map 0/a domain "expert" at both the individualand composite levels. Findings indicate that the individualandcomposite maps increasedsignificantly in size over time, andcomparisons with the "expert" map show a significantly increasing overlap ofconcepts over time. Moreover, this study shows the applicability ofthis technique as an alternate assessment method.
Lee A. Freeman is an assistant professor of management information systems at The University of MichiganDearborn. He has a BA from The University of Chicago, and he received both his MBA and PhD in information systems from Indiana University. Dr. Freeman's teaching interests include systems analysis and design, end-user computing, and electronic connnerce. His primary research interests include the conceptualization and use ofinformation systems knowledge, information ethics, and electronic connnerce. Dr. Freemanhas published inMIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Information Systems Frontiers, and the Journal of IS Education, among others. He can be reached at lefreema@ umd.umich.edu.
Andrew Urbaczewski is an assistant professor of management information systems at the University ofMichigan-Dearbom. He received a PhD in information systems from Indiana University, aud also holds an MBA from West Virginia University and a BS in fmance (with honors) from the University ofTennessee. Dr.Urbaczewski'sresearch interests include wireless mobile collaboration, electronic commerce, and electronic monitoring of employees. His research has been published in several prestigiousjournals and conferences including Communications ofthe ACM, Journal ofOrganizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, and Communications of the AIS. Dr. Urbaczewski may be contacted at aurbacze@umdumich.edu.
Return to the Table of Contents