Abstract

Concept mapping has been applied in a variety of fields, including instruction, learning, curriculum development, and assessment because many empirical studies have proven the validity of conceptmapping.Studies show that traditional teaching methods, such as lecturing, do not lead to in-depth learning. Concept maps have been used for a long time by researchers and teachers to facilitate learning. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of concept mapping on the learning levels of students in science subject of class eight. In a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design, 28 students were selected and divided into two groups: the experimental and the control groups. After administration of pre-test, the students in the experimental group participated in classes on designing concept maps. Next, lessons on cell were presented to the students in the experimental and control groups through concept maps and lectures, respectively. At the end of the semester, the learning levels of the students in both groups were evaluated by the post-test. The means of the scores of the students as determined by results of the pre-test revealed insignificant statistical difference between the two groups. However, the learning level of the students in the experimental group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). As a metacognitive intervention, concept mapping can contribute to in-depth learning of students. According to the findings, it is recommended that concept mapping should be used for teaching and evaluation. Further studies are needed to compare the effect of concept mapping with those of other metacognition approaches on different types of learner.