A Pilot Study of Concept Mapping Mediated Inquiry Learning in an Online Environment

Concept map can explicitly represent complex ideas and the relationships among them. However, there are few empirical studies on deploying it as a supporting tool for inquiry learning. This pilot study explored the effects of concept mapping on students' group task performance, attitudes towards inquiry learning, and motivational and emotional experiences, in an online learning module. A class of 49 eleventh-grade students participated in the study. They learned in small groups to explore a fish death problem, and constructed concept maps to support their inquiry. The group inquiry task performance was satisfying, with a total mean score of 3.60 out of 5. Survey results showed that students had positive attitude towards inquiry learning (M = 4.31, SD = 0.60), and consensus building (M = 4.40, SD = 0.55). Interviews also revealed that concept mapping enabled students to learn how to think in a logical way, and thus improved their inquiry abilities. The findings demonstrate the promising effects of concept mapping on supporting inquiry learning.