476 Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan 2011, Vol. 21 (8): 476-481
INTRODUCTION
Pharmacology is generally perceived by the students
as a subject difficult to conceptualize and retain.
Students, therefore, resort to memorization. Rote
learning is easily forgotten and students are unable to
apply this knowledge to problem-solving situations or to
link this to previous knowledge.1Cognitive psychology
has shown that the way knowledge is structured in the
memory that determines the ability to retain, recall and
use it to solve problems.2Concept mapping is a technique
that is well established in helping students build useful
mental frameworks.3,4 According to Michael, meaningful
learning implies “acquiring useful learning which is
stored in a way that can be accessed from various
points, which is well integrated with previous knowledge
and which is accompanied by building mental models
connected with other models for many other phenomena.” 1
A big challenge for medical educators is to search for
pedagogical tools that will promote meaningful learning
and discourage rote learning.5In pharmacology
meaningful learning implies the ability to understand
the mechanism of action of drugs on the body systems
and to be able to relate these actions to systemic effects
and adverse drug effects, and in turn associate these
effects to clinical uses and contraindications to the use
of these agents. Current teaching strategies appear to
be inadequate in enhancing and improving knowledge
of pharmacology due to which students lack depth
of knowledge and experience difficulties in using
pharmacological concepts in clinical practice settings.6
Concept mapping, initially proposed by Novak, is an
innovative approach that helps the learner to organize
knowledge.7Concept maps communicate knowledge
graphically instead of relying on lengthy textual
explanations. They have been used in many disciplines
and at all levels of education to provide a very useful
and extremely appealing way of illustrating concepts.8
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess whether students find concept mapping a useful learning methodology to conceptualize and
organize topics studied in CNS module of Pharmacology; and to evaluate whether addition of concept mapping
assignment could help to improve examination scores.
Study Design: An analytical study.
Place and Duration of Study: College of Dentistry, Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan, from March to
May 2009.
Methodology: A class of 50 BDS students was recruited for the study. Two randomly selected groups of 12 students each,
prepared concept maps in topics from CNS pharmacology which were displayed and discussed during tutorial sessions.
The other two groups (n=25) following the traditional teaching methodology, served as controls. Scores from best choice
questions and short essay questions were compared between the investigational and control groups using the student's
t-test with significance at p < 0.05. Feedback obtained after completion of the study was evaluated as percent response.
Results: One-best-choice test of the control group showed a mean grade of 57.1 + 16.7 vs. test group mean of 58.8 + 13.
For the short essay questions, control group obtained a mean of 52.3 + 18.8 vs. test group mean grade of 53.8 + 22.5.
Both results were not significantly different (p > 0.05). However, feedback about concept mapping showed that the
technique helped the students to conceptualize difficult topics in CNS pharmacology (86.36%). Concept mapping was
particularly beneficial in preparing for exams as it provided a quick overview of the entire subject (68.68%).
Conclusion: Students found concept mapping as a useful pedagogical tool which could potentially be used to acquire
meaningful learning in Pharmacology as a supplement to traditional teaching techniques. It was not found beneficial in
improving examination grades probably because standard examinations and concept mapping measure different cognitive
domains.
Key words: Concept mapping. Medical education. Critical thinking. Teaching and learning.
1Department of Pharmacology, Liaquat National Medical
College, Karachi.
2Department of Biochemistry, Jinnah Medical and Dental
College, Karachi.
Correspondence: Dr. Farida Qadir, Department of Pharmacology,
Liaquat National Medical College, Stadium Road, Karachi.
E-mail: faridaqa100@hotmail.com
Received January 19, 2010; accepted June 13, 2011.
Use of Concept Mapping as a Facilitative Tool to Promote
Learning in Pharmacology
Farida Qadir1, Tabassum Zehra1and Imrana Khan2
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
