Developing Concept Maps as an Aid for Enhancing Analytical Thinking in Undergraduate Medical Students

Introduction Concept maps (CMs) are a sequential and graphical method of representing the learned material or topic by the learner. They are represented by the main headings contained in the boxes connected with arrows, and also contain linkers that keep joining the different connected topics. It helps in linking concepts and visualizing their relations. This might help in discovering new problem-solving and analytical thinking. The present study was conducted to sensitize students to using CMs as a learning tool and to assess their effect on learning. Method A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted on 150 first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students divided into two groups, I and II. Group I was taught only by didactic lecture, while group II was taught by both didactic lecture and concept map. Pre- and posttests were conducted for all groups with a prevalidated questionnaire. Feedback was obtained from both groups using a three-point Likert scale. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests were applied for statistical analysis according to the distribution of data. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result Both groups had similar pretest scores, but the posttest scores showed a significant increase in scores of students in both groups I and II. We observed a significant improvement in knowledge (gain of marks) in group II, which used CMs, in comparison to group I, which was taught using only traditional didactic lectures. This improvement was more marked regarding high cognitive-type MCQs. We observed a significant increase in the performance of group II students (median = 7 (5.0-8.0)) in comparison to group I students (median = 3 (2.0-5.0)) (p-value < 0.0001). After analyzing the feedback questionnaire, we observed that 64.2% (96) and 55.2% (83) of the students agreed that the concept mapping exercise helped them to understand and correlate the topic more coherently, respectively. Conclusion Concept mapping is a better learning tool in comparison to the classical didactic lecture and demonstration method. It facilitates higher cognitive learning. It can be included in the medical undergraduate curriculum to facilitate meaningful learning.