I first created a mind map as a second year exercise in history and found them an effective way to plan an essay. Our digital history class discussed their use again last term so I decided to try out one of the free internet programmes, Xmind, and create one for my dissertation. I found using the programme handy as it is easy to go back over areas to add/develop an idea which is more difficult with a hand-drawn map. This also means it is easier to work on the map over the course of a few days rather than all at once. However, I am not sure it engages the creative juices in the same way as the hand-drawn map.
US - Iranian Relations Mind Map
On Wikipedia it says mind maps encourage brainstorming and act as a “graphical method of taking notes” but I tend to use them to provide structure to my plans and order my thoughts as often I get lost following ideas or lines of research which ultimately prove not to warrant such in-depth study. The hierarchical structure that the mind map imposes makes clear the weight of importance due to each idea. Whilst doing my mind map and researching the concept I came across some literature on learning styles and began to reflect on whether I had a learning style and if so what it was. I followed a UCD paper I found on google to Richard Felder’s site. As well as being a professor of Chemical Engineering he also is involved in the National Effective Teaching Institute in the US. On his site a took a test to discern my learning style the results of which I will add below along with my mind map. Although not strongly in any one camp it does show I am more a reflective than active learner and more verbal than visual. Reflective learners like to think thing they learn through to grasp them while active learners prefer to put ideas/concepts/formulas to the test to see how they work and learn this way. Verbal learners gain more from written and spoken explanations while visual learners do better if facts and ideas are expressed in pictures or diagrams.
My Learning Style Results
