Concept mapping improves academic performance in problem solving questions in biochemistry subject

Objective: to assess the effectiveness of concept mapping (cm) on the academic performance of medical students’ in problem-solving as well as in declarative knowledge questions and their perception regarding cm. methods: the present analytical and questionnaire-based study was carried out at bahria university medical and dental college (bumdc),karachi,pakistan. in this analytical study,students were assessed with problem-solving questions (a-type mcqs),and declarative knowledge questions (short essay questions),and 50% of the questions were from the topics learned by cm. students also filled a 10-item,3-point likert scale questionnaire about their perception regarding the effectiveness of the cm approach,and two open-ended questions were also asked. results: there was a significant difference in the marks obtained in those problem-solving questions,which were learned by cm as compared to those topics which were taught by the traditional lectures (p<0.001),while no significant difference was observed in marks in declarative knowledge questions (p=0.704). analysis of students’ perception regarding cm showed that majority of the students perceive that cm is a helpful technique and it is enjoyed by the students. in open-ended questions,the majority of the students commented positively about the effectiveness of cm. conclusion: our results indicate that cm improves academic performance in problem solving but not in declarative knowledge questions. students’ perception about the effectiveness of cm was overwhelmingly positive. © 2016,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.