A Study of Mind Map Learning Strategy and Critical Thinking in Medical Students: Expanding the Vision

Mind mapping is a technique that can help students become a more effective English learner. A mind-map is made based on radiant thinking, a concept which describes how the human brain processes various ideas and information that are associated to each other through relationship hooks. The purposes of this study were to investigate whether a relationship existed between mind mapping and critical thinking, as measured by the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT), investigate whether a relationship existed between mind mapping and recall of domain-based information, and assess student learning style with the Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD). A sample of 110 first-year medical students was assigned to a standard note taking (SNT) group or mind map (MM) group. Subjects were administered a demographic survey, GSD, and pre-HSRT. Results showed that Mind mapping was not found to increase short-term recall of domain-based information, or critical thinking, when compared to standard note taking. However, a brief introduction to mind mapping did allow novice mind map subjects to perform similarly to subjects experienced with standard note taking students.

Keywords:

Mind Map Learning Strategy , Critical Thinking , Medical Students , Standard Note Taking