Graphic organizers can be very useful for students. Webs, Venn Diagrams and charts are examples of graphic organizers which can help students better understand texts. These visual tools can help foster creativity in students and lead to better learning.
It is a popular saying that “Pictures are worth a thousand words”. The use of visual aids in secondary teaching has become very popular nowadays and these are effective in teaching every subject.
Importance of Graphic Organizers
In order to memorize any information, it is important to fully understand it. Any information can be organized into charts, webs or other diagrams. This makes learning enjoyable and leads to better comprehension of facts. Learners can form a net to assimilate the facts they learn into the things they already know. This helps memorize things better. This concept is a part of a much bigger theory known as schema theory.
How Students Use Graphic Organizers
Students can use graphic organizers to make brief notes and to study for an exam. These can be very useful in memorizing things before an exam. Mind maps area better way to memorize the difficult things. These can be easily recalled from the ‘visual memory’. A big article can be understood better with the use of diagrams. A mind map can be used to related sub concepts to main concepts. Thus a whole picture cna be there in your mind. During the exam, a student can review all the course content and refresh the memory by simply reviewing the mind maps.
Cluster diagrams, concept maps or mind maps can help understand and memorize a complex subject. The student should have the central idea in place, then connect various sub topics and ideas to it and continue with branching out the sub topics. Thus all the important points can be remembered easily. It is easier to recall anything during the exam using these techniques.
How to Mind Map:
- It is good to use only keywords and even is better to use images.
- The center should be a clear visual image.
- There can be sub centers too.
- Try to create a three dimensional structure. Try to visualize such a structure in your mind.
- Then connect various thoughts / topics by lines and put your keywords on the lines.
- Different elements are then linked using arrows, diagrams and keywords.
How Teachers Can Use Graphic Organizers – Various Benefits:
Graphic Organizers can serve as good teaching aids. These can be used to prepare an intruction. It makes it better for the teacher to present all the related ideas and topics to the students in a way by which the students can remember and understand the facts better.
Also while teaching a large class, it is easier to teach using such visual aids.
While a teacher is giving a lecture, the students can easily make notes for future reference and better understanding if the teacher uses graphic organizers while teaching.
These make the exam preparation easier for the students.
These work great for the students to narrow down all the ideas. Overall, these graphic organizers make the lecture an interesting experience.
These can also boost class attendence in future and lead to better exam results in the subject. Overall, these make for a much better learning experience.