I was pleasantly surprised by the Concept Map assignment. Up until 4 weeks ago, I wasn’t actually that familiar with them (although I had of course used them, without knowing what the term was).
Then over Wintersession, while I was here for the Albright Institute, we actually had an entire session on concept maps and paradigms! Professors Dan Brabander and Rob Martello spent time with us discussing effective concept maps, and what makes them understandable, clear, and sometimes clustered, and how they can aid in understanding complex relationships.
Having to make one for Biochem this week I think illustrates pretty well why concept maps are a great tool for visualization of relationships. Biochem is so much about the big picture, that concept maps I’m sure are often more clear in delineating connections than if you tried writing them all out. Understanding cause and effect are crucial. My biostats textbook also starts off with stating how humans are naturally programmed to understand information through images. That statement only adds weight to the effectiveness of concept maps.