Concept Map Organization:
Restructuring the Problem
Following Gestalt's Law of Symmetry, the idea that the mind perceives objects as having a center point, students were instructed to place the primary patient problem in the center of the map and work outward in a circular pattern. Following the Law of Simplicity, students were instructed to record information on the map with single words, short phrases, abbreviations, or numbers. Circling or enclosing data in shapes was suggested as a way of making data more visually recognizable (Boeree, 2008; Soegaard, 2010).
Based on Gestalt's Law of Similarity, grouping similar information promotes perception of whole meanings (Lal, 2008), it was suggested to students that they group data by body systems (cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, musculosketal, integumentary, endocrine, renal, and psychosocial) around the primary problem. Together, all the body systems represent the whole person enabling a holistic representation of the patient with CHF.
To avoid recording the same information on the map more than once, students were told data could be shared by more than one body system. Therefore, decisions would need to be made about the spacial arrangement of information based upon how closely related the concepts. For example, the renal and cardiovasular systems may share more concepts than the cardiovascular and the musculoskeletal systems. Therefore, the renal and cardiovascular systems should be in close proximity on the concept map. This aligns with the Law of Proximity; the more near the visual proximity of information the more closely related the ideas (Lal, 2008). To assist in making decisions about how data should be grouped and where it fits into the overall picture of the patient, students were encouraged to first write data on sticky notes and move them around as needed before writing on the paper.
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Based on Gestalt's Law of Similarity, grouping similar information promotes perception of whole meanings (Lal, 2008), it was suggested to students that they group data by body systems (cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, musculosketal, integumentary, endocrine, renal, and psychosocial) around the primary problem. Together, all the body systems represent the whole person enabling a holistic representation of the patient with CHF.
To avoid recording the same information on the map more than once, students were told data could be shared by more than one body system. Therefore, decisions would need to be made about the spacial arrangement of information based upon how closely related the concepts. For example, the renal and cardiovasular systems may share more concepts than the cardiovascular and the musculoskeletal systems. Therefore, the renal and cardiovascular systems should be in close proximity on the concept map. This aligns with the Law of Proximity; the more near the visual proximity of information the more closely related the ideas (Lal, 2008). To assist in making decisions about how data should be grouped and where it fits into the overall picture of the patient, students were encouraged to first write data on sticky notes and move them around as needed before writing on the paper.
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