The effectiveness of mind-map as a pedagogical tool in enhancing conceptual understanding of photosynthesis

• Published in: AIP Conference Proceedings 2024-05, Vol.3116 (1)
• Main Authors: Purnomo, Aris Rudi, Mahdiannur, Muhammad Arif, Sari, Dhita Ayu Permata, Budiyanto, Mohammad, Astriani, Dyah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chloroplasts; Effectiveness; Empirical analysis; Learning; Photosynthesis; Students
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0210447

This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of using mind maps as a tool to enhance students’ conceptual understanding of photosynthesis. The study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with a sample size of 27 students. The research instruments used in this study included a paper-pencil test to assess students’ understanding of photosynthesis concepts before and after the intervention and the rubric to evaluate the quality of student mind maps. The data collected was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that students were able to increase their understanding of photosynthesis significantly. The intervention also has a large effect size (Cohen’s d≥0.8), revealing that the mind maps can foster students’ conceptions of the correct one. The VS-MPR in this research is very large (VS-MPR=1.271×10+13), so the probability of post-test>pre-test is also very high, and it also confirms that the intervention (mind maps) has a significant impact and is very effective in improving students’ learning outcomes. The findings also found that student mind maps encompass six essential concepts regarding chloroplast, material for photosynthesis, reactions, electron transports, and photosynthesis products. In addition, the success of this research is also supported by the appearance of the hierarchical nature of mind map connecting the main topic and subtopic since the connection is clear and straightforward. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the use of mind maps as an effective learning strategy to enhance students’ understanding of photosynthesis.