TEACHING THROUGH MIND MAPS AND CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENTATION SKILLS AS METHODS OF DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ LOGICAL THINKING
Keywords:
logical thinking, mind maps, conceptual structures, critical thinking, argumentation, logical reasoning, cognitive activity, collaborative mapping, structured debate, logical fallacies, substantiation, teaching methodology.Abstract
The human brain processes information not only through words and numbers, but also through a network of images, structures and relations. In 1971 the cognitive psychologist Allan Paivio developed the “dual coding theory”. According to this theory, a person assimilates information through two parallel systems: the verbal one — words and language — and the non-verbal one — images and visual representations. These two systems complement each other, and when they operate together the effectiveness of assimilation increases considerably. The concept of mind maps began to be promoted in the 1970s by the English psychologist and educational consultant Tony Buzan. In Buzan’s view, conventional linear notes activate only one of the hemispheres of the brain — the left one. Mind maps, by contrast, with their colourful, visual and networked structure, also engage the right hemisphere and thereby develop creative and logical thinking simultaneously.
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