The mind map is a radially arranged diagram that represents words & ideas linked to a central idea.
To clarify this definition, I’m going to show you one of my mind maps that I have done during my study for the pathology course.
3. It is not enough to be a hard worker, you have to have a creative way to deal with the challenges of the “Information Explosion” A mind mapper
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
Notes de l'éditeur
GOOD afternoon The title of my presentation is MIND MAPPING for pharmacy education & practice.
I’d like firstly to talk about the concept of mind mapping. We all know that the complexity of knowledge & the difficulty in retaining & recalling our prior knowledge & building upon it contribute to learning problems. The mind mapping tech was found to aid in resolving these learning problems
as it’s a creative tool that we really need nowadays to deal with “information explosion”
Information Explosion !! That is information which comes from everywhere.
The mind map is a radially arranged diagram that represents words & ideas linked to a central idea. To clarify this definition, I’m going to show you one of my mind maps that I have done during my study for the pathology course.
This map shows the difference in the ccs of the benign & the malignant tumours. For any mind map the paper should be in the landscape style and the main idea should be in the center, then branches carrying the subtitles are drawn around the main idea.
Then the branches are sub-divided into other sub-branches carrying related ideas.
Till the map is completed, carrying every idea related to the main topic at the center. After that, figures, symbols, and colors are used and attached to every keyword in those ideas to represent them and make them easier to recall.
Let me now explain how the Mind Maps could be effective in solving learning problems. The structure of the mind map allows the learner to move from the general ideas to the details of the topic, So the level of branches and the size of the map could represent the amount of knowledge regarding a certain topic, and I will show later how to get benefit of this in curriculum planning. Also linking between ideas using arrows, helps in understanding the subject and recalling it easily and makes the subject appears as one unit.
For more clarification, please look at this map which summarizes one of the chapters that I have studied in biochemistry You can see here how the arrows make links between the ideas and how they can travel freely through the whole map to make connections within it.
Using branches & links couldn’t be done unless the map is drawn on one page Drawing the mind map on one paper enables the learner to see the topic as one unit, to determine what is already known and where the new info should be added. Also memorizing one paper is easier than too many pages from books or any other sources. That’s why I used to compare the no. of pages of the source that I have to study from with the single paper map I have done and I feel proud of my map.
We know that each side of the brain has its own function for e.g. the right S. is responsible for imagination, artistic & musical awareness, & spatial orientation . While the left side is responsible for reasoning, spoken & written language, & mathematical skills, So the mind map allows both sides of the brain to work because it contains words, numbers, figures, symbols and colors
The use of figures & symbols in the mind map is of massive importance because a picture can paint a 1,000 words and that we always remember strange things, so incorporating strange pictures within the mind map helps in remembering it.
These are parts from the microbiology book (tortora) on DNA replication. Using a figure like that makes the subject easy to understand, memorize, & recall. Because it is more suitable for our brains than those blocks of paragraphs and because it also makes ideas come alive, so it enables us to imagine the process of DNA replication as if we see it.
This is another example that simplify the process of blood glucose level regulation.
The interesting thing about mind map is that it looks exactly similar in its structure to the neurons. This prove that our brains are designed to better understand & remember information that are put in the form of brain cells. Ok
Let me now turn to the inventor of the mind maps. The mind map was invented in the 70s by a popular psychology author called Tony Buzan T.B. writes on subjects related to the brain, memory, creativity, & speed reading and he is now in Egypt for the 1 st time to give a course for 3 days on mind mapping & other learning & teaching techniques.
As pharmacists, we can get benefit of the mind mapping technique in all pharmacy aspects like: education, teaching, & practice. And I’ve just explained how it could benefit in education & in solving learning problems.
Regarding its use in teaching, it allows any teacher or lecturer to achieve flexibility in talking with complete representation of the subject without omitting any point. As I mentioned earlier the mind maps could aid in curriculum planning by determining the level of branches that is needed for the susceptible learner, because proceeding from the more general, to more specific information usually encourages meaningful learning.
Moreover, I’ve read that the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has applied the concept of mind mapping in a pharmacy course called “The Communications in Pharmacy Practice” The instructors of that course aimed at emphasizing meaningful learning and discouraging rote memorization of course material to improve student retention of information, so the students were divided into small groups to demonstrate the concepts taught to them during the course.
This map is done by one of the students there and it shows many inter-relationships between the pharmaceutical care & communication with patients.
This is a 25-foot long Boeing Aircraft mind map. This map is claimed to enable a team of aeronautical engineers to learn in a few weeks what would have taken a few years, so mind mapping is also a very efficient tool for Accelerated learning.
After my training in the dental clinic, I realized that mind mapping could also be used in patient education and I’m going to tell you how. During my first meeting with the patients there, I found myself telling them a lot of information that might be directly forgotten before leaving the clinic, so I intended to write this information on papers to give them to my patients on the next visit to the clinic, so I’ve written 3 papers about HVC, HTN, and Diabetes. What encouraged me to do that is that I found all the patients in the first meeting could read, but unfortunately when I went to the clinic for the 2 nd time, my patients were ignorant, so I gave them these papers and told them to make someone else read it to them. Thus I believe that if I had this form, I would help them more.
This is another e.g., that could be used for both students & patients to educate them about diabetes risk factors.
This graph represents the duration of action of different types of insulin. It also can benefit both students & patients.
Turning to my experience in mind mapping, I began using the mind mapping tech. since I was in the 2 nd year in pharmacy, I 1 st knew about it from my father; by the way he is a consultant surgeon, a fellow of the royal collage of surgeons in UK and a healthcare quality expert as well. I enjoy studying using mind mapping because: 1- It is a creative manner of studying as it makes me think how to put every info related to the subject on a single paper: with drawing & putting symbols for the keywords in order not to forget them So it was very interesting more than the traditional way of memorizing too many paragraphs that look like each other. 2- It helps me to easily recall what I have learned 3. It makes me see the whole picture and the details at the same time so when I used the mind mapping tech. during my study of pharmacy I didn’t have to keep too many pages in my mind and I didn’t have to revise all of them before the exams. Some of my maps are done using a computer software and the others are done by handwriting, and after the talk I’ll show you some of them.
I just want to say that we can get benefit of this technique in all aspects of our life as it helps to generate ideas, organize our thoughts, plan our time, make us learn faster, teach & inspire, prepare exciting presentations, communicate well, and unlock our minds. That’s why I believe that mind mapping should be the technique of choice for future learning & teaching particularly in pharmacy. Thank You.
![Learning problems ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)