The Use of Mind Maps as an Assessment Tool in a Problem Based Learning Course

Abstract

The use of mind maps as an assessment tool is investigated. The mind map in the current study represents the student knowledge structure at the beginning of the student learning curve unlike previous studies in which the maps are drawn after students have acquired the knowledge already. The study compares the inter-rater reliability of two mind map scoring methods and correlates the marks from these methods with other end of year outcomes. The mind maps were scored independently by three examiners using two mind map scoring rubrics (MMR): a structural and a holistic qualitative rubric. The structural MMR scoring method gave moderate inter-rater reliability with total score ICC values of 0.71 for absolute agreement and 0.57 for consistency between the three examiners. The qualitative MMR scoring method had poor inter-rater reliability with values of 0.33 and 0.32 for absolute agreement and consistency respectively. The concurrent validity with other end of year assessments was poor for both methods. Although the mind map scores did not correlate with other end of year assessments, it is likely that mind maps are assessing a different aspect of the student knowledge construct not assessed by traditional assessments. The inter-rater reliability was better for the structural MMR than the qualitative MMR.