Suggestions for teacher education from concept mapping studies

In order to enhance primary and secondary education, teaching and learning methods need to be continuously developed as well as, of course, promote teaching quality dependent on teacher personality, teacher professional development, teacher self-development, etc. Teacher professional development gives the novice teacher access to a wide set of teaching methods and assessment opportunities, especially geared to flexible learning and assessment methods, which can be considered for adoption. One such flexible method is the use of concept mapping. This article describes the results of several studies, where concept mapping method was used, giving many didactical suggestions for using concept mapping for learning and especially for assessment. Additionally, considerations are introduced on using concept maps as a research instrument.