Application of mental mapping technology in higher school educational process

The paper presents a method of mental mapping technology application in educational process, the development technique of which is focused on information model of thinking. The originality of mental mapping method application consists in enhancing cognitive motivation of students due to increasing visualization in educational process and communication links between the teacher and the student. The relevance of the work is that useful increase of incoming information content demands new means for its processing and storage. Structures of mental maps are created as information income rises. The structure is dynamic in time. Mental mapping promotes human ability to carry out the thinking process due to interpretation of information, i.e. to develop an informational model of message via comprehension. New information, experience, knowledge are formed on basis of information reconstruction being stored in human mind, his/her experience and knowledge (mental patterns). Thus, teaching presents evolutionary open process which does not mean any revolutionary changes or destruction of thesaurus. The substance of mental mapping method application in educational process is that the mental map created becomes a functional scheme for both the teacher and students. Consequently, to intensify the educational process we suggest using the material structured as electronic mental maps providing an order and conservation of information in human memory up to the subsequent effective use. The goal of introduction of the given method is to enhance the educational process due to visual information increase and students’ creative thinking activation. Thus, the following online services MindMeister, Text2MindMap, Glinkr and computer programs FreeMind, XMind, Explane are very effective for electronic mental mapping. This program using allows the teacher and students to improve their work efficiency. Using mental mapping technology for an introductory lecture, for example, the teacher should present visually the concept and content of the course, since it is important for students to imagine clear the volume of the course under study, field and frames of scientific study, spectrum of definitions, solving problems, and interdisciplinary cohesion. Using mental mapping has been usefully integrated both into traditional way of training and any innovative training technology, and makes it possible to enhance the educational process as follows: generalization and systematization of information, informational shaping for simplification of remembering and representation, selection of minor importance information. Therefore, a mental map presents an alternative to traditional ways of information processing and transmission; this alternative is more productive, since it has a natural psychological basis and it turns a student into an active creator of his/her own knowledge.

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