Keywords

Thinking Maps®, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test®. FCAT, Reading, Mathematics, Middle School, Ausubel, Subsumption Theory, Advance Organizers, Graphic Organizers, Concept Maps, Urban Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what difference, if any, exists between the implementation and use of Thinking Maps® and students' academic achievement in Reading and Mathematics as measured over time by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT). Thinking Maps® is a registered trademark of Thinking Maps, Inc. The data were examined after three years of Thinking Maps® implementation and instruction. The design of this study was quantitative, with a nonrandomized control group, pretest-posttest design (Ary, Jacobs, & Razavieh, 2002) that examined the effects on student Reading and Mathematics FCAT scores in one middle school that implemented Thinking Maps® throughout all grade levels and core subjects for three years as compared to student Reading and Mathematics FCAT scores in a second middle school that did not implement the Thinking Maps® program throughout all grade levels and core subjects for three years. MANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to examine student FCAT scores. This study focused on one major question: Do students who have been instructed in the use of Thinking Maps® have higher academic achievement as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) than those that have not been instructed in the use of Thinking Maps®? Results of this study indicated that students who have been instructed in the use of Thinking Maps® do not have higher academic achievement as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) than those who have not been instructed in the use of Thinking Maps®. The researcher concluded that other methods of evaluating the implementation of Thinking Maps® and student achievement should be explored.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2010

Advisor

Martin, Suzanne

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Child, Family, and Community Sciences

Degree Program

Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003319

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003319

Language

English

Release Date

August 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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