Why Teach With WisdomMaps?
“Wonder is the sudden surprise of the soul.” ~ Descartes
WisdomMaps are not “maps” in the usual sense, but a new generation of “mind maps”, invented in the Near East 2,000 years ago and popularized more recently by Leonardo da Vinci as a way to unify knowledge. WisdomMaps work by emulating the thought processes of the human mind, and because of their non-linear design, they go where linear thinking cannot. When information is inter-related and knowledge is unified, it creates meaning and understanding as the maps unfold in a multimedia presentation of images, videos, websites, and more.
Simply, the best reason for teaching with WisdomMaps is that they are a better way to teach and learn. The maps are uniquely effective because they conform to the contours of the human thought process, in which neurons fire off in all directions in search of associations that unify information and create that meaning and understanding. The maps are designed not only for objective learning (of the historical record), but for subjective reflection upon the meaning and implications of the lessons of history as well.
Here’s How I Do It
As teachers know, the best way to learn something is to teach it (however badly at first). It’s also true that students generally learn as much from each other as they do from their teachers. When students are able to view each other’s work, a social competition arises to post and showcase the best contributions, and the learning curve grows steeper as students progressively conform their own work to the best examples of their classmates. WisdomMaps enable students to teach each other (in their own words, however humble) in group assignments under the teacher’s guidance.
For their weekly journal assignments, I have my students develop weekly presentations (PowerPoint, Slides, or Keynote), in which they address topics from the maps assigned for the week, and review whatever multimedia they encounter in the maps, like websites and videos…. they have complete freedom to focus on and develop an interest in whatever topics have captured their fancy in their perusal of the maps assigned for the week. If each student introduces three such topics in their journals (which they post in the weekly journal forum), that’s 60 topics for a class of twenty, enabling students to be exposed to a wide range of topics, and different takes on those topics, each week. (See “Sample Journals” below.)
No ChatGPT, No Plagiarism
The solution also depends on the source of instruction. Textbooks are of some use as an “anchor to windward” that helps students hew to the historical narrative (though WisdomMaps courses also emphasize subjective thinking, which ChatGPT isn’t very good at anyway). There is little opportunity with WisdomMaps for students to make use of ChatGPT in the assignments, and overt plagiarism is conspicuous to their classmates in an open learning environment like this; it isn’t worth the social risk. The design of WisdomMaps presents a powerful deterrent to A.I.-generated writing that is possible only when students are accountable to each other, and not just to the teacher, for the provenance and quality of their work.
I remind my students that this is probably the only course they’ll take where they get to see and review each other’s work, as part of the weekly assignment. I also remind them that AI is actually pretty easy to detect: there’s something about it that just doesn’t feel right, or human, and people want to read work written by a human hand, not an algorithm. If their classmates conclude that someone’s work is written by AI, they’ll very likely marginalize that student and pay no further attention to reviewing his work, choosing instead to focus of other students whose work feels more genuine. Worse, it gets around on social media, and the offender is then made to wear the academic Scarlet Letter for the rest of time. It works.
Solutions That Don’t Work
Detection tools? They seem to get it wrong as often as they get it right. Hand-written assignments? Hope your eyes are better than mine. In-class written assignments? Uses class time better used for teaching. Keep students after school to write drafts of their essays, using limited access computers, and require them to explain each content revision in subsequent drafts? I’ve seen that one… good luck with that. Oral presentations and exams? For many, the anxiety is overwhelming and their performances are boring and off-putting. Incorporate authentic student experience into questions? Most students will find themselves at a loss in drawing personal connections to the lessons of history. Constant quizzes? Fear-based learning (but that’s another story). Create stricter standards? That just ups the cat-and-mouse game, and the mice are always cleverer than the cats (they’re better motivated). Draconian honor codes? Get real. Stop written assignments? That might work, but what are you going to replace them with? Textbooks are dinosaurs, and what’s needed is a new cornerstone of instruction.
Any proper engagement with history deserves a lifetime, not 16 weeks. So perhaps WisdomMaps answer to the highest pedagogical purpose of all: the need to instill a lifelong love for learning. As Socrates said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
Here are several examples of journals done by my students. They’re not necessarily the best examples, but they do provide a representative sample of the kind of work that merits top marks. I have also posted a sample syllabus from one of my recent courses; the Orientation part discusses the maps.
Sample Student Journal 1: China’s Qing Dynasty
Sample Student Journal 2: India’s Maurya Dynasty
Sample Student Journal 3: Civil Rights Movement
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