Strangman (2000) defines a graphic organizer as a visual and graphic display that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task. Graphic organizers are also sometimes referred to as knowledge maps, concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or concept diagrams.
Graphic organizers are useful tools which students can use at the prewriting stage when engaging in the writing process. Students are sometimes faced with the issue of mental block; graphic organizer help with this problem by helping them organize their thoughts on paper. Through the use of graphic organizers students are able to write clear and focused essays.
According to Indu(2001), graphic organizers are useful tool which facilitates the student’s ability to learn and understand better. However, Indu noted that the effectiveness of these strategies depend of the involvement of the teacher and her ability in explaining to students how to use such tools. Graphic organizers are suitable for students of all age of group; it helps them organize complex information onto concise visual maps.
Graphic Organizers
· Visually sort new information into familiar categories
· Analyze the relationships between old and new information
· Create a simple structure for thinking about information in new ways
· Review concepts and demonstrate understanding
Types of graphic organizers
A Descriptive or Thematic Map works well for mapping generic information, but particularly well for mapping hierarchical relationships.
A Comparative and Contrastive Map can help students to compare and contrast two concepts according to their features.
Another way to compare concepts’ attributes is to construct a Compare-Contrast Matrix.
A Human Interaction Outline is effective for organizing events in terms of a chain of action and reaction (especially useful in social sciences and humanities).
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