About Use Cases

Use Cases in Education and Learning

Mind mapping is widely used in the education field. It's a recognized and efficient technique for both students and teachers to support learning through visual representations of knowledge and their associated relations and connections. Mind maps resemble the patterns our brain creates when saving and retrieving knowledge. Collaborating via web-based mind mapping tools also deepens media literacy of both student and teacher.

Boost your memory

In 2002 Farrand, Hussain, and Hennesey set out to measure the effectiveness of mind mapping. To establish a baseline, 50 study subjects were given a 600 word passage of text before separating them into two groups – the ‘self selected study technique’ and the ‘mind map’.

Subjects were then given 30 minutes to study the text. The ‘self selected study’ group was left to their own methods, while the mind map group were first trained in the principles of mind mapping, and then given the same allotment of time to study the text.

After the 30 minutes, both study groups showed an improvement over the baseline testing scores. However, when tested one week later, the ‘mind map’ group demonstrated a 10% increase in factual recall.

Lecture Notes Map

Brainstorm in projects

Besides taking notes, students spend a lot of time on projects, many of them collaborative. Whether you're working with fellow students on a team science project, or compiling thoughts for your thesis, mind maps are a great way of structuring these topics.

Set up an online brainstorming session with other students - whether they're in town or in Australia - and collect ideas and tasks for your project. When the session's over, the shared mind map will still be there and every one may continue to refine the ideas right where evrybody else can see it. MindMeister's notification mechanisms will inform everybody when the mind map has been changed - a nice way of making sure that good work doesn't go unnoticed. Finally, when your concept is finished, simply share the map with your teacher for "sign off".

Smart Student's Map

Archive your notes

Both High School and University curricula are based on progressive learning. Meaning, Biology is often taught before Chemistry, which is a precursor to Physics. Instead of having to jog your memory about carbon atoms and which chemical compounds they bond easily with – wouldn’t it be much easier to refer to last year’s notes?

The problem is, notes are just that – concepts written on paper, and therefore subject to loss. By using MindMeister mind maps to take notes, you’re automatically creating a permanent archive, stored on the web, shareable, and available forever, whenever you want.

Archived Notes Map

Prepare your presentations

Mind maps are the quintessential method of visual thinking. By using a central topic, and creating branches to flesh out this topic, users maintain up to 10% more information. While slide shows and points of power are effective methods of presentations, why not improve your viewers’ retention of your topic as well?

By using mind maps to present your topic, you’ll automatically be engaging user’s visual thinking skills, as well as providing them with a permanent archive of your talk for them to refer to at a later date.

An active, engaging presentation with an immediate take-away for students – what professor wouldn’t be impressed?

Presentation Map