The role of goal orientations and learning approaches in explaining digital concept mapping utilization in problem-based learning

Concept mapping has received increasing attention and application in higher education as an effective instructional strategy. However, little is known about how higher-education students’ different motivations for learning might be related to the way they use digital concept mapping for effective learning. This study sought to design and assess an intervention program that employs digital concept mapping in problem-based learning and to evaluate the effectiveness of using this tool among students with different achievement-goal profiles on learning and deep versus surface approaches to learning. Data were collected from 129 undergraduate students from three higher-education institutions located in Israel and Austria and analyzed by using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling. The findings indicated that digital concept mapping could benefit higher-education students, specifically at the cognitive level, in order to specify and identify the interrelationships among arguments and to learn about the topic. Another finding showed that deep learners and mastery-approach learners perceived concept mapping as an effective tool mainly for self-regulating their learning during the intervention. It is suggested to find ways to scaffold surface learners’ involvement in activities that enable them to solve complex problems by underlining the benefits of technology-enabled platforms for their learning and thus have them acknowledge concept mapping as a practice that fosters meaningful learning.