The use of concept maps to evaluate critical thinking in the clinical setting

Concept mapping is a teaching–learning strategy that can be used to evaluate a nursing student's ability to critically think in the clinical setting. It has been used in disciplines other than nursing to allow the learner to visually reorganize and arrange information in a manner that promotes learning of concepts that interrelate.There are various approaches that can be employed when developing a concept map; however, the end result is diagramming major concepts and associated data in a format that is logical to the learner. By having the students use information for patients they actually provide care for in the clinical setting, faculty can evaluate their ability to identify priority data and relationships between conditions and their associated care.