ABSTRACT
Graphic organizers enable students to organize new knowledge and all instructors to present a structure around which students may come to understand thoughts, ideas, facts, terms, and other critical course content. Four types of graphic organizers included in the chapter are semantic mapping, semantic feature analysis, syntactic feature analysis, and visual displays. Graphic organizers have the advantage of being easy to use, requiring little class time, and built-in documentation of understanding and learning. Disadvantages include determining which graphic organizer to use and difficulty of assessment. This chapter includes a review of research regarding the effectiveness of graphic organizers relative to student learning, including the timing of graphic organizers, degree of completion, and type of organizer. Seven overall uses for graphic organizers in online courses are also described, along with detailed information about 13 active learning strategies based on graphic organizers.
