Educationally and pedagogically written and reviewed by Academic Writer Nesian Rose Guevara, BA and Academic Writer Maryna Polishchuk, MA.
What Are Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer is a tool used to visually or spatially represent concepts or ideas in the form of words, phrases, or sentences. It is a piece of paper or a screen with an idea or phrase written at the centers. Readers then add words and information relevant to this concept to create a visual representation of the knowledge. It is commonly used in teaching reading and vocabulary and is useful for illustrating both general and specialized knowledge. In addition, it provides an outline that shows the relationships between concepts, terminology, and/or facts about what is learned.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Graphic Organizers
Using graphic organizers in classroom teaching has many benefits. It is mainly beneficial in reading, writing, and recalling the knowledge learned. In teaching text structure, it is considered an effective and practical tool that visually shows the text’s organization, resulting in increased note-taking of students. It also assists in knowledge comprehension by helping students arrange information, especially when there is a lot of information to process quickly. In reading comprehension, it helps students effectively approach a text or passage by identifying, outlining, and analyzing its various facets. Specifically, it categorizes ideas into groups or chunks, making the information clearer to learners, displays the information in word, phrase, or paragraph form for easier comprehension, and creates meaning from complex words and sentences by breaking them down into smaller chunks (i.e., in words or phrases). It also helps comprehend the context by connecting it to past information and aids in recognizing any misconceptions that might arise while reading a passage. As a result, there is an improvement in learners’ academic performance.
However, graphic organizers can also have drawbacks. For instance, due to its fixed format, graphic organizers can limit learners’ ability to think independently and creatively. This is because it compels learners to write linearly and restricts them to the graphic organiser’s style, arrangement, and content. As a result, the work of learners lacks uniqueness and individuality. In addition, since most graphic organizers simplify concepts or ideas into words or phrases, learners lose their motivation to write or compose longer texts.
Nonetheless, when choosing a learning method or material, educators must ensure that it is engaging and aligned with their intended learning goals.
Examples of Graphic Organizers
Since different graphic organizers have specific requirements for information and communication, they can be classified into four basic formats:
Hierarchical & Network Tree:
This illustrates knowledge’s branching, hierarchy, and classification. It also helps illustrate the relationships between family trees, lineages, and scientific categories.
Conceptual & Spider Map:
This type of graphic organizer, sometimes referred to as a semantic map, explores and lists various components of a main topic.
Sequential & Fishbone Map:
This is used to better understand the cause-effect relationship of ideas in a complex phenomenon.
Cyclical & Cycle Map:
This type of graphic organizer is used to explain how a series of circumstances combine to consistently create a set of results.
The commonly used graphic organizers can belong to any one of the four basic formats or a mixture of them:
- Descriptive or Thematic Map
- Network tree
- Spider map
- Comparative and contrastive map
- The compare-contrast matrix
- Semantic maps
- Character Map
- Brainstorm Web
- Problem and solution map
- Problem-solution outline
- Sequential episodic map
- Fishbone map
- Continuum scale
- Series of events chain
- Story map
- Cycle map
- Human interaction outline
- Diagram
- Venn diagram
Graphic Organizer: Our Unique Perspective
Learning is a complex process that requires the use of various strategies and materials. As an educator, it is necessary to find the most effective method, strategy, and material that can successfully aid in the facilitation of the learning process. One way is through the use of graphic organizers. These are paper-based materials that spatially and visually outline concepts or ideas in the form of organized textual information. They are useful in learning language and reading. In fact, graphic organizers are known to aid in learning text structures. It also helps improve reading comprehension by arranging and chunking passages into smaller texts and groups (i.e., into words, phrases, or sentences). As a result, it assists learners in making meaning out of complex texts or passages. It can also be used before-, during-, and after-reading activities and serves as an outline for revision and recap of the material provided in the readings. Graphic organizers also help make connections between old and new information and correct learners’ misconceptions about the knowledge.
However, its linear and pre-formatted nature limits learners’ ability to be creative, restricting them from making unique and individualized visual representations. Chunking the passage into smaller units also reduces the learners’ innate drive to write longer texts. Despite these drawbacks, the benefits of using graphic organizers in classroom teaching still outweigh them. Nevertheless, educators need to consider and evaluate whether using graphic organizers for a particular lesson is essential and beneficial for student’s learning.
References
Gustina, G., & Syarif, H. (2020). Using graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension at Grade XI of SMAN 3 Lubuk Basung. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 539. 83-88.
Kılıçkaya, F. (2019). A review of studies on graphic organizers and language learner performance. APACALL Newsletter. 6-11.
Rahat, L., Rahman, G., & Ullah, S. (2020). Impact of graphic organizers on reading comprehension of English learners at intermediate level. Sir Syed Journal of Education & Social Research (SJESR), 3(3). 128-134. DOI:10.36902/sjesr-vol3-iss3-2020(128-134)
To use, or not to use graphic organizers. (2022, December 1). Collaborative Classroom. https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/to-use-or-not-to-use-graphic-organizers/