Group concept mapping in six stages

The six stages of group concept mapping, applied to a university programme review or curriculum redesign. Students, graduates, staff and employers generate statements in answer to one prompt, sort and rate them, and statistics turn the sorts into a map of themes that the group then interprets. Programme directors and quality staff can use it when the structure of a review is itself in question. Koji can sharpen the statements beforehand and test priorities with the whole cohort afterwards.

What's in this process

1. Preparation: Agree one focus prompt and who takes part: students, graduates, staff and employers.
2. Statement generation: Participants brainstorm short answers to the prompt. Edit for duplicates, up to about a hundred.
3. Structuring: Each person sorts statements into piles by similarity and rates them, for example on importance and feasibility.
4. Representation: Multidimensional scaling places often co-sorted statements close together. Cluster analysis groups them.
5. Interpretation: The group names the clusters and reads which matter most from the ratings.
6. Utilisation: The map feeds review priorities, action plans, learning outcomes or evaluation questions.