The Hyperlinked Visual-Spatial Map as a Novel Way to Explore an Academic Discipline

Abstract

Becoming familiar with the overabundance of learning theories is daunting for most graduate students pursuing PhDs in education. This think-piece explores three strategies to support graduate students in familiarizing themselves with learning theories in education, emphasizing the third strategy of using visual-spatial digital maps. As a first strategy, a graduate student might conduct searches in the hope of finding theories that fit with one’s interests. This scattershot approach involves randomness, as the relative novice is compelled to navigate and make sense of diverse ideas from a vast field of knowledge. A second, more systematic strategy is to read a textbook written or assembled by highly regarded authorities in the field. This approach affords a much more coherent way of reviewing relevant theories in a field of study, but the biases of authors and editors can skew it. A third strategy involves using emergent, hyperlinked, visual-spatial digital maps. Two such maps are presented and used to illustrate current and emerging possibilities for exploring and locating oneself in a vibrant research domain.