A few years ago, Tony Buzan, the popular British psychologist and educational consultant who invented mind mapping, went to the Philippines upon the invitation of AHEAD Tutorial & Review Center to teach this revolutionary concept to educators and students.
“Learning is curvilinear,” Buzan says. He adds that the brain gets bored, even unhappy, when learning is linear and rigid. That’s why mind mapping is better than note taking when it comes to learning concepts because it mirrors the way our mind works.
Mind mapping also makes learning more exciting with images, sketches, and color. “Studies in a London university show that people who use color and image do better than those who don’t,” says Buzan.
Making a mind map is simple enough. Get a blank piece of paper. At the center, draw an image of the main idea. Use at least three different colors. Then use related words and write them down as branches around the main idea. The lines should be as long as the word written on them. Buzan says these lines should be tapered, like waves of thought. You may place pictures or draw stick figures on the branches to make the ideas more vivid for you.
Your mind map can help you in most anything: studying your lessons, planning your day, or organizing your room. It’s so simple that you can teach your kid brother or sister to do it as well.
AHEAD Tutorial & Review Center has been teaching its students mind mapping for many years now with very favorable results. Students say that mind mapping has not only helped them understand concepts, it has also helped them generate new and better ideas for school projects. Try it now!