Concept maps from a recorded lecture
A concept map turns an hour of talking into a picture you can hold in your head: the ideas as boxes, and — this is the part that matters — the relationships between them written on the lines. Alessandria draws one for every lecture you upload, and a second one for the whole course when you have several. You drag the nodes around; the map is something you use, not a picture you look at.
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A concept map is not a mind map
The two names get used interchangeably, and they are not the same tool. A mind map has one idea in the middle and branches radiating out: it is a structured list, and it is very good for planning an essay.
A concept map is a network, and every line carries a label saying what the relationship is: «causes», «is a special case of», «happens before», «is opposed by». The labels are the whole point. «Insulin — glucagon» tells you nothing; «insulin lowers blood glucose, glucagon raises it» is the thing you get asked about.
If what you want is a radial diagram to brainstorm with, a mind map tool will serve you better. This is a different instrument for a different job.
What a lecture map looks like
- Boxes for the concepts the lecture actually spent time on, not every noun that got said. A map with sixty nodes is a picture of a lecture, not a study aid.
- Labelled links: every connection says what kind of connection it is.
- Shapes that mean something, so you can see at a glance what is a definition, what is a process and what is an example.
- Draggable: you move things around, and rearranging a map with your own hands is most of the reason it sticks.
It opens in the browser, on a laptop or a phone, and it is built to be readable on a small screen rather than being a desktop diagram shrunk down.
How to actually use one
The common mistake is treating the map as something to look at. Looking at a map you did not build teaches you very little, in the same way that reading someone else’s notes teaches you very little.
- Cover the labels and say them out loud. Go link by link and state the relationship before you uncover it. This is the same test the exam will run.
- Rebuild it from memory on paper, then compare. What you left out is your revision list, and it takes ten minutes to find.
- Use it as an index. A node you cannot talk about for thirty seconds is a section of the notes to go back to.
The lecture map and the semester map
Every lecture gets its own map. Separately, once a course has several lectures in it, you can ask for a semester map that reads all of them together.
It is not the lecture maps stitched side by side. The interesting connections in a course are the ones between things said six weeks apart — the topic in week two that turns out to be the special case of the rule in week eight — and no map of a single lecture can see those, because within one lecture they are not there to see.
What the map does not do
- It does not replace the notes. A map is the skeleton; the reasoning, the caveats and the worked examples live in the notes, and the exam asks about those.
- It does not add anything from outside. Only what the lecture contained. A missing link usually means the lecturer did not make it — which is itself worth knowing.
- It cannot be downloaded. Maps are read and used inside Alessandria; there is no export button.
From half an hour of talking to a map you can read
…so demand goes up, right, and if supply doesn’t move, the price goes up with it. That’s the whole story in one line. But — and here’s where people lose marks — that only holds if nothing else moves, ceteris paribus, and in the real world things do move. A frost in Brazil, say: that shifts supply, and now you’ve got two things changing at once and the direction of the price isn’t obvious any more. Which is exactly the kind of thing I like to ask…
Concept map — price formation
Demand increases → price rises (link: causes, supply unchanged)
Ceteris paribus → price prediction (link: is a condition of)
Supply shock, e.g. a frost → supply (link: shifts)
Two simultaneous shifts → price direction (link: makes indeterminate) — flagged in the lecture as a typical exam question
A made-up example: we wrote the lecture below ourselves. No classroom recording and no real lecturer’s material ever appears on this page.
Questions about concept maps
What is the difference from a mind map?
A mind map radiates from one central idea and is essentially a structured list. A concept map is a network in which every link is labelled with the kind of relationship it is — and the labels are the part you get examined on.
Can I edit the map?
You can move the nodes around and rearrange it, which is most of what makes it stick. It is not a drawing tool for building a map from scratch.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It opens in the phone browser and is designed to be read on a small screen, rather than being a desktop diagram scaled down.
Can I get one map for a whole course?
Yes, as a separate tool. It reads all the lectures together and finds the connections between things said weeks apart, which no single-lecture map can see.
Can I export it?
No. Maps are read and used inside Alessandria; there is no download button, and that is a deliberate choice rather than a missing feature.
See the map your own lecture produces
One recording is enough to judge it. Cover the labels, say the links out loud, and see how much of the hour you actually kept.
Your first two lectures are free. No credit card needed.