TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

Introduction to Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers guide learners thinking as they fill in and build upon a visual map or
diagram. Graphic organizers are some of the most effective visual learning strategies for
students and are applied across the curriculum to enhance learning and understanding
of subject matter content. In a variety of formats dependent upon the task, graphic
organizers facilitate students learning by helping them identify areas of focus within a
broad topic, such as a novel or article. Because they help the learner make connections
and structure thinking, students often turn to graphic organizers for writing projects.
In addition to helping students organize their thinking and writing process, graphic
organizers can act as instructional tools. Teachers can use graphic organizers to
illustrate a students knowledge about a topic or section of text showing areas for
improvement. For more graphic organizer examples including, webs, concept maps and
mind maps

Definition of a Graphic Organizer

A graphic organizer is a visual display that demonstrates relationships between facts,
concepts or ideas. A graphic organizer guides the learners thinking as they fill in and
build upon a visual map or diagram. They are also informally used as a term to describe
all visual learning strategies such as concept mapping, webbing, mind mapping, and
more.

Types of Graphic Organizers

Webs, concept maps, mind maps and plots such as stack plots and Venn diagrams are
some of the types of graphic organizers used in visual learning to enhance thinking skills
and improve academic performance on written papers, tests and homework
assignments.

Teaching with Graphic Organizers

Used across the curriculum, teachers use graphic organizers to teach many things,
including but not limited to:

Cause and effect

Note taking
Comparing and contrasting concepts

Organizing problems and solutions

Relating information to main themes and ideas
Organizational skills
Vocabulary knowledge
Sequencing

Teaching and learning with graphic organizers. (2016). Retrieved on 16 June

2016 from http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning/graphic-organizers

What is a Flow Chart?

By Nicholas Hebb

Flow Chart Defined

A flow chart is a graphical or symbolic representation of a process. Each step in the
process is represented by a different symbol and contains a short description of the
process step. The flow chart symbols are linked together with arrows showing the
process flow direction.

Common Flowchart Symbols

Different flow chart symbols have different meanings. The most common flow chart
symbols are:

Terminator: An oval flow chart shape indicating the start or end of the

process.
Process: A rectangular flow chart shape indicating a normal process flow

step.
Decision: A diamond flow chart shape indication a branch in the process flow.

Connector: A small, labeled, circular flow chart shape used to indicate a jump

in the process flow. (Shown as the circle with the letter A, below.)
Data: A parallelogram that indicates data input or output (I/O) for a process.
Document: Used to indicate a document or report (see image in sample flow
chart below).

(A complete list of flow chart symbols can be found in the flowchart symbol
definitions article.)
A simple flow chart showing the symbols described above can be seen below:

Three Alternative Definitions of Flow Chart

The above definition is correct, but it falls short of describing the coolness of flow
charts.
Q: Did you just say the coolness of flow charts?
A: Yes, I did.

I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but in my years as a manufacturing engineer,

flow charts and Pareto charts were my two favorite tools for characterizing and
improving processes. As such, I learned to appreciate the different ways that you can
use them.

As-Is Flowchart
The first cool thing about flow charts is that they let you see the process flow at a
glance, so myfirst alternative definition of "Flow Chart" is a Snap Shot of your
Business Processes. This is commonly called an As-Is Flowchart. You can tell a
lot about the complexity (and often over-complexity) of many business processes
just by looking at an as-is flow chart of them - without even reading the text in the
symbols. You can easily see the flow of information and materials, branches in the
process, opportunities for infinite loops, the number of process steps, interdepartmental operations, and more.

Process Zoom Lens

The second cool thing about flow charts is that they let you see the process flow at
different levels, so my second alternative definition of Flow Chart is a Zoom
Lens for your Business Processes. Flow charts are often categorized in 3 levels:
high-level, mid-level and low-level (detailed). A high-level flow chart could be a
process defined at the company-wide or large-system level. A mid-level flow chart
could be a process defined at the department level, and a low-level flow chart could
be a process defined at working level.
For example, I used to run a test department. Product validation was a process step
included in a high-level flow chart in the New Product Introduction procedure. The
validation test process itself was documented in a mid-level flow chart showing the
general department activities required to support qualification testing. Drilling down,
some of the ISO 9000 work instructions for individual test types had low-level,
detailed flow charts documenting how to conduct each test.
Some flow chart tools (including Microsoft Excel) allow you to add hyperlinks to flow
chart symbols. The hyperlinks let you click on a flow chart symbol, drilling down from
a high-level process step to a detailed set of process flow steps. This truly gives you
the zoom lens capability.

Process Test Bed

The third cool thing about flow charts is that they let you perform risk-free
experiments, so with that in mind my third and final alternative definition of Flow
Chart is a Process Test Bed. All process improvements require change, and most
changes involve risk, require work, cost money, or instill some level of emotional
uncertainty and fear. You can mitigate each of these by creating flow charts of any
proposed operational changes. Each flow chart can be a "what-if" that helps the
involved players more easily see the risks involved. Personally, I do before and after
flow charts on all significant process changes.

Other Names for Flow Chart

Unfortunately, the world of flowcharting hasn't come to a unanimous agreement on
what to call flow charts. Common alternative names include: flowchart, process flow
chart, process map, process chart, process model, process flow diagram, or just flow
diagram. Quite frankly, all the variations get a little annoying. I prefer "flowchart" but
use "flow chart" and other terms extensively because that's what people commonly
search for online.
A big annoyance is terms that have different meanings based on context. For
instance, the term "Process Map" often refers to flow charts that assign attribute data
- inputs and outputs - to each process step. But "Process map" is also used to refer
to flow charts that map the interrelationships between top level procedures in an ISO
9000 system. And, I have a book about "Process Mapping" that contains nothing but
traditional flow charts.
Flow Diagram is often synonymous with Data Flow Diagram - a graphical
representation of the information flow in a computer program. I've seen the term
misused to mean standard flow charts as well. Business Process Model Notation
(BPMN) is a more technical type of diagram and should not be used synonymously
with flow chart. Lastly, Activity Diagrams, which are used in UML modeling, are
basically just flow charts, but they are used in conjunction with other types of
diagrams that depict software design and usage.

Hebb, N. (2016). What is a flow chart? Retrieved on 16 June 2016 from

http://www.breezetree.com/articles/what-is-a-flow-chart.htm

Flowchart Benefits
Using flowcharts brings various benefits. Here is an automatic, fullfeatured flowchart program with free flowchart examples and
templates available.

Top Benefits of Flowchart

1. Visual Clarity

One of the biggest benefits of a flowchart is the tool's ability to

visualize multiple progresses and their sequence into a single
document. Stakeholders throughout an organization can easily
understand the workflow while finding out which step is unnecessary
and which progress should be improved.
2. Instant Communication

Teams can use flowcharts to replace meetings. Simply clarifying

progresses offers an easy, visual method to help team members
instantly understand what they should do step by step.
3. Effective Coordination

For project managers and resource schedulers, the benefits of a

flowchart include the ability to sequence events and reduce the
potential for overburdening team members. Eliminating the
unnecessary steps help to save time and resources.
4. Efficiency Increase

Efficiency increases are a significant benefit of flowcharts. The

flowchart lists each step necessary to perform a process. The flowchart

helps a designer remove unnecessary steps in a process, as well as

errors. The flowchart should only include the steps that are
requirements to reach the endpoint of the process.
5. Effective Analysis

With the help of flowchart, problem can be analyzed in more effective

way. It specifically shows what type of action each step in a process
requires. Generally, a rectangle with rounded edges defines the
beginning or end of the process, a diamond shape shows the point at
which a decision is required, and a square block shows an action taken
during the process. A flowchart may also include symbols that show
the type of media in which data is stored, such as a rectangle with a
curved bottom to show a paper document or a cylinder to symbolize a
computer hard drive.
6. Problem Solving

Flowcharts break a problem up into easily definable parts. The defined

process displayed by the flowchart demonstrates the method of solving
a complex problem. A flowchart reduces the chance that a necessary
step for solving a problem will be left out because it appears obvious.
In this way, it reduces cost and wastage of time.
7. Proper Documentation

Digital flowcharts serve as a good paperless documentation, which is

needed for various purposes, making things more efficient.

Flowchart Benefits. (2016). Retrieved on 18 June 2016 from

https://www.edrawsoft.com/flowchart-benefits.php