Cognitive advantages of sustainability concept mapping

Concept maps, which are graphical tools for organizing and connecting knowledge, hold promise for supporting students across disciplines in exercising systems thinking while tackling sustainability issues. We conducted a study to quantify cognitive load and performance (as an indicator of cognitive flexibility) among undergraduate students (N = 25) when engaging in sustainability concept mapping, as compared to simple listing tasks. Participants created two concept maps and two lists, engaging with four sustainability topics: water availability, climate change, food security, and renewable energy. During tasks, perceived and neurological cognitive load were assessed using the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) and a B-Alert X10 electroencephalogram (EEG), respectively. Concept mapping performance was quantified using established Traditional and Categorical Methods. Participants experienced higher perceived load (p < 0.001) and similar neurological load (p = 0.291) during concept mapping, as compared to listing. Higher neurological load during concept mapping was associated only with lower effort (ρ = −0.416, p < 0.01). Concept maps demonstrating greater breadth and connectedness of knowledge were associated with lower perceived total workload (ρ = −0.354, p < 0.05). Also, no concept map performance metric was associated with increased neurological load (p > 0.05). As such, we propose that concept maps may indeed be a uniquely-suited tool for helping students mediate cognitive load during systems thinking, thereby supporting educators in furthering education for sustainable development.