Xavier: an educational software for evaluating concept maps
Concept Maps; Learning Assessment; Educational technology; Virtual Learning Environments.
With the technological and pedagogical revolutions that have occurred since the last century, the teaching and learning processes have been changing at a fast pace, however not with the forms of assessment. Although students learn through multimedia devices and methodologies, both inside and outside the classroom, teachers still lack adequate tools for assessment and visualization of learning. Because of this one ends up returning to the traditional evaluation methodologies, such as the classic paper tests, or an online version of them. But there are other alternatives: concept maps have already established themselves as an appropriate pedagogical tool for visualization and assessment of learning, and there are several computer programs that allow their creation. However, there is a gap to be filled: although there are already proposed criteria for evaluation and correction of concept maps, there are few tools that use them, or allow teachers to create their own evaluation criteria. Especially tools in Portuguese, which are available online and for free. In these new tools what is indispensable are ways to visualize data of learning from both individual and collective students. Considering these questions, this work reports the development process of the Xavier software, a system for knowledge assessment through concept maps.