Definition: A mind map is a mental chart, heuristicdiagram or heuristic scheme or topogram; it imitates how the human brain represents in a visual, analog and holistic structure concepts, ideas, tasks, problems or other elements related to a central theme. Ideas about the main theme, or "branches", are laid out clockwise in rays around the central image. Topics and ideas of secondary importance are represented in the form of "sub-branches" from the main branches. Objective: Create, structure, classify and visualize ideas, concepts, problems How to do a mind map: You start with the issue, the problem or the question in the center of the mind map: Then you add lines with the main parameters. Sub-parameters can at any time be added to the structure as sub-branches. It is recommended to use not only words, but symbols, pictures, graphs, pictograms and various colors which makes it easier for the human brain to memorize. Application: A mind map is used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision-making. Mind mapping is good for exploring one's thoughts, for developing ideas and project plans. This method enhances the brainstorming method in a structured way and helps to go from a rough project draft to a more detailed structure in a project. This method is useful for any kind of creating, engineering, learning, memorizing, organizing, planning, developing, decision making, problem solving in professional and private life. Mind maps can also be realized with the aid of special SW programs such as Mind Manager. This allows a project team to work simultaneously on the same basis and to progress in a participatory way. These tools can be used effectively to organize large amounts of information, combining spatial organization, dynamic hierarchical structuring and node folding. The mind map can be contrasted with the similar idea of concept mapping. The former is based on radial hierarchies and tree structures, whereas concept maps are based on connections between concepts. Concept maps also encourage one to label the connections one makes between nodes, while mind maps are based on separated focused topics; both of them have been found to enhance meaningful learning while enabling the potential as a true cognitive, intuitive, spatial and metaphorical mapping. Evaluation: Strengths of mind maps: Helps to structure and visualize simultaneously a large amount of facts in a brain-friendly way Weaknesses: Too much information in a mind map might confuse so that the user cannot distinguish the most important from the less important issues
