Unlocking Learning: How Maps Boost Teaching and Situational Awareness

Zoomed-in section of a learning map for a cybersecurity course. Colored zones represent thematic clusters of knowledge. White rectangles connected by lines show discrete learning objectives such as identifying network terminology, comparing WPA/WPA2 vs WEP, and sniffing WiFi networks. The central node, 'Wireless Networks Cracking,' is highlighted in yellow, with connections to both course-level skills and real-world application targets in a side panel.

Tue, 05/13/2025

Jaclyn Dudek and Julianna Stockton

When we think of maps, we often envision tools for navigating physical spaces—finding our way through new cities, hiking trails, or even complex airports. But what if maps could help us navigate learning? In the ever-evolving world of education, learning maps offer just that: a means of “staying found” in the complex landscape of knowledge acquisition. This post dives into the concept of learning maps and how they enhance "situational awareness" for educators, helping them trim, bridge, and decompress content for more effective teaching.

What Are Learning Maps?

Learning maps are non-linear visual representations of the skills, knowledge, and competencies that students need to acquire in a particular course or subject. Unlike traditional course structures, which break down content into weeks or modules, learning maps offer a more holistic view. They show how different concepts are connected, the prerequisites required to grasp each idea, and the pathways students might follow as they build their expertise.

In a sense, learning maps act like the maps hikers use to navigate trails: they show the landmarks, alternate routes, and potential obstacles, giving educators and learners a better sense of where they are, where they've been, and where they’re heading next.

Why Educators Need Better Tools

Educators are experts in their disciplines, but that expertise can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Known as the "expert blind spot," this phenomenon makes it difficult for teachers to predict which concepts students will struggle with. Educators may overlook foundational knowledge that, for them, is second nature but, for their students, may still be unclear or confusing. This is where learning maps come in handy—they help make the learning process visible, not just for students, but also for educators.

By visualizing the "terrain" of their course or subject, educators can better assess where students are in their learning journeys, what obstacles might be coming up, and how to guide them to the next checkpoint. This ability to navigate learning landscapes is what we refer to as "situational awareness" in education.

Situational Awareness in Teaching

In aviation, situational awareness refers to the pilot’s ability to understand their environment, anticipate changes, and respond to challenges. The same idea can be applied to teaching. Just as a pilot needs to keep track of their location, altitude, and trajectory, educators need to be aware of where their students are in the learning process and how they are progressing.

By incorporating situational awareness into their teaching practice, educators can anticipate where students might struggle, which concepts need more reinforcement, and how to bridge gaps in knowledge. This approach helps teachers make real-time adjustments, ensuring that the learning experience is fluid and responsive to students’ needs.

Learning Maps in Action: A Cybersecurity Case Study

To see this concept in action, consider a case study involving a cybersecurity course. Cybersecurity is a relatively new and rapidly evolving field, with complex and interconnected topics like network security, password cracking, and penetration testing.

Researchers developed a proof-of-concept learning map for a cybersecurity course aimed at undergraduate students. The map broke down the course into "neighborhoods" such as basic networking, reconnaissance, and wireless network cracking, showing how each concept builds on the next. The result was a non-linear, interactive tool that gave educators and students a birds-eye view of the course content. Instead of moving through the material in a straight line, students could see how the different concepts interconnected and follow their own paths based on their strengths and interests.

The map also highlighted key assessment points, helping educators see where students would demonstrate their skills and allowing for adjustments in teaching methods or content delivery. In this way, the map supported both students’ learning and educators' situational awareness, giving them the tools to trim unnecessary content, bridge knowledge gaps, and decompress complex ideas into more manageable chunks.

Decompressing, Trimming, and Bridging Content

Let’s break down these three core teaching practices that learning maps support:

Decompressing: This involves breaking down complex concepts into smaller, more accessible components. Just like how a map breaks a region into distinct landmarks, a learning map breaks a subject into bite-sized ideas that students can more easily grasp.
Trimming: Sometimes, less is more. Trimming is the process of scaling down content to match students' current knowledge levels while maintaining the integrity of the subject. Learning maps allow educators to focus on the most essential information, omitting unnecessary details or diving deeper when students are ready for more advanced material.
Bridging: This is all about linking ideas together across different subjects or courses. For example, a cybersecurity concept might connect with broader IT skills or ethical hacking principles. Learning maps help educators create these bridges, making abstract or theoretical ideas more tangible and relevant to students' future careers.

The Future of Learning Maps

While learning maps are already showing promise in fields like cybersecurity, their potential goes far beyond any one subject. By making learning visible, these maps can be applied to a wide range of disciplines and educational settings. Whether used in higher education, professional training, or even K-12 schools, learning maps can help educators and students alike navigate the complex landscapes of modern education.

So the next time you're teaching—or learning—remember: a map might just be the tool you need to "stay found.". Learning maps aren’t just about finding your way; they’re about understanding where you are, where you’re going, and how best to get there.

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Figure 1:

Top box includes various panels of colored rectangles. Within each are smaller white rectangles connected by blue arrows, within and across the colored panels. The white rectangles represent small 'nodes' that capture fine-grain knowledge, skills, and abilities distributed across the map canvas. They are connected in different ways via lines forming a large network or interconnected nodes, creating clusters in specific areas. Bottom box is an expansion of the section on the top left of the top figure. Caption includes additional details.

Figure 1 Caption:

Top: Decompression of an entire 3 credit course. Each node is a small piece of knowledge or task with connections to the next path. The colored areas represent different neighborhoods of knowledge or what could be considered instructional units. The concentration of nodes represents the module or topic title in the course.

Bottom: Detail of full learning map (expanded from grey rectangle).

Figure 2:

A diagram with a light blue panel on the right, within which are 3 columns of rectangles. There are also a series of small white rectangles representing knowledge nodes outside the blue panel.

In the blue panel, the right most column has 2 green and 4 white rectangles, which reads, from top to bottom: Exfiltration, Persistance [sic], Exploit, Pre / Build and Attack, Vulnerability Management, and Recon / Discovery. These are connected by linear lines, and all are connected to the bottom rectangle by curved lines.

There are an additional two columns of yellow stickies have additional writing, all of which begin with “Learning Targets”. Some of the yellow stickies are connected to the smaller white rectangles via lines.

Figure 2 Caption:

Bridging. The right most panel in blue depicts the steps (green and white rectangles) and related learning targets (yellow squares) of two separate sets of operations in cyber defensive and offensive methodologies common in industry. The linear methodology progresses based on the activities of the previous step.

These industry learning targets connect with discrete knowledge nodes identified in the course-based map (outside the blue panel), indicating how they bridge or cross map with industry methods.