LAUSR

The development of a fast-paced and highly diversified scholarly environment (Herman et al. 2020) and the exponential growth of health professions education research (Thibault 2020), call for new and innovative scholarly communication features within medical education journals to meet the growing needs of a new generation of health professions educators. The use of graphic or plain language summaries alongside traditional articles may be an alternative model of knowledge synthesis, organization, and dissemination that will eventually reach a larger audience of educators engaging them in the scientific discourse. Concept maps are graphic representations drawn to depict an understanding of the meaning of a set of concepts. Concept mapping is a creative activity that fosters reflection, knowledge organization, meaningful learning, critical thinking, and integration of concept organization (Daley and Torre 2010). Concept maps can be used as an illustrative learning strategy to visualize and synthesize the meaning of new ideas generated by combining several concepts. During the synthesis process, new meaning and understanding are generated thus providing explanatory power about the topic that would not otherwise be captured (Ausubel et al. 1978). The new meaning is most often derived from a different interaction and relationship among concepts. Concept maps are created in response to a specific focus question. The general concepts, related to the focus question, are identified, and placed at the top of the map. Then the more specific sub-concepts are linked to the general concepts and to each other through the use of linking words. The organization of concepts and the choice of linking words are what give the map its powerful meaning and represent the structure of knowledge being created in response to the focus question. Medical Teacher is introducing an innovative initiative to leverage the learning power of concept mapping for the benefit of its readers. The goal of this initiative is to develop a concept map linked to one article appearing in the current issue of Medical Teacher. We hope this new feature will provide the reader with a new and a more in-depth understanding of a single critical aspect of the published article that could not be further expanded in the publication. This new feature is based on the premise that individuals construct meaning by forming connections between new concepts and pre-existing knowledge structures. Linking what is currently known to new knowledge along with the visual processing of information deepens knowledge organization and co-construction. We maintain that by developing a concept map that expands on a specific topic in an article, readers will be assisted in building a new and powerful understanding of important concepts. In addition, this feature can assist readers to reorganize their cognitive frameworks and knowledge organization structures. In this regular two-page feature each map will be introduced with a very brief, concise synopsis of one topic in the article. This synopsis is not meant to be a full review of the topic, rather it will serve the purpose of providing the reader with basic information to better navigate the content of the map. Additionally, each map will consist of a focus question which signals to the reader what aspect of the article is being emphasized in the map. The focus questions help determine which concepts are selected for inclusion in the map and they assist in helping to determine the depth and extent of the map created. The focus question will allow the reader to hone in on a specific feature of a potentially large topic. Our hope is that the focus of each map will assist in expanding the understanding of major concepts within the article. We hope this new feature will augment readers’ understanding of the article, promote integration of new knowledge, and allow discovery of new meanings about health professions education research topics. In the words of Marcel Proust (1923), one of the most powerful ways to promote transformation “consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”. We are indeed hoping to introduce “new eyes”!