FREEMIND FOR THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ELECTRICAL MACHINES

It is a well-known fact that mind mapping is a technique of developing notes and is a powerful
tool in assisting and motivating students’ learning. Nevertheless, mind mapping is not a
method used to deliver lectures for engineering subjects specifically at the Universiti
Teknologi PETRONAS in Perak, Malaysia. The normal and common practice is to use
Power Point presentations, instead. As an alternative approach to the well-accepted practice,
FreeMind, a mind mapping software, is used as a teaching mode for Electrical Machines
subject. Lecture notes are also prepared using FreeMind. The authors discover that this mind
mapping approach is a very helpful tool for lecturers to show linkages between topics in
Electrical Machines course to students. Students will also be able to grasp the ideas globally.
Besides, the notes that are prepared by using this software are simple and made easy for
students to understand and remember the subject matter. The objectives of this study are to
investigate students’ responses and performances with the aid of mind mapping software.
One hundred and fifty undergraduate students taking Electrical Machines are involved in the
study. The data for the purpose of this study is collected over fourteen weeks of teaching and
learning. Students are given clear instructions at the onset of the study. The outcome of this
study shows that students have responded positively towards the implementation of FreeMind
in the teaching and learning of the subject.