What is exemplification?

Example: When Joseph Novak introduced concept mapping at Cornell in 1972, he was trying to solve a specific problem: children could recite science definitions but couldn't use them. A student could say 'energy is the capacity to do work' and pass a test, but couldn't explain why a ball rolls downhill or why a pot of water boils. The definitions were floating — abstract propositions disconnected from anything the children had actually experienced. Novak's solution was to have students draw explicit 'exemplifies' links between abstract concepts and concrete instances they had personally encountered. A student who connected 'energy transfer' to 'the warm feeling when I hold a mug of hot chocolate' wasn't just memorizing a definition. She was grounding the abstraction in sensory experience, creating a retrieval path from the abstract back to the concrete. The concept didn't change. The student's ability to use it did — because it was now anchored to something real.

This concept is part of Relationship Mapping in the How to Think curriculum.