The impact of brainstorming and mind mapping strategies on improving reading comprehension skills among sixth-grade elementary school students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of brainstorming and mind mapping strategies on developing reading comprehension skills among sixth-grade students in Tuz Khurmatu during the 2025–2026 academic year. The study employed a quasi-experimental design and included a sample of 242 students divided into two experimental groups (brainstorming and mind mapping) and a control group.

Results indicated that brainstorming increased students’ average scores from 12.84 to 17.95, while mind mapping raised the average from 11.84 to 16.92, demonstrating the effectiveness of both strategies in enhancing reading comprehension. No significant differences were observed in overall reading comprehension between the two groups; however, mind mapping outperformed brainstorming in developing critical and creative comprehension skills. The study concluded that both strategies are effective in improving reading comprehension, with mind mapping showing superiority in higher-order comprehension skills, highlighting the importance of active learning strategies in fostering critical and creative thinking among students.

The results showed that the mind mapping strategy had a significant impact on reading comprehension skills, with the mean score increasing from 11.84 to 16.92 after the strategy's implementation. This statistically significant increase indicates that mind mapping is effective in improving reading comprehension skills, organizing ideas, and connecting information.

No statistically significant differences were found between the brainstorming and mind mapping groups in overall reading comprehension. The significance level was 0.267, and the effect size was low (0.17), suggesting that both strategies had a similarly positive effect on overall reading comprehension.