The study was conducted with the broad objective of determining the impact of transacting the English curriculum via Mind Maps on the cognitive abilities of secondary school students of Maharashtra. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the following research questions were raised: 1.To what extent is the teaching of English through Mind Maps effective in developing the cognitive abilities of secondary school students? 2. To what extent is the transacting of the English subject content through Mind Maps effective in developing the concepts of the English subject formed by secondary school students? 3.To what extent is the transacting of the English subject content through Mind Maps effective in developing the problem solving skills of the secondary school students where the content is transacted through Mind Maps as an alternative mode of curriculum transaction?4.To what extent is the transacting of the English subject content through Mind Maps effective in developing the creative thinking skills of the secondary school students where the content is transacted through Mind Maps as an alternative mode of curriculum transaction?5.To what extent is the transacting of the English subject content through Mind Maps effective in enhancing the retention of content by secondary school students?

The hypotheses of the study were framed in the null form and were as follows: H0 1  There is no significant difference in developing the cognitive abilities (concept formation, problem solving skills and creative thinking skills) of secondary school students when English is taught either by the traditional method or by using Mind Maps.H0 2  There is no significant difference in the concepts formed among secondary school students when English is taught either by the traditional method or by using Mind Maps.H0 3 There is no significant difference in the development of problem-solving skills among secondary school students when English is taught either by the traditional method or by using Mind Maps.H0 4 There is no significant difference in the development of creative thinking skills among secondary school students when English is taught either by the traditional method or by using Mind Maps.H0 5  There is no significant difference in the mean scores of concepts formed, problem solving skills developed and the creative thinking skills of secondary school students when English is taught by using Mind Maps.H0 6 There is no significant difference in the retention of the content among secondary school students when English is taught by the traditional method or by using Mind Maps.

The population consisted of the secondary school students studying in the Maharashtra State Board. For the purpose of the Study, the sample frame was restricted to North-East Mumbai region and the final sample consisted of 200 students studying in Class VII of from three schools which were English medium, coeducational, and with a standing of more than 25 years. The sampling technique was purposive (as schools had to give permission for the Study) followed by randomisation of the subjects.

The present study used the Pretest Posttest Retest Non-equivalent Group Design. The research design was as follows: O1 X O2 O3 and  O4 C O5 O6. Where: O1 and O4 are Pretest scores of the Experimental Group and Control group respectively O2 and O5 are the Post test scores of the Experimental Group and Control group respectively and O3 and O6 are the Re-test (time series) scores of the Experimental Group and Control group respectively. The study had the following variables: Independent variable: In the present study, the treatment variable was the learning module based on Mind Maps. Dependent variables: In this study, the dependent variables were the measures for: Concept Formation 1. Problem Solving Skills 2.Creative Thinking Skills 3. Retention

Since the study used the experimental design, the data for the study was collected through means of the personal data sheet as well as the achievement test set by the researcher before the experiment was conducted (Pretest), at the end of the experiment (Post-test) as well as 30 days after the Posttest. All the tests as well as the interaction with the students were conducted by the researcher personally. Descriptive Analysis of Data: The data was analysed with the help of Microsoft Excel 2010 and the software Minitab 17. The main measures to describe the data were: 1.The arithmetic mean, median and mode to describe measures of central tendency. 2. The range, the inter-quartile range (IQR) and the standard deviation around mean to describe the spread of the distribution. 3. Skewness and kurtosis to assess the normalcy of the data. Inferential Analysis of Data: The inferential statistics to analyse the data were the following: t-test, ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD, Cohen’s d

The research sought to test the overall effectiveness of using Mind Maps to teach English on the cognitive abilities of secondary school students with special focus on concept formation, problem solving skills and creative thinking skills.  It was found that: Impact on Cognitive Abilities: Teaching English through Mind Maps through Mind Maps as compared to the traditional way of teaching has a very significant impact on developing the cognitive abilities of secondary school students.  Impact on Concept Formation: Teaching English through Mind Maps as compared to the traditional way of teaching has a very significant impact on developing the concept formation of secondary school students. Impact on developing problem-solving abilities:  It was found that the overall use of Mind Mapping lessons helped students to brainstorm and visualise various solutions to a problem and hence teaching English through Mind Maps had a significant impact on the developing problem-solving abilities among secondary school students. Impact on developing the creative thinking skills : Teaching English through Mind Maps as compared to the traditional way of teaching has a very significant impact on developing the creative thinking skills of secondary school students. Equal Impact on the dependent variables (concept formation, development of problem solving skills and development of creative thinking skills)? It was found that teaching through the use of Mind Maps has a greater impact on concept formation than on developing problem-solving or creative-thinking skills. Impact on Retention: Teaching English through Mind Maps as compared to the traditional way of teaching was significant in aiding retention.

Theoretical Implications: The findings of the study is consistent with the theories of learning as propounded by Edgar Dale (Cone of Experience) and David Ausubel (Theory of Meaningful Learning.) Mind Maps combine direct purposeful experience along with conversion of the learning into visual and verbal symbols and can thus be considered as a potent technique to provide a powerful learning experience. Correlation with other Researches: The findings and the conclusions reached by the study are also consistent with the research literature available and reviewed for the study. Implications for Teachers: The use of Mind Maps in the classrooms is a methodology which addresses the following challenges successfully as students are active learners and create their own learning leading to a constructive approach to learning: 1. Removing the over dependence of teachers on the textbooks. 2. Making the syllabus suitable for rural children. 3. Shifting the emphasis from rote learning to activity based learning. 4. Making learning fun