The Development Process of Learning Science with Analogies : Since the Rise of Constructivism in Science Education

Abstract

This paper presents a development process of learning science with the help of analogies. Ever since science education has come under the influence of Constructivism, the learning of science with analogies has grown to become a popular approach in various areas. There have been two kinds of research focus on analogies. The first involves using analogy as a tool for teaching scientific knowledge; it is an approach that is teacher-centered. The second approach is students-centered wherein analogy is used as a tool for learning. In the first approach, a formulation of teaching procedures with analogies was attempted and established temporarily. Researches on the conceptual change approach have contributed to determining opportunities for the introduction of analogies in science classrooms. With regard to multiple analogies, some of the principles of selecting multiple bases and arranging them were revealed. However, the research focus has begun to shift from teacher-generated analogies to students-generated. It is for this reason that a view has spread which says that using teachergenerated analogies was neither the simple process of students constructing knowledge nor the process of transferring certain structural features from base to target but a process of constructing the analogical relation that the teacher aims at. On the other hand, using students-generated analogies can be traced to employing "selfexplanation" as a learning strategy. The act of using analogies for learning had been seen as a dynamic cycle of "Generation-Evaluation-Modification." When students practiced an analogy generating activity so as to explain scientific phenomena or concepts, their understanding was elaborate and deep. In addition, the effectiveness of social interactions, including group/wholeclass discussions, centered on students-generated analogies was explored. In the latest movements, both the progressions in research on analogy and the international trends in the "Nature of Science" as teaching content embedded in science curricula induced extensions in the role of analogies in science education. This means that analogies should be taught as a method of science, in addition to being used as tools for teaching/learning science.