Premium
Learning from analogy‐enhanced science text
Author(s) -
Glynn Shawn M.,
Takahashi Tomone
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199812)35:10<1129::aid-tea5>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - analogy , recall , schema (genetic algorithms) , science education , conceptual change , concept learning , mathematics education , analogical reasoning , computer science , cognitive science , psychology , cognitive psychology , linguistics , information retrieval , philosophy
The present study examined the role that an elaborate analogy can play when middle school students learn a major concept from a science text. The elaborate analogy had both graphic and text components that integrated and mapped key features from an analog (a factory) to the target concept (an animal cell). The target features were the functions of the cell parts. In Experiment 1, eighth graders who studied an analogy‐enhanced text had greater immediate and 2‐week recall of cell‐part functions than students who studied a control text. In Experiment 2, sixth graders who studied an analogy‐enhanced text considered the target concept to be more understandable than students who studied a control text. The sixth graders who studied the analogy‐enhanced text also had greater immediate and 2‐week retention, as measured by both recall and recognition. In both experiments, the analogy was interpreted as acting as a mediator between the students' existing knowledge and the new knowledge in the text. The analogy mapped a familiar, concrete schema onto that of the target concept, making the target concept more understandable and memorable. Implications for the meaningful learning of science text are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 1129–1149, 1998.