Premium
Does the use of analogies contribute to conceptual change?
Author(s) -
Dagher Zoubeida R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/sce.3730780605
Subject(s) - conceptual change , construct (python library) , concept learning , epistemology , psychology , conceptual framework , philosophy of science , social psychology , cognitive psychology , mathematics education , computer science , philosophy , programming language
The nature of the contribution of analogies to conceptual change is far from straight forward. First, review of three studies and evidence from other sources point to a modest contribution of analogies to normal conceptual change. Second, the construct of conceptual change has been defined in many ways with more preeminence given to radical conceptual change. I point out that weak or normal conceptual change is worthy of equal attention from science educators. Third, conceptualizing conceptual change in terms of gradations on a continuum enables teachers and researchers to achieve a clearer understanding of the way in which analogies contribute to conceptual change. Fourth, in order to give analogies a fair evaluation, the conceptual change paradigm ought to endorse a broader conception of change which conjoins propositional and procedural knowledge and accounts for the affective and creative processes that are associated with the education of the whole person and not only the learning of specific concepts. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.