Complex instructional analogies and theoretical concept acquisition in college genetics

Baker, William P.; Lawson, Anton E.

doi:10.1002/sce.1031

Cited by 32 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…A number of studies have examined the effect of drawing an analogy between the human circulatory system and the plumbing in a house (Chinn & Malhorta, 2002). In general, using analogies to map unfamiliar concepts onto familiar schemata in memory has a strong positive effect on learning (Baker & Lawson, 2001;Beeth, 1998;Harrison & Treagust, 1996;Peterson & Treagust, 1998;White & Mitchell, 1994). A second example of strategy instruction is the use of prompted reflection through the use of questions (Blank, 2000;Chinn & Brown, 2002;Osman & Hannafin, 2001).…”

Section: Strategy Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Self-Regulation in Science Education: Metacognition as Part of a Broader Perspective on Learning

2006

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The purpose of this article is to review recent research on self-regulated learning and discuss the implications of this research for science education. We draw on examples of self-regulated learning from the science education literature to summarise and illustrate effective instructional methods and the development of metacognitive understanding 1999a;Rickey & Stacy, 2000;White & Mitchell, 1994). We also focus on the crucial role that metacognition plays in self-regulation (Baird & White, 1996;Nichols, Tippins, & Wieseman, 1997;White, 1998).We divide our discussion into two main parts. The first focuses on three components of selfregulated learning, including cognition, metacognition, and motivation. We relate these aspects of self-regulation to current practices in science education. The second section focuses on six general instructional strategies for improving self-regulation in the science classroom. We focus on the use of inquiry based learning, the role of collaborative support, strategy and problem solving instruction, the construction of mental models, the use of technology to support learning, and the role of personal beliefs such as self-efficacy and epistemological world views. These instructional strategies are selected because they reflect extensive research agendas over the last decade within the science education literature and are essential to metacognition and self-regulation (Butler & Winne, 1995;Gunstone, 1999b).Key Words:Self-Regulated Learning Theory: The Role of Cognition, Metacognition, and MotivationSelf-regulated learning refers to our ability to understand and control our learning environments. To do so, we must set goals, select strategies that help us achieve these goals, implement those strategies, and monitor our progress towards our goals (Schunk, 1996). Few students are fully self-regulated; however, those with better self-regulation skills typically learn more with less effort and report higher levels of academic satisfaction (Pintrich, 2000;Zimmerman, 2000).Self-regulated learning theory has a distinguished history in cognitive psychology, with its origins dating back to the social-cognitive learning theory of Albert Bandura. At the heart of Bandura's theory is the idea of reciprocal determinism which suggests that learning is the result of personal, environmental, and behavioural factors. 112GREGORY SCHRAW, KENT J. CRIPPEN AND KENDALL HARTLEY Personal factors include a learner's beliefs and attitudes that affect learning and behaviour. Environmental factors include the quality of instruction, teacher feedback, access to information, and help from peers and parents. Behavioural factors include the effects of prior performance. Reciprocal determinism states that each of these three factors affects the other two factors.During the past two decades, researchers have applied Bandura's (1997) socialcognitive theory to many settings, including school learning. These attempts led to the development of self-regulated learning theory which contends that learning is governed by ...

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Section: Strategy Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Self-Regulation in Science Education: Metacognition as Part of a Broader Perspective on Learning

2006

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“…The use of analogies for instruction, whether initiated by the text, by the teacher, or by the students themselves, has been shown to improve conceptual learning in a variety of science contexts (Dagher, 1995a;Duit, 1991), including psychology (Mayo, 2001), mathematics (Didierjean & Cauzinille-Marmeche, 1998), biology (Baker & Lawson, 2001;Glynn & Takahashi, 1998;Kaufman, Patel, & Magder, 1996;Mason, 1994;Newby, Ertmer, & Stepich, 1995;Pittman, 1999;Swain, 2000), and physics (Chiu & Lin, 2005;Clement, 1988Clement, , 1989Clement, , 1993Clement, , 1998Heywood & Parker, 1997;Mason & Sorzio, 1996;Stavy, 1991;Wong, 1993aWong, , 1993b. In addition, instructional activities involving student-generated analogies may reveal student understanding better than traditional assessment (Pittman, 1999).…”

Section: Research On Analogiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's analogical reasoning in a third-grade science discussion

2006

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Expert scientific inquiry involves the generation and use of analogies. How and when students might develop this aspect of expertise has implications for understanding how and when instruction might facilitate that development. In a study of K-8 student inquiry in physical science, we are examining cases of spontaneous analogy generation. In the case we present here, a third-grader generates an analogy and modifies it to reconcile his classmates' counterarguments, allowing us to identify in these third-graders specific aspects of nascent expertise in analogy use. Promoting abilities and inclinations such as these children display requires that educators recognize and respond to them.

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“…An understanding of genetics requires students to think in the abstract and reason hypothetico-deductively (Baker and Lawson 2001;Knippels et al 2005). For abstract and theoretical concepts to be understood, students should be at the formal operational level of the cognitive development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ understanding of genetics concepts: the effect of reasoning ability and learning approaches

Kılıç

Sağlam

2013

Journal of Biological Education

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Students tend to learn genetics by rote and may not realise the interrelationships in daily life. Because reasoning abilities are necessary to construct relationships between concepts and rote learning impedes the students' sound understanding, it was predicted that having high level of formal reasoning and adopting meaningful learning orientation would improve students' understanding of genetics concepts. To test this hypothesis, relationships among students' understanding of genetics concepts, reasoning ability and learning approaches were investigated. A total of 586 eleventh-grade students participated in the study. Students' reasoning ability and learning orientation were measured using the Test of Logical Thinking and the Learning Approach Questionnaire, respectively. Students' understanding of fundamental genetics concepts was assessed using the Two-tier Genetics Concepts Test. Regression analyses were conducted to examine predictive influence of reasoning ability and learning orientations on students' understanding of genetics concepts. The results revealed that all cognitive variables investigated accounted for a statistically significant portion (27%) of the variance in students' understanding of genetics concepts. Reasoning ability and meaningful learning orientation predicted students' understanding of genetics concepts in a positive direction, rote learning orientation predicted it in a negative direction. Additionally, the results indicated that reasoning ability explained more of the variance in test scores as compared to learning approaches.

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Complex instructional analogies and theoretical concept acquisition in college genetics

Cited by 32 publications

References 38 publications

Promoting Self-Regulation in Science Education: Metacognition as Part of a Broader Perspective on Learning

Promoting Self-Regulation in Science Education: Metacognition as Part of a Broader Perspective on Learning

Children's analogical reasoning in a third-grade science discussion

Students’ understanding of genetics concepts: the effect of reasoning ability and learning approaches

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