The Nature of Analogical Explanations: High School Physics Teachers Use in Kenya

Abstract

This paper is about a study into the nature of analogies recorded from three Form 2 (Grade 10) classes in Kenya, instructed by three physics teachers. Through a case study method involving classroom observation, several analogies were recorded and analysed. These analogies were predominantly environmental (drawn from students' socio-cultural environment) and anthropomorphic (life and human characteristics ascribed to analogues involving familiar concepts). A small number were scientific (those in which analogues are drawn from the science knowledge domain) -ones the author, for pedagogical reasons, wishes to see exploited. In addition, targets (concepts to be explained) were not freed from analogues (concepts used to explain), which is problematic. Also recorded were instances of students making statements that contained counter-physics messages. These included statements conveying literal understanding of technical terminology, sense experience understanding, which proved very robust, and obvious transfer of error from a particular knowledge domain to another. Caution is therefore advised to ensure that before developing and deploying analogies, students' understanding of the analogues must be sought. This most likely will reveal problems in their understanding and should be rectified before applying its meaning to the target.

Ndebele culture of Zimbabwe's views of giftedness

“…As pointed out by Mpofu (2002), Zimbabweans' lives are influenced by both indigenous cultural values and the envied and sometimes maligned Anglo-Western values. Nashon (2004) alludes to the cognitive conflict, which African students may experience in learning science because of using two different paradigms: indigenous (cultural) and Western scientific thought.…”

Teacher Explanation of Physics Concepts: a Video Study

“…Zacharia used the PredictObserve-Explain sequence with the teachers in relation to both the computer-based simulations and more traditional textbook-based assignments on the content, and found that when the teachers interacted with the computer-based simulations the explanations they constructed were richer, more detailed, scientifically more accurate and involved more formal reasoning. Nashon (2004) recorded the kinds of analogies used by three Kenyan Grade 10 physics teachers. He determined that many of the analogies used were connected to the students' lifeworlds while a number were also anthropomorphic in nature.…”

“…There has been some research attention paid to the use of analogies in physics teaching explanations (e.g. Nashon, 2004;Podolefsky & Finkelstein, 2007;Thagard, 1992;Treagust & Harrison, 1999, 2000. All the teachers in the study used analogies extensively.…”

Perceptual Influence of Ugandan Biology Students’ Understanding of HIV/AIDS

“…Research spanning almost half a century (Aikenhead 1996;Aikenhead and Jegede 1999;Ausubel 1968;Clement 1993;Cobern 1996;Cobern et al 1995;Driver 1989;Driver and Easley 1978;Kelly 1955;Nashon 2003Nashon , 2004Piaget and Inhelder 1969;Pittman 1999) shows that students bring prior knowledge about the concepts, phenomena or experiences encountered during classroom instruction and use this prior knowledge to interpret new encounters or phenomena. Various instructional models have been proposed for enabling students to process this new information in light of the prior conceptions they hold.…”

“…The messages used in media campaigns, then, transmit information about HIV/AIDS and other sexuality issues through the use of metaphors, analogies and similes. But research has shown that such expressions are subject to multiple interpretations that are in large part influenced by prior understandings (Nashon 2003(Nashon , 2004Zeitoun 1984).…”