Antonio Navarrete

Teaching Models in the Use of Analogies as a Resource in the Science Classroom

The present work discusses, firstly, different dimensions that characterize the use of analogies in the classroom. Foremost among these are the pupil’s level of activity and the degree of monitoring carried out by the teacher. Secondly, the routines declared by a group of science teachers (n = 73), when they described their classroom activity in using analogies, are analysed. It was found that most of the teachers corresponded to traditional models for the use of analogies, or, in the best of cases, to models based on meaningful learning by transmission/reception of previously elaborated knowledge. Finally, some implications for teaching and teacher education are discussed.

Contributions of Learning Through Analogies to the Construction of Secondary Education Pupils’ Verbal Discourse about Chemical Change

This article analyzes the relationship between pupils’ level of understanding of the analogies proposed in class while working with a model of chemical change and their competence at constructing a coherent verbal discourse of that model in both its macroscopic and submicroscopic representations. The study participants were 35 pupils in their 3rd year of compulsory secondary education (14–15 years of age) who had been studying chemical change for several weeks in their subject of Physics and Chemistry. The results suggested that the pupils generally understood the proposed analogies quite well, and that a good proportion of them assimilated adequately the verbal discourse inherent in the proposed model of chemical change. There was also a statistically significant association between modeling and analogical thinking. In particular, the pupils with greater understanding of the analogies being considered were also those who tended to show a greater ability to verbalize the model of chemical change and reason with it when solving the tasks they had been set. These results concur with the literature by suggesting that a link exists between analogical thinking and modeling, and that learning with analogies has a positive influence on the construction of the chemical change model.

Algunas interpretaciones sobre el fenómeno de las estaciones en niños, estudiantes y adultos: revisión de la literatura

En este trabajo se lleva a cabo un analisis de la literatura sobre las interpretaciones personales de los alumnos acerca del fenomeno de las estaciones. En primer lugar se describe el procedimiento y los criterios seguidos en la revision y se analizan las caracteristicas metodologicas de los estudios revisados. En segundo lugar se pasa a describir e interpretar los modelos explicativos mas frecuentes que aparecen en la bibliografia, comentando la incidencia que la edad o la variable ensenanza parecen tener sobre la amplitud y evolucion de los mismos. Finalmente se realiza un analisis critico de los tipos de estudios realizados sobre el tema hasta el momento, manifestando la necesidad de nuevos enfoques y nuevas formas de abordar investigaciones en esta area.