Grady Venville

Using an analogical teaching approach to engender conceptual change

This investigation set out to assess the efficacy of using analogies to engender conceptual change in students science learning about the refraction of light. Following instruction by the same teacher, two classes of students, one of which was taught analogically and one which was not, were interviewed three months after instruction using an interview‐about‐instances protocol. The verbatim transcripts and interviewer notes were interpreted from a constructivist perspective in an attempt to determine the status of each students conceptions of refraction of light. The findings from this study, described in terms of class results and three case studies, illustrate the utility of an analogical teaching approach for engendering conceptual change.

The role of analogies in promoting conceptual change in biology

Four analogies which were used to teach biology topics by four different teachers were analysed from different theoretical perspectives to determine the key role they had to play in the process of conceptual change. A supermarket analogy for the classification of living things was described using the Posner et al. (1982) view of conceptual change as having the role of a sense maker. A car cooling system analogy for human temperature homeostasis was found to play the role of a memory aid and was best explained by considering Vosniadous (1994) framework theory and mental models perspective of conceptual change. A fluid mosaic analogy for cell membranes was used by the teacher as a transformer and was best explained by Chi et al.s (1994) ontological category perspective of conceptual change. Finally, a bucket and pump analogy used to teach the stucture and function of the heart was described as a motivator and was viewed through the motivational perspective of conceptual change of Pintrich et al. (1993). The paper concludes that learning in different situations can best be explained by different perspectives of conceptual change and that these perspectives have much to tell us about the “normal” shifts in conceptual understanding as well as “radical” conceptual change.

Bridging the Boundaries of Compartmentalised Knowledge: Student learning in an integrated environment

The integration of content from the science, mathematics and technology learning areas is well grounded in the philosophy of middle schooling. However, there is a notable absence of recent empirical research to show if and/or how students learn science and mathematics concepts in integrated settings. This paper presents a case study of a Year 9 class that participated in a technology project constructing a solar boat involving science and mathematics components on electric circuits, statistical analysis, critical pathways and the reading of sun charts. The case study focuses on three pairs of students in the class and the results consists of three learning episodes that made up part of the students’ learning experience. The discussion explores the nature of the students’ learning and concludes that learning was enhanced as a result of the students’ involvement in the solar boat project.

A State-wide Change Initiative: The Primary Science Teacher-leader Project.

The Primary Science Teacher-Leader Project was conducted during 1995 and 1996 as part of the Education Department of Western Australias Science Project. This paper focuses on the implications of this project for primary science education reform. It is shown that the project inducted a cadre of skilled and enthusiastic teacher-leaders who impacted on science teaching in classrooms throughout the state. Quality professional development, networking, time and the provision of modest resources for teacher-leaders were the major structural factors contributing to the success of the model. Contextual factors included the readiness for change in primary science among schools and teachers, the collaborative approach to the project by the science education community in Western Australia and the concurrent publication and implementation of quality teaching materials in the form ofPrimary Investigations.