Using Student-generated Analogies to Understand Conceptions of Energy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring the Role of Modeling in the Science Classroom

Abstract

The concept of energy is ubiquitous in introductory science courses. However, in each context, a different conceptual model of energy is employed. Through the lens of metaphor theory, these various models of energy become metaphors that highlight and obscure various characteristics of energy. A set of six coherent metaphors of energy have been identified in scientific discourse: energy as a substance that can be accounted for, energy as a substance that can change forms, energy as a substance that can flow, energy as a substance that can be lost, energy as an ingredient or product, and energy as process or interaction. These metaphors function to highlight (and obscure) the various characteristics of the energy concept: conservation, degradation, transformation, transfer, and source.
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that metaphor theory is a useful framework for gaining insight into student ideas about energy. Additionally, this work takes a multidisciplinary perspective, examining similarities and difference in the way students understand energy in the disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics. The following research questions were addressed in this study:
How can metaphors and analogies be used to understand students’ conceptions of energy?
o How do the metaphors and/or analogies used by students to describe energy depend on disciplinary context?
o How do these metaphors and/or analogies reflect the conceptions of energy held by a particular scientific discipline?
Working under this framework, 181 undergraduate students in introductory college biology, chemistry, and physics courses wrote analogies that reflected their understanding of the role of energy in the context of ecosystems, chemical reactions, mechanical systems, and electrical circuits (using an instrument that structured the task). A subset of students (5 from each class) was also interviewed as part of the study. These student-generated analogies were analyzed qualitatively using metaphor theory to gain understanding of how students conceptualize energy in these different disciplines. The results of this study confirm that students use different metaphors to explain the role of energy in various scientific contexts, and that their analogies generally reflect metaphors prominent in the field.
This result has instructional implications as students may enter one science course with ideas about energy learned in another course; the discourse (e.g., a particular metaphor) used to describe the concept of energy in one discipline may influence how the students understand energy in another. If professors naively assume that their explanation of a given topic is the only one the students hear they will not be able to adequately address the needs of their students. Instructors must be aware of the ideas (metaphors) students hold when they come into the classroom, and find ways to address these ideas without discounting their importance. As a consequence, coherent metaphors must be employed to help students to understand how the characteristics of energy work together to paint a complete picture of this complex concept.

Author

• Rachael Anderman Lancor, Harvard University