Heuristic and didactic metaphors in chemistry education: A systematic review
OPEN ACCESS
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2024-05
Publication Type
Other Conference Item
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
OPEN ACCESS
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Chemistry education research focuses to a large part on the question of how we make sense of imperceptible concepts. How can we understand a phenomenon that is not experientable? The research program embodied cognition argues that all concepts are grounded in (mapped to) personally meaningful experiences (Shapiro, 2019) and that therefore, grounding is a crucial mechanism that should be considered and supported in the classroom (Nathan, 2022). Stated differently, concepts are understood via metaphors that map their characteristics to ones of a familiar source domain. Niebert and colleagues argued that many science-specific misconceptions originate in a mismapping between such a source and target domain (Niebert et al., 2012). They suggest that the difference between metaphors employed by novices and experts may inform the design of representations that support the transition from the former to the latter. This warrants a detailed understanding of metaphors present in chemistry-specific terminology as well as chemistry teaching generally. We are building on the following reviews. First, Amin (2015) reviewed the connections of conceptual metaphor research and conceptual change research, providing insights into future directions and implications for practice. He thereby situated metaphor research more centrally within the realm of educational science. Recently, Amin has further reviewed metaphor research targeting the concept Energy (Amin, 2020). Finally, Barrios (2021) conducted a hermeneutic literature review on metaphor research targeting STEM and STEM education. He provides a broad overview of studies targeting conceptual metaphors, excellently capturing historical and recent significant studies. However, due to the broad focus, Barrios’ review does not examine the designs, strengths, and weaknesses of these studies in detail. We present a focused systematic review of chemistry-specific interventions, discussing designs, types of metaphors (heuristic metaphors inherent to the domain versus didactic metaphors designed for educational purposes) and implications for chemistry education (Moher et al., 2009).
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
ETH Zurich
Event
1st International Conference on Embodied Education
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Education; embodied cognition
Organisational unit
09812 - Rau, Martina / Rau, Martina
Notes
Conference lecture held on May 16, 2024