Analogy-Enhanced Instruction: Effects on Reasoning Skills in Science.

Abstract

The study examined the reasoning skills of first year high school students after learning general science concepts through analogies. Two intact heterogeneous sections were randomly assigned to Analogy-Enhanced Instruction (AEI) group and Non Analogy-Enhanced (NAEI) group. Various analogies were incorporated in the lessons of the AEI group for eight weeks. The Scientific Reasoning Test (SRT) was administered to assess the students ’ reasoning skills before and after the intervention. The group exposed to AEI was expected to have a higher mean score in the SRT. However, no significant difference was found on the posttest mean score of the AEI and NAEI groups. Also, no significant difference was found on the two groups ’ posttest mean scores in each of the five reasoning skills (conservation of mass and volume, proportional reasoning, identification and control of variables, probabilistic reasoning and correlational reasoning). The study has implication for researchers who are interested to replicate it.