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THE INFLUENCE OF USING ANALOGIES IN INSTRUCTION
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presented by

Humood Ahmed Almuqate

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MSU to An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Instituion
Wm:

THE INFLUENCE OF USING ANALOGIES IN INSTRUCTION
ON STUDENTS' LEARNING

By

Humood Ahmed Almuqate

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Educational Psychology

1996

ABSTRACT

THE INFLUENCE OF USING ANALOGIES IN INSTRUCTION
ON STUDENTS' LEARNING

By

Humood Ahmed.Alquate

Analogical reasoning and the influence of analogies on
learning were researched extensively in the past twenty
years. Nevertheless, there is little research regarding the
effectiveness of analogies in an instructional setting and no
research on how analogies influence students' learning in an
instructional setting.

Therefore this study focused on two questions:

1. Does the use of an analogy in instruction help students to
learn a scientific principle better than instruction without
an analogy?

2. How does the use of an analogy in instruction influence
students' learning?

I used tutoring to teach college students one of two
lessons about human.physiology. Students answered interview
questions to assess their recall and understanding of the
targeted.principles. Immediately after the interview,
students saw a videotape of their interview and were asked to

describe their thinking processes before they answered each

question.

I conducted a follow-up second experiment using the same
procedures. However, this time I removed the illustrations
from.the lesson, and the interview was conducted one week,
not two days, after instruction. I conducted a quantitative
analysis to answer the first question of the study and a
qualitative analysis to answer the second. Results show that:
1. There were no significant differences in overall interview
scores between Analogy and No Analogy groups. Removing
illustrations from.instruction and assessing students'
performances after a longer period favored the analogy group.
2. Students' scores, comments, and opinions suggest that
analogies facilitated students' recall (by providing cues to
recall the relevant information in the target principle), but
it did not facilitate students' comprehension.

The successful implementation of analogies in
instruction depends on careful consideration of several
factors: targeted domain difficulty, students' familiarity
‘with the analogy, other instructional material used in
instruction, and how and when students' performance is
assessed. In this study, analogies fell short on
demonstrating their usefulness in improving students‘
understanding. There is evidence that they improved recall
and influenced students' reasoning in subtle ways that may

not show in an overall assessment of students' performance.

Copyright by
Humood Ahmed Almuqate
1996

DEDICATION

‘Z'a Jilly beloved/Mother
My Dear W/fe Maria,
M Daughters anoorflaaflfivaa, My Son fihmeai
24nd ‘Zo TheMemary Of/Ply father

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank and.praise Allah (God) the most merciful who
gave me the strength and endurance to complete this work. I
deeply thank my beloved.mother for her unceasing patience and
abundant prayers. Special gratitude goes to my wife for her
unlimited support and encouragement throughout my studies and
during my struggle to complete this research. I thank my
children whose adorable faces and charming smiles alleviated
hours of hard work.

My deepest respect and gratitude go to Dr. E. David
WOng, my dissertation director, for his generous assistance,
encouragement, and.valuable advice he offered me throughout
this work. I would like to extend.my sincere thanks to Dr.
Stephen Yelon, my academic advisor, for being a remarkable
source of guidance and inspiration. I also would like to
thank.my doctoral guidance committee members: Dr. walter
Hapkiewicz and Dr. James Snoddy for their assistance and
advice.

Last but not least, warm thanks are extended to my
brothers and sisters, relatives, and.my close friends for

their continuous support and encouragement.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................ x
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................ xiii
INTRODUCTION .............................................. 1
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................. 3
What is an Analogy ................................. 3
Analogies and Learning ............................. 5
Reasoning by Analogies ............................. 8
Presenting Analogies in Instruction ............... 12
Research on Analogies' Effectiveness .............. 15
Analogies Effectiveness in Text .............. 16

Analogies Effectiveness in Instruction ....... 22

CHAPTER 2: OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES ..................... 27
OBJECTIVES ............................................... 27
HYPOTHESES ............................................... 28
Question I .......................................... 28
First Hypothesis ............................. 28
Second.Hypothesis ............................. 29

Question II ......................................... 30
Third.Hypothesis .............................. 30
Fourth.Hypothesis ............................. 30

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................... 32
DESIGN ................................................... 32
SAMPLE ................................................... 34
METHOD ................................................... 36

vii

First Experiment .................................... 36

Second Experiment ................................... 4O
MEASURES ................................................. 42
ANALYSIS ................................................. 45
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS ....................................... 48

Question I .......................................... 49

First Hypothesis .............................. 49
First Experiment .......................... 49
Insulin Lesson ...................... 49
Hypothalamms Lesson ................. 50

The Two Lessons Combined ............ 51

Second Experiment ......................... 51
Second Insulin Lesson ............... 51

Second Hypothesis ............................. 53
First Experiment .......................... 53
Insulin Lesson ...................... S3
Hypothalamus Lesson ................. S4

The Two Lessons Combined ............ 55

Second Experiment .......................... 57
Second Insulin Lesson ............... 57

Question II .......................................... 60
Third Hypothesis ............................... 60
First Experiment ........................... 64
Insulin Lesson ...................... 64
Hypothalamus Lesson ................. 69

Second Experiment .......................... 72
Second Insulin Lesson ............... 72

Fourth Hypothesis .............................. 78
First Experiment ........................... 79
Insulin Lesson ...................... 79
Hypothalamus Lesson ................. 81

Second Experiment .......................... 84
Second Insulin Lesson ............... 84

Other Findings ....................................... 87

viii

CHAPTER 5: LIMITATIONS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 97
LIMITATIONS .............................................. 97
DISCUSSION ................................................ 99
Question I ........................................... 94
Question II ......................................... 107
CONCLUSIONS ............................................. 100
RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................... 108
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Insulin Lesson Protocol ................. 117
Appendix B: Hypothalamus Lesson Protocol ............ 131
Appendix C: Second Insulin Lesson Protocol .......... 145
Appendix D: Model Answers for the Insulin lesson ..... 154
Appendix E: Model Answers for the
Hypothalamus lesson .................................. 159
Appendix F: Tables of Students scores ............... 164
LIST OF REFERENCES ....................................... 184

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

10

11

LIST OF TABLES

Overview of Empirical Studies about the
Effectiveness of Analogies When Used

in Text or Instruction ......................... 17
The Distribution of Students Into the
Treatment and Control Groups ................... 33

The Number of Students Who Mentioned the

Analogy and Those Who Did Net Mention the

Analogy in Each Lesson ......................... 60
A List of All Students Who Mentioned the

Analogy, their gender, Where they Mentioned

the Analogy, and Score ......................... 62
Average Scores of Each Group on the Three

New Questions That Are in the Interview

.After Instruction But Net in the Interview

Before Instruction ............................. 88
Mechanisms That Regulate the

Body Temperature .............................. 135
Scores of the Insulin Analogy Group on the
Questions After Instruction ................... 164
Scores of the Insulin.No Analogy Group on the
Questions After Instruction ................... 165
Scores of the Hypothalamus Analogy Group on

the Questions After Instruction ............... 166
Scores of the Hypothalamus No Analogy Group on
the Questions After Instruction ............... 167

Scores of the Insulin and.Hypothalamus
Analogy Groups Combined on the Questions
.After Instruction ............................. 168

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

12

13

14

15

18

19

20

21

22

Scores of the Insulin and Hypothalamus No
Analogy Groups Combined on the Questions

After Instruction ............................ 169
Scores of the Insulin Analogy Group on
the Questions After Instruction for the
Second Experiment ............................ 170

Scores of the Insulin No Analogy Group on

the Questions After Instruction for the

Second Experiment ............................ 171
The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Recall Questions ......................... 172
The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Explanation Questions .................... 173
The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Prediction Questions ..................... 174
The Scores and the Group Mean for the
Hypothalamus Analogy and No Analogy Groups

on the Recall Questions ...................... 175

The Scores and the Group Mean for the
Hypothalamus Analogy and.No Analogy Groups

on the Explanation Questions ................. 176
The Scores and the Group Mean for the
Hypothalamus Analogy and.No Analogy Groups

on the Prediction Questions .................. 177
The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Combined Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy

and.No Analogy Groups on

the Recall Questions ......................... 178
The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Combined Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy

and.No Analogy Groups on

the Explanation Questions .................... 179

Table 23 - The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Combined Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy

and No Analogy Groups on

the Prediction Questions ..................... 180
Table 24 - The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Recall Questions for the

Second Experiment ............................ 181
Table 25 — The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Explanation Questions for the

Second Experiment ............................ 182
Table 26 - The Scores and the Group Mean for the

Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on

the Prediction Questions for the

Second Experiment ............................ 183

xii

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

LIST OF FIGURES

The Mean Scores of the Analogy and

No Analogy Groups for the First and

Second Experiment ............................. 50
A Comparison Between the Score Means of

the Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups

on the Three Types of Questions ............... 54
A Comparison Between the Score Means of

the Insulin Analogy and.No Analogy Groups

on the Three Types of Questions ............... 55
A.Comparison Between the Score Means of

the Combined Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy

and No Analogy Groups on the Three

Types of Questions ............................ 56
.A Comparison Between the Score Means of

the Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups

on the Three Types of Questions, The

Second Experiment ............................. 57
The Number of Students Who Mentioned the
Analogy According to Question Type ............ 63

The Percentages of Students in Terms of

How They Perceived the Influence of the -

Analogy ....................................... 90
Role of Insulin in the Regulation of Blood

Glucose Concentration ........................ 121
The Effect of Insulin to stimulate Glucose
Uptake into Cells ............................ 123

xiii

Figure
Figure

Figure

Figure

10
11

12

13

The Emigration Situation ..................... 128
The Role of Sweating in Controlling

Body Temperature ............................. 137
How the Thermostat Works in the Central

Air Conditioning ............................. 141
How The Thermostat Works ..................... 142

xiv

INTRODUCTION

Learning new scientific principles and concepts is a
challenging task. To meaningfully understand a scientific
phenomenon, the learner must incorporate the new information
using what he already knows (Glynn & Duit, 1995).
Furthermore, research on science learning suggests that
learners have intuitive explanations of scientific phenomena
that may not be compatible with the scientifically acceptable
explanations. These intuitive explanations, called
misconceptions, add to the difficulty of understanding
scientific principles and concepts because they are highly
robust and.may outlive instruction (Viennot, 1979).

One possible approach for meaningfully teaching
scientific ideas is the use of analogies. Analogies advance
learners' understanding of scientific principles by utilizing
what the learners are familiar with. Posner, Strike, Hewson,
and Gertzog (1982), said that “Any available metaphors,
models, and analogies should be used.to make a new conception
more intelligible and.plausible“ (p.223). Furthermore,
analogies do not only facilitate the learning of new
concepts, they also help learners develop a new perspective
for what they already know (Duit, 1991). As a result,

analogies are often recommended as an important teaching

2

strategy, especially in the field of science (Mayer, 1983;
Lawson, 1993).

Given the importance of analogies in science learning,
analogical reasoning and the influence of analogies on
learning were researched extensively in the past twenty
years. Nevertheless, there is little research regarding the
effectiveness and the role of analogies in an instructional
setting that involves a teaching situation between a student
and a teacher. As I will demonstrate in the following
literature review, most research on analogies' effectiveness
were conducted by asking students to read written passages,
‘with and without analogies, and did not involve an
interaction with a teacher. What is more important is that
there is no research on 'how' analogies influence students'
learning in an instructional setting.

Thus, the objective of this study is to answer the
following two questions:

1. Does the use of an analogy in instruction help students

learn a scientific principle better than instruction without
an analogy?

2. How does the use of an analogy in instruction influence

students' learning?

In this study I will address these two issues in an
effort to enhance our understanding of the role of analogies
in the learning process. The following is a review of

previous research and theoretical work relevant to this

study.

CHAPTER 1:

LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to discuss the following
in relation to this study to be able to formulate this
study's questions, hypotheses, and rationale:

1. Literature about how can analogies influence learning.
2. Theories regarding the dynamics of reasoning by
analogies.

3. Medels and recommendations for‘presenting analogies in
instruction.

4. The depth and breadth of the research base on the use of
analogies in instruction.

Before proceeding to the different sections of this
review I will explain briefly what is an analogy, clarify
some terminology that will appear in the next sections, and
discuss some aspects of the analogies I used in this study.

What is an Analogy?

An analogy is an explicit, nonliteral comparison between
two things in which their structural, functional, and/or
causal similarities, and sometimes their differences, are
described (NeWby & Stepich, 1990). Tierney and Cunningham
(1984) define analogies as "An expositional method for
comparing sets of information which are similar enough in

essential respects to permit transportation of attributes
3

4

across sets, usually from familiar to unfamiliar information"
(p.613). Newby and Stepich explained that an analogy is
composed of four parts: Target (something new), Connector
(e.g., is like), Vehicle (something known called also base,
analog, and source), and Ground (similarities and
differences).

In the present study I used two analogies in the context
of two lessons. The first analogy can be summarized in the
following statement:

Insulin decreases glucose level by increasing the
number of glucose transporters like the emigration
supervisors who decreased the number of people in the
emigration area by calling additional emigration
officers.

The second analogy can be summarized in the following
satement:

The Hypothalamus keeps a stable body temperature like
the air condition thermostat that keeps the
temperature of a room stable.

The two analogies can be classified in terms of the
nature of relationship between the target and vehicle as
functional analogies. In functional analogies the vehicle
and target share a similar function (Curtis & Reigeluth,
.1984). In addition, the two analogies can be classified as
enriched analogies (Thiele & Treagust, 1994), because
statements of the shared attributes are included in the

instruction .

5

I have chosen these two analogies because I think that
students are familiar with the vehicles I used in them” In
the first analogy I used the airport emigration as the
vehicle to teach students about how the body controls the
level of sugar in blood. I believe that stusents are
familiar with the emigration situation because kuwaities
travel a lot, and I expect that most students are familiar
‘with the airport emigration. In the second analogy I used
the thermostat to teach students about hOW’bOdy controls its
temperature. I expected that students are familiar with the
thermostat because the thermostat and how it works is taught
in high school. In addition, thermostat is part of the
central air conditioning, the primary cooling device at
kuwaities' homes. I will turn now to the four sections of
this review.

Analogies and Learning

In recent years, educators have emphasized that learning
is an active constructive process as opposed to passive
enlargements of knowledge (Duit, 1991). According to
constructivists' view, learning involves the interpretation-
of new information in terms of the learner's existing
knowledge (VOn Glaserfeld, 1987). Students use their
knowledge, sometimes called schema (Gick & Holyoak, 1983;
Stepich & NeWby, 1988), as a framework.within which
subsequent related information is organized and understood.

Learning by analogies enables students to use their

prior knowledge to make new information familiar. An analogy

6

relates the new information to what the student already
knows; therefore, the new information acquires meaning and
becomes familiar (Glynn, Duit, & Thiele 1995; Reigeluth &
Stein, 1988).

According to Rumelhart and Normann (1981), an analogy
accomplishes this by focusing on one or more salient
characteristics of the thing to be learned and finding
something already familiar to the learner that has similar
structural, functional or causal characteristics. It then
establishes an "is like“ relationship between the two things
by describing their resemblance or similarities.

Analogies are also emphasized as a central mechanism.for
conceptual change (Suzuki, 1994). Posner, Strike, Hewson, and
Gertzog (1982) presented an approach to conceptual change
that is based on contemporary views on philosophy of science
(e.g., Kuhn, 1970). They recommended the use of analogies as
a strategy for conceptual change because they will make a new
conception more intelligible and plausible. Brown (1993)
argued that analogies help to enrich and concretize the
prdblem situation which leads to conceptual change.

VOsniadou and Brewer (1987) said: "In our view there are
two candidate mechanisms for the kind of radical
restructuring that may occur in children's acquisition of
domains .. Socratic dialogues and analogies, metaphors, and
physical models'I (p.61).

Furthermore, analogies not only facilitate the learning

of new concepts, they also help learners develop a new

7

perspective for what they already know: "Using an analogy is
essentially a two-way process involving developing both
analog and target" (Duit, 1991, p.653).

On the other hand, analogies are described as "double-
edged swords" that may cause the formation of misconceptions
(Glynn et a1, 1995). Webb (1985) cited the growing body of
literature which indicates that analogies are not always
effective aids of learning. An analogy can produce
uisconceptions if students are not aware of the points where
analogies break down.

Zook (1991) presented a model for predicting the
likelihood of analogical misrepresentation based on the
interaction of two factors: locus of generation (learner-
generated or teacher-generated) and the component analogical
process (selection of the analogy or mapping between the
vehicle and target). Zook suggested that (a) selection
difficulties increase the potential for misrepresentation
under learner-generated analogies, and (b) mapping
difficulties increase the potential of misrepresentation
under teacher-generated analogies. When learners create the
analogy they may face difficulties in selecting or coming up
with an appropriate familiar domain that shares enough
attributes with the targeted domain. On the other hand, when
the analogy is presented by a teacher or text, learners may
face difficulties on deciding which features of the familiar

domain are relevant to the targeted domain. Thus, learners

8

may map information from the familiar domain to the target
domain incorrectly.

In addition, Dagher (1994) reviewed three recent studies
that dealt with teaching analogies to aid conceptual change
(Dupin & Johsua, 1989; Treagust et al. in press; Brown &
Clement, 1989). Dagher used Chi (1992) two types of
conceptual change; 'normal' and 'radical' to characterize the
contribution of using analogies in instruction on conceptual
change. Normal conceptual change involves reorganizational
shifts within three ontological categories, matter, events,
and abstraction. Radical conceptual change involves shifts
across the three ontological categories. Dagher concluded
that there is a modest contribution of analogies to normal
conceptual change, and recommended investigating the role of
analogies in promoting creativity and.positive attitudes.

From the above, there are two main themes on the
potential influence of analogies on students' learning. One
theme argues favorably for the use of analogies to promote
learning. The other, points to the negative or limited role
of using analogies in promoting students' learning. Hence,
one question of this study is how effective the use of
analogies in instruction in promoting students' learning.

Reasoning by Analogies

Analogical reasoning research is concerned with studying
the mental processes that underlie learning by analogy.
Central to understanding these processes is explaining the

mapping process from the vehicle to the target that occurs

9

when people reason analogically. Through mapping the
similarities between the vehicle and target are detected and
the relevant information in the target is inferred (Mason,
1994). According to Gentner (1989) "an analogy is a mapping
of knowledge from.one domain (the vehicle) into another (the
target), which conveys that a system.of relations that holds
among the vehicle objects also holds among the target
objects” (p.201).

Mason (1994) suggested that there are three major
theories about how analogical mapping occurs: componential,
structural, and pragmatic. The componential theory is limited
to analogical reasoning in the classical four element
comparisons of the form a:b::c:d. The structure-mapping
theory (Gentner, 1983) proposed that a system.of procedures
and rules, that are based on the syntactic features of
knowledge, governs the mapping process. On the other hand,
the pragmatic theory emphasize that mapping is governed.by
the goals of the learner not by cold syntactic features of
knowledge representation. The following is a description of
each theory:

a. Componential theory: Sternberg (1982) identified the
different component skills that underlie reasoning by analogy
involved in the classical four element comparisons of the
form.a:b::c:d. (e.g., car: fuel::Human:?). Sternberg
suggested six components involved in this kind of analogical
reasoning: 1. encoding the analogy, 2. inferring the

relation between (a) and (b), 3. mapping the relation

10

between (a) and (c), 4. applying an analogous relation
between (b) and the unknown term to find (d), 5. justifying
the match between (b) and (d), and 6. making the response.
b. Structural theory: Gentner (1989) suggested a
system of procedures based on syntactic features of
knowledge. Gentner proposed a process of analogical
reasoning that consists of five subprocesses: 1. accessing
the base, 2. performing mapping between target and base,
3. evaluating the match, 4. storing inferences in the
target, and 5. extracting commonalties. Gentner introduced
the concept of systematicity as a central feature of the
mapping process: people are inclined to map connected systems
of relations organized by higher-order relations rather than
mapping isolated elements.

c. Pragmatic theory: In this theory the goal of the
information processing system is emphasized (Gick & Holyoak,
1983; Holyoak and Koh, 1987). “The mapping of information
from.a source to a target is heavily influenced by the
system's goal. Different goals can lead to different
mappings for the same analogy. Even the perception of the
structure of an analogy is affected by the pragmatic context
of its use“ (Mason, 1994, p.159). Holyoak (1987) argued
that analogical reasoning involves four basic steps:

1. Constructing mental representation of vehicle and target.
2. Selecting the vehicle as a potentially relevant analog to

the target.

11

3. Mapping the elements of the vehicle and target.
4. Extending the mapping to generate a solution to target.

I find Holyoak's four-step model to be particularly
useful because it starts by emphasizing the ability of the
learner to mentally represent both the target and the
vehicle. The necessity of thinking about both parts of the
analogy at the same time and recognizing the relationship
between the two hint to the suggestion that an analogy is a
two-way process (Duit, 1991). Not only does the vehicle
facilitate the learning of the target, but the target also
improves the understanding of the vehicle.

In addition, the last step of Holyoak's model highlights
the problem solving capacity of analogies. Learners use
analogies to generate solutions, make explanations, and
forecast predictions (Gentner & Gentner, 1983; WOng; 1993).
This is a central proposition of this study. Two thirds of
the questions that I used to assess students' learning in
this study required students to make explanations or
predictions and therefore emphasized the problemrsolving
aspect of using analogies in instruction.

More importantly, I used.the mapping theory to derive
two of the hypotheses of this study. These hypotheses are
related to how analogies are going to influence students'
recall and understanding of instruction. I hypothesized that
analogies will influence recall by providing cues which will
help in remembering the targeted information (Stepich &

Newby, 1988). The learner will recall the element(s) in the

l2

vehicle part of the analogy and map it to its equivalent in
the target, so the information in the vehicle become cues to
recall the equivalent information in the target. I also
hypothesized that analogies will influence students'
understanding in the following way: through the mapping
process students will use the relationships between the
different elements in the vehicle to infer equivalent
relationships in the target. Therefore, the vehicle part of
the analogy will enable students to formulate specific
explanations and predictions regarding the target part of the
analogy (Gentner & Gentner, 1983).

Presenting Analogies in Instruction
Several models and recommendations are suggested for
presenting analogies in instruction. Newby and Stepich
(1987) prescribed six steps for constructing and.presenting
analogies to students:
1. Decide whether to use an analogy (depending on the
difficulty of the concept to be presented).
2. Construct the analogy by first identifying salient
features of the targeted concept; then find something from
the learner's prior knowledge that shares these attributes;
and finally, clearly describe the similarities between the
two.
3. Decide the presentation format (verbal, pictorial, or
both).

4. Present the analogy early in instruction.

13

5. Explain where the analogy works and where it breaks down.

6. Use analogy in practice and.provide corrective feedback.
After analyzing science textbooks ranging from

elementary to college level, and after analyzing the lessons

of ten exemplary middle and elementary school teachers,

Glynn, Duit, and Thiele (1995) concluded that both authors

and teachers used six operations to teach with analogies.

These operations were then summarized and called Glynn's

Teaching With Analogies Model (TWA). These steps should be

used when teaching with analogies:

Introduce the target.

. Cue retrieval of the analog (vehicle) concept.

Identify relevant features of the target and analog.

. Map similarities.

Indicate where the analogy breaks down.

OtU'IrbUNI-I

. Draw conclusions.

Harrison and Treagust (1993) used classroom observation,
audiotaped recordings, and teacher and students interviews to
evaluate the effectiveness of Glynn's TWA model in a regular
classroom" They reported their observation of a lesson
about the refraction of light presented by a tenth-grade
teacher using an analogy. The results demonstrated that a
competent teacher can implement this approach successfully in
the classroom.'provided adequate in-service education is
given, there is an opportunity for collegial support, and

time is available for and reflective feedback." (p.1305)

14

In this study I used.most of the steps mentioned in
Glynn's TWA.model to present analogies in instruction. I
started by introducing the target principles to students
(step one); then I presented the vehicle to them (step two);
after that, I worked with the students to make them identify
the relevant features and.map the similarities between the
vehicle and the target (step three and four). I did not
discuss with the students where the analogy would break down
(step five).

In addition, past research emphasized that students must
be explicitly directed to make the connection between the
vehicle and the target domain (Gick & Holyoak, 1983) and that
students themselves should.make the mapping between the
vehicle and the target (Duit, 1991). I applied both
recommendations in the instruction I used to present
analogies to the students in this study. Toward the end of
instruction, I asked the students to explain to me the
targeted.principle using a comparison between the vehicle and
the target. This explicitly directed the students to make
the connection between the vehicle and the target and
encouraged them to make the mapping between the two domains.

In this study I used interactive tutoring (see the
method section for details) to teach each student about one
of two scientific principles. Merill defined.principles as
“explanations or predictions of why things happen in the

‘world. Principles are those cause-and—effect or

15

correlational relationships that are used to interpret events
or circumstances" (See in Reigeluth, 1983).

The first principle explains how insulin regulates the
glucose level in the blood. The second principle explains
how the hypothalamus regulates the body temperature. In the
first principle the dependent variable is the level of
glucose in blood. The independent variables are the amount
of food eaten, and the level of insulin in blood.

For simplicity I called the first topic the Insulin
lesson and the second topic the Hypothalamus lesson, in
reference to a central element in the target process. I have
chosen these two topics because I think they provide an
adequate level of difficulty and complexity to the
undergraduate students which justify the use of analogies.

Research on Analogies' Effectiveness

The research regarding the influence of using analogies
in instruction can be divided into two areas: (a) the
influence of using analogies in text on students'
performance, and (b) the influence of using analogies in
instruction on students' performance. The first area is
extensively researched. Studies I discuss here are those
which are closely related to this study. The second area
analogies' effectiveness in instruction is much less

researched as I will explain later.

16

Although the results of these studies depend on certain
conditions, they point out that including analogies in text
has a positive effect on student performance. Table 1
presents an overview of the studies about the effectiveness
of using analogies in text. The classification I used here is
adapted from.Dagher (1995).

The results of these studies can be summarized in the
following:

1. Analogies have more positive influence on delayed recall
than immediate recall and.more positive influence on
comprehension questions than recall questions.

Radford (1989) found that analogies are probably more
useful in improving delayed recall than improving immediate
recall. He found that including analogies in text
significantly increased high school students delayed recall
of two biology passages. Yet, significant differences on the
immediate recall test were found in only one passage of the
two used in the study. This indicates that analogies are
more useful in improving delayed recall. In contrast, Simons
(1984) conducted two experiments in which he investigated the
effect of using analogies in text on students' immediate and
delayed recall. In the first experiment, Simons found no
significant differences in either the immediate posttests or
the long term retention tests between the analogy and control

groups. In the second experiment, Simons found a significant

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18

difference in the immediate recall test in favor of the
analogy group, and no significant difference on the long term
retention test. The results of the second experiment
indicate that analogies are more helpful in immediate recall.

Donnelly and McDaniel (1993) found that including
analogies in text helped students to answer only inferential—
type questions but hindered.performance on recall-type
questions. They explained this result by indicating that
because students had to think about the vehicle (more
information), analogies distracted students' attention from
the targeted concept. However, in this study the students'
performance was assessed directly after reading the passages.
This means that the recall assessed here is immediate recall,
which may support the finding in Radford's study mentioned
above, i.e., that analogies are less effective in improving
immediate recall.

Gilbert (1989) found that using analogies, similes, and
metaphors in two biology units for ninth and tenth grade
students did not increase students' scores in achievement
tests that stressed recall, comprehension, and application.
In fact, there was an indication of negative effect on
students' attitudes. Yet, similar to Donnelly and.McDanie1's
study, students were assessed in the same day after reading
the instructional units. Therefore, recall assessed in this
study is immediate recall, also.

From the above studies, analogies have different effects

on different studies. However, there is indication that

19

analogies used in text can improve delayed recall and
comprehension (inferential) questions. In the present study
I assessed students' performance in both recall and
comprehension. This is because recall and comprehension are
important learning outcomes and because past research
provided.mixed results regarding the influence of analogies
on these two learning outcomes. Thus, I wanted to investigate
the influence of using analogies on both types of questions.
In this study Comprehension is further divided into two
categories: explanation and prediction. I did this because
students' ability to explain and predict situations related
to the targeted principle are good indicators of students'
comprehension. The following is an explanation of the three
question categories I used to assess students' learning:
Explanation. In an explanation question I stated to the
student a new situation and the result of some unknown
action, and asked him to state the likely cause and explain
his answer. To answer an explanation question the student
must state the quality or quantity of the likely cause and
state hOW’the principle is being used to find.that cause I
(Yelon, 1989). An example of an explanation question in the
insulin lesson would be: Why do we feel tired (the result of
some unknown action) after a period of net eating (new
situation)? Why (explanation)? To answer this question the
student must state that the cause of this is an insufficient
glucose level in the blood or in the cells, and that glucose

is a source of energy to the nerve and muscle cells

20

(statement of the likely cause), and state that since glucose
comes from the digestion of food, a period of fasting
therefore will cause a drop in the level of glucose in the
blood (statement of how the principle is used).

Prediction. In a prediction question I stated or
described to the student a new situation and asked him to
state the likely result and an explanation for his answer.

To answer a prediction question the student must state the
likely result and explain it in terms of the principle
(Yelon, 1989). An example question would be: After a period
of fasting (new situation), do you think the level of insulin
in blood will be high or low (likely result)? Why
(explanation)? To answer this question the student would say
that the concentration of insulin.will be low (the likely
result), and state that this is because after fasting the
level of glucose in blood is low, and low glucose levels will
not trigger the secretion of insulin from the pancreas
(explanation in terms of the principle).

Recall. In a recall question I asked the student to
state information mentioned in the instruction. In answering
a recall question the student must state information
mentioned in instruction. An example question would be: What
is the function of insulin? To answer this question the
student would say: the function of insulin is to regulate the
level of glucose in blood.

2. Analogies have a positive influence on low-ability

learners.

21

Irizarry (1990) concluded that the use of analogies in
self—paced instructional booklets significantly improved
student achievement. Furthermore, the results suggest that
low-verbal-ability students benefited more than those of high
verbal ability, and that students perceived the inclusion of
analogies in the instructional materials to be interesting
and recommended their use.

Bean, Singer, and Cowen (1985) found that using
analogical study guides were most effective for those who
showed.below-average comprehension on previous class tests,
and no significant differences for those who have average and
above-average comprehension scores.

Wiesenberg (1990) examined the influence of presenting
analogical pictures in text to adults learning abstract
concepts. Findings indicated that analogical pictures helped
more those who were low visual learners.

3. Analogies have a positive effect when there is
enough time for students to study the analogies.

Simons (1984) showed that there is a positive effect of
including written analogies in text on students' retention
and comprehension, but only if students have as much time as
they want for reading the material.

Overall, the previous studies demonstrate that including
analogies in text has a positive effect on student
performance, especially when students have enough time to
study the analogy or if they are low-ability students. There

is indication that analogies may be helpful more in improving

22

comprehension questions compared to recall questions, and
more helpful in delayed recall than immediate recall.

In this study I used both recall questions and
comprehension questions (explanation and prediction
questions) to investigate the influence of using analogies on
both types of questions. In addition, I used delayed recall
because I thought this would more likely show the positive
influence of analogies (see the method section for detail).

As I mentioned in the introduction, despite the
importance of this issue, little research has been conducted
to investigate the influence of using analogies in a teaching
situation that involves the interaction between a teacher and
students. I was able to cite only three studies that dealt
directly with this critical issue. The results of these
studies are inconclusive. The first study (Gable & Sherwood,
1980) indicates no differences in the performance of students
who received analogies compared to control groups. The
second study (Dupin & Johsua, 1989) suggested some positive
effect. The results of the third study (Clement, 1993)
suggest large positive effect. The following is a discussion
of these three studies.

Gable and Sherwood (1980) investigated the effect of
using analogies over a wide variety of chemistry topics in
high school chemistry classrooms for the entire school year
on student's achievement. Teachers in the treatment groups

jpresented ten chemical concepts in terms of analogies. In

23

the control groups additional examples were presented instead
of analogies. The students' levels of logical thinking
according to Piagetian levels were assessed using a shortened
version of the Longeost test.

Results indicated that using analogies in instruction
did not increase achievement for all students. Students who
scored high on the modified Longeost test, those who reached
the formal level of thinking, profited.more from.additional
examples than from analogies. Students who scored lower on
the Longeost test, those who still in the concrete level,
profited more from analogies. There was no significant
difference in favor of the analogy groups compared to the
control groups.

Dupin and Johsua (1989) used a train analogy to teach
sixth and eighth grade students about electricity. After
discussing students' conceptions, the teacher made an
experiment to provoke students' dissatisfaction with their
current conceptions about electricity. The experiment
demonstrated that the current in both sides of the bulb is
equal. .After that, the teacher presented the analogy and
asked students to map the relationships between the elements
in the vehicle (train or refrigerator) to the corresponding
elements in the target (electricity). Results indicate that
sixth grade students were not able to do the mapping process
on their own successfully. Eighth grade students, however,

were able to do that.

24

The researchers repeated the experiment with tenth grade
students using a refrigerator analogy to teach them about
some advanced concepts about electricity. Students in the
control and experimental groups answered a questionnaire
before and one month after instruction. Results indicate
that the experimental group did better than the control
group. However, Dupin and Johsua did not indicate if this
difference is statistically significant or not.

Also, Dupin and Johsua asserted that neither of the
analogies presented alone would achieve the cognitive aims
the researchers intended. Thus, they suggested that maybe
presenting the two analogies successively as some researchers
suggested (e.g., Spiro et a1, 1989), because each will deal
.with different aspect of electricity.

Clement (1993) used bridging analogies and explanatory
models to teach students three lessons in mechanics. Lessons
were presented in a discussion led by the teacher. Results
indicate there are large differences in pre-posttest gains in
favor of the experimental group.

The combined results of the above studies (excluding the
Clement study, in which a special type of analogy in addition
to explanatory models were used) suggest that analogies have
a modest value in classroom learning.

I think there is a possibility that the influence of
analogies may have been undermined due to the way some of
these studies were conducted. In the study where no

differences were detected (Gable & Sherwood, 1980) analogies

25

were used over an extended period of time (an entire school
year) to teach whole units that contained a variety of
concepts, but only some of them were presented through
analogies. This procedure may not be sensitive enough to
detect the influence of using analogies on students' learning
of a particular concept.

Also, in the Gable and Sherwood study, researchers used
multiple choice tests to assess students learning. However,
this type of test may undermine the benefits of analogies in
two ways:

1. One of the-advantages of using analogies (comprehensive
analogies in particular) is that they permit the learning of
new concepts “not in bits of information but as integrated
parts within an existing organization" (Stepich & Newby, 1988
p.135). Multiple choice tests do not require students to
explain the targeted concept as a whole, and thus fail to
assess students' understanding of the whole concept.

2. Another advantage of analogies is that they facilitate
the retrieval of information about the targeted concept by
providing retrieval cues (Stepich & Newby, 1988). Multiple
choice tests contain the correct answer and the results
depend on the students' ability to recognize the correct
answer, not on retrieving it from memory independent of any
cue.

What is more important is that in all previous studies
the purpose was limited to answer the question: whether

analogies used in instruction helped students to learn, but

26

the crucial question of: how analogies helped to accomplish
that? was not investigated. This study will address this
question by qualitatively analyzing what a student is
thinking about in preparation to answering questions related
to the three categories of questions mentioned above.
Students saw a videotape of their answers to the three
categories of questions and I asked the students to describe
what they were thinking about before answering each question
(see the method and.measures sections for more details).
There is a great need for more research on the influence
of analogies in an instructional setting. Little research
has been conducted in this area and with little attention on
'how' analogies influence students' thinking. There is a need
for more research that does not limit itself to seeing
whether analogies are effective, but goes beyond that to
investigate how analogies influence students' learning. This

study is intended to shed.more light on both questions.

CHAIWEHR 2:
OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES

W

The objective of this study is to answer the following
two questions:

1. Does the use of an analogy in instruction help students
learn a scientific principle better than instruction without
an analogy?

2. How does the use of an analogy in instruction influence
students' learning?

In the first question better is assessed by comparing
the mean scores of two groups. One group received an analogy
as part of instruction and the other did not.

In the second question, students;_learning refers to the
ability of the students to answer questions I presented to
them after instruction (see the method section for a

description of the interviews I used in this study).

27

HXEQTHESES

Hypotheses Related to the First Question:

The first question of this study is focused on whether
the use of analogies in instruction improves students'
learning. The following are the first and second hypotheses
that are related to this question, and the rationale behind
each hypothesis.

W
Students who receive analogies will have significantly higher
total scores on questions after instruction, indicating that
the use of analogies improves the learning of the targeted
principle.

This hypothesis is based on the literature about the
positive influence of analogies on students' recall and
comprehension. Stepich and.Newby (1988), for example, argued
that analogies will improve students' recall of the targeted
information. The vehicle part of the analogy will provide
cues to recall the equivalent elements in the targeted
principle. Gentner and Gentner study (1983) argued that the
vehicle part of the analogy will enable students to formulate
specific explanations and predictions about the target
ciomain, which improve students' comprehension of the targeted

domain. In this study students' learning is assessed.by

28

29

recall, explanation, and prediction questions. Therefore, I
expect that students' who receive analogies will have
significantly higher total scores on these questions.
W
Students who receive analogies will benefit.more in
explanation and prediction questions, compared to recall
questions.

As indicated by Donnelly and McDaniel (1993), including
analogies in text was helpful in improving students' answers
on inferential questions (which are equivalent to explanation
and prediction questions in this study) but it had a negative
effect on answering basic level questions (equivalent to
recall questions in this study). Donnelly and MCDaniel
interpreted this by arguing that analogies diverted students'
attention away from the details and information in the target
concept because students were focusing on the familiar domain
of the vehicle.

However, I expect that analogies will improve students'
answers on recall questions because in this study the analogy
is introduced by a teacher, not through text as in the
Donnelly and.MeDaniel study. Instruction will help students
focus on the target principle by emphasizing it through
questioning during instruction. Also, as I explained in the
literature review, other studies (e.g., Radford, 1989) showed
a positive effect on recall question. Therefore, the net

result will be an improvement on answering recall questions

30

but to a lesser degree compared to the improvement in the
explanation and prediction questions.
Hypotheses Related to the Second Question:

The second question of this study focused on how
analogies influence students' learning. The following are
the third and fourth hypotheses that are related to this
question and the rationale behind each hypothesis:

Third.Hypothesis
Analogies will help students to answer recall questions.by
‘providing cues that help them remember the targeted
princi p1 e .

The above hypothesis is based on the argwments made by
some authors (e.g., Stepich & Newby, 1988). The vehicle part
of the analogy will provide cues to recall the equivalent
elements in the targeted principle. According to this
hypothesis a student may answer the question: what part of
the body is responsible for controlling the body temperature?
by first remembering the thermostat in the vehicle part of
the analogy, and then mapping it to its equivalent in the
target, which is the hypothalamus. I expected this to show
in students' answers and comments on the interview questions
(see the measures section for details).

Fourth Hypothesis
Analogies will help students answer explanation and
prediction questions in two ways. First, they permit the
learning of the targeted process as a whole, not as isolated

.parts of infbrmation. second, students will use the vehicle

31

‘part of the analogy to infer some equivalent relationships
and predictions in the targeted part of the analogy.

This hypothesis is based on literature regarding
analogical reasoning (e.g., Stepich & Newby; Gentner &
Gentner, 1983). As I said above the first way by which
analogies will improve students' answers in explanation and
prediction questions is by allowing the understanding of the
concept as a whole (Stepich & Newby).

Regarding the second way, the Gentner and Gentner study
(1983) demonstrated that the vehicle part of the analogy will
enable students to formulate specific predictions about what
will happen in the target process. Again, I expected this to
show in students' answers and comments on the interview

questions (see the measures section for details).

CHiKPTER.3: DMTPHOEKHIXIY
DESIGN

The objective of this study is to answer the following
two questions:

1. Does the use of an analogy in instruction help students
learn a scientific principle better than instruction without
an analogy? -

2. How does the use of an analogy in instruction influence
students' learning?

To answer the above questions I used a design to
contrast the performance and reasoning of students receiving
analogies with those who do not receive analogies. I
performed two experiments. The first experiment is the
original study in which I taught two lessons (Insulin lesson
and Hypothalamus lesson). I did a follow-up second
experiment to help explain some of the results I obtained
from the first experiment. To do that I taught one lesson
(Insulin lesson) in the second experiment with two major
changes. I removed the illustrations and assessed students'
performance after a longer period of time (see details in the
procedure section). I called the lesson in the second
experiment the Second Insulin lesson to distinguish it from

the Insulin lesson I used in the first experiment.

32

33

The following is a description of the design I used in
this study:

In the first experiment I formed four groups so that
each group contained 8 students. Two groups received
tutoring with an analogy about one of the two lessons, the
other two groups received tutoring about one of the two
lessons but without analogies (Control) (See Table 2). I
interviewed all students before and after instruction.

I used the same design in the second experiment, but
with 5 students receiving tutoring about the insulin lesson
with analogies, and 5 receiving tutoring without analogies

(control group).

 

 

 

Table 2
th’ D. 01 or 0 01! o o o‘ h‘- Mar -90 or 0
Groups
Lesson

Group Insulin lesson Hypothalamus lesson
Control group 8 students 8 students
(No Analogy)
Treatment group 8 students 8 students

(Analogy)

 

IUWRLE

In the first experiment the sample consisted of 32
undergraduate students (22 females and 10 males) from Kuwait
University. In the second experiment the sample consisted of
10 undergraduate students (4 females and 6 males) from.Kuwait
university. These students were enrolled in courses offered
by the College of Education and they represented various
specializations (e.g., Education, Biology, and engineering).
Students volunteered in this study upon a recommendation by
their instructors. I assigned students randomly to the
experimental and control groups. I did this by randomly pre-
assigning treatments to the numbers representing the total
number of students in each lesson (which include the control
and the experimental group). For example, in the insulin
lesson the number of students is 16. I started by randomly
pre-assigning a treatment (Analogy or No Analogy) for each
number from.1 to 16, so that there are 8 students
representing the Analogy group (experimental group) and 8
students representing the No Analogy group (control group).
The numbers from.1 to 16 indicate also the order by which
students participated in this study (e.g., number 1
represents the first student volunteered to participate in

the insulin lesson). Therefore, each student was

34

35

pre—assigned a treatment according to his/her order of

participation.

METHOD

First Experiment

I taught students individually about one of the two
processes mentioned above (Insulin lesson or Hypothalamus
lesson). The instruction that I used has the following
characteristics:
1. The instruction is individualized instruction or a
tutorial. I taught one lesson to each student individually.
2. The instruction (in both experimental and control groups)
is interactive, which means that the student is involved in
the learning process. To insure this I did the following: (a)
I encouraged each student to feel free to ask questions or
make statements about the topic any time during instruction
(stated in the directions before instruction); b. I
included questions throughout instruction to help the student
to: i. recall his previous knowledge about the tapic, ii.
anticipate the upcoming information, iii. incorporate the
lessons' information through explaining (paraphrasing) some
parts of the lesson, and iv. think with the teacher by
asking him/her to predict what will happen in a given
situation.

From a teachers' perspective, these questions helped me

to determine if the student understood the information I

36

37

presented to him” and if I needed to repeat some parts of the
instruction.
3. I used a written protocol as a guideline to deliver
instruction and to insure that each student received complete
information about the topic (see Appendices A, B, for the
Insulin and Hypothalamus lessons protocols). The written
protocol also helped to deal with my biases as a researcher,
because the protocol insured that every student received the
information necessary to answer the questions in the
interview after instruction, and that all students were
taught in a similar or standard way. In addition, the
introductory part of the written protocol helped all students
to understand what to expect as participants in this study.

Since many students who participated in this study came
from the same class, there was the possibility of students
talking to each other and influence the validity of students
scores by introducing order effect (students who participate
later do better because they get more information about the
topic from.other students). Therefore, at the end of
instruction I instruct students not to talk to other students
about the experiment before I finish the experiment
procedures with all students. I examined students scores and
there was no indication of order effect.

I evaluated each student's knowledge and understanding
of the targeted principle before and after instruction. I
did that by interviewing students individually before and

after instruction. I followed an interview protocol that was

38

the same for all students (interview protocols are part of
the lesson protocols provided in Appendices A and B). I
tape-recorded all interviews. I video-taped the interviews
after instruction only. I used the videotape in the double
stimulus procedure explained later in this section. The
interview before instruction was directly before instruction.
On the other hand, the interview after instruction occurred
two days later. As I indiCated in the literature review
section, the results of previous studies (Radford, 1989;
Simons, 1984, although inconclusive, yet suggest that
Analogies are more helpful in delayed recall compared to
immediate recall. Radford (1989) found that analogies are
more useful in improving delayed recall. In contrast, Simons
(1984) found that analogies are more helpful in immediate
recall. But the results of other studies (Donnelly and
McDaniel, 1993; Gilbert, 1989) in which students' performance
was assessed directly after instruction (immediate recall)
and no significant differences were found, suggest that
analogies are more useful in improving delayed recall.

In this study I delayed the questions for two days
because:
1. This encouraged each student to think more before
answering each question instead of relying on remembering
what s/he just heard if the questions were directly after

instruction.

39

2. Encouraging students to think more before answering
helped to examine students thinking using the double stimulus
response.

3. Although the evidence is inconclusive regarding the
delayed versus immediate recall (as I explained above), based
on the arguments which I made in the hypothesis section, I
expected that delaying the questions for two days would show
more clearly the positive role of analogies in helping
students to recall, explain, and predict certain aspects of
the targeted principle.

I instructed all students to follow these steps in
answering all interview questions (in both before and after
instruction interviews):

1. Hear the question and.make sure that you understand the
question (if necessary, I will repeat the question to help
students understand the question).

2. Take as much time as necessary to think and prepare the
answer.

3. Tell me if you are ready to answer.

4. Answer the question.

I used the double stimulus procedure only in the
interviews after instruction. The students saw the video of
the interview and.I asked them about what they were thinking
about before answering each question. I tape-recorded their

responses.

40

Second experiment

The purpose of the second experiment was to explain some
of the results related to the first experiment. I wanted to
know if removing the illustrations from.instruction and
assessing students' performance after a longer period would
increase the effectiveness of the analogies. I also wanted
to know why many students mentioned the analogy in the first
question, which happened to be a recall—type question.

To answer the above questions, I used the same procedure
mentioned above to individually teach students in the
experimental and control groups about the Insulin lesson, but
with two major differences. First, I removed all the figures
I used in the first experiment. Second, I waited for one
week to interview students after instruction, compared to two
days in the first experiment. I did this to see if these new
conditions would increase the effectiveness of the analogy
(See Appendix C for the Second Insulin lesson protocol)

A third difference is related to the ordering of
questions in the interview after instruction. In the first
experiment I started the interview after instruction with a
recall type question. In the second experiment I moved the
recall question to be the third question, and started by an
explanation question. I did this because in the first
experiment most students mentioned the analogy in the first
question. I wanted to see if the inclination of students to

mention the analogy in the first question is related to the

41

order of the question (being the first question) or the type

and nature of the question (being a recall general question).

FIE—ASEBE—S

Since the interviews are in Arabic, I translated and
transcribed all the interviews (before and after
instruction). To determine the accuracy of my translation I
provided a graduate student, who is fluent in both English
and Arabic, with the Arabic transcripts of 2 students and
asked him to translate it to English. I compared my
translation with his translation. There were differences
related to word choice, but the overall meaning was similar.

After conducting the experiment with all students, I
asked an individual to assign a number to each student, so
that I did not know the students' name as I correct his or
her answers. This reduced the probability of scoring bias.

I scored the questions before and after instruction. I
used model answers to score students' answers (See Appendices
D and E for the model answers of Insulin And Hypothalamus
lessons). For the explanation and prediction questions each
question was worth 3 points. For the recall questions, the
general recall question (asking the student to explain the
targeted principle in as much detail possible) was worth 5
points, and the remaining 2 questions were worth 2 points
each. The reason behind assigning more points to the first

question is because it required students to recall most of

42

43

the information or the whole picture about the targeted
principle. Unlike the rest two questions (which I assigned 2
points) involved recalling specific and small facts. Using
the insulin lesson as an example, the total score of the 9
questions for the interview after instruction is 27 points
([3 x 6] + 5 + 2 + 2). I prepared a model answer for each
question and used it to judge the correctness of students'
answers. A student may get a (0) grade if his answer is
completely wrong, and may get (1.5) if he gets half of the
answer right. To be fair to all students, I used a two-step
process in correcting the answers. First, I read all
students' answers to each question without assigning a grade.
Then I read them again to assign grades.

To get interrater reliability, I trained a graduate
student to score the questions, and asked him to score the
questions of 6 students that I had chosen randomly from all
students who participated in this study. I correlated his
scores with my scores for the 6 students and got r = 0.88.

I used the scores for the questions before instruction
to assess each student's prior knowledge regarding the
targeted principle. A student who knew too much about the
targeted.principle was not considered, and.was replaced by
the following student. I considered a student to know too
much if he or she was able to answer more than 3 questions
(out of 6 questions) in the interview before instruction.

This happened one time only in the insulin lesson. The

44

student was able to answer four questions (out of 6),
therefore, I replaced the student.

The questions in the interview after instruction
assessed the influence of analogies on students':
1. Ability to recall factual knowledge about the targeted
principle.
2. Ability to explain the targeted principle.
3. Ability to predict new situations related to the targeted

principle.

To test the first hypothesis (students who receive
analogies will learn more about the targeted principle than
those who do not receive analogies) I used a t—test (n=8) to
compare the mean score of the group who received analogies
with the mean score of the control group. Since I have two
lessons, I performed two t-tests. I also combined the
scores of two groups who received analogies, and combined the
scores of the two control groups. I used a t-test (n=16) to
compare the mean scores of the resulting two groups.

To test the second hypothesis (students who receive
analogies will benefit more in explanation and.prediction,
compared to recall questions) I compared the average score of
each question type for the groups that received analogies
with the average score of each question type for the control
groups. For example, I calculated the means for recall,
explanation, and prediction questions for the two groups that
received analogies and compared it to the mean for factual
knowledge, explanation, and prediction questions for the
control groups.

To test the third hypothesis (analogies will help
students answer factual knowledge questions by providing cues

that help to remember the targeted principles) I showed each

45

46

student the video of his/her interview after instruction. I
stopped the video just before the student answered each
question, and asked him/her about what he/she was thinking
about. I also stopped the video after each question and
asked if the students could add more information regarding
what they were thinking about before answering the question.
My prediction was that students would think about the analogy
and use it to retrieve information regarding the targeted
principle, and this would show in their description of their
thinking processes as they prepared to answer recall
questions. -

To test the fourth hypothesis (analogies will help
students to answer explanation and prediction questions in
two ways, first by permitting the learning of the targeted
process as a whole, not as isolated parts of information.
Second, students will use the vehicle part of the analogy to
infer some equivalent relationships and.predictions in the
targeted.part of the analogy). Regarding the first way I
expected this to show as improved ability of students who
received analogies to answer explanation questions and
prediction questions. Also, I expected that students who
received analogies would mention the vehicle part of the
analogy (e.g., “emigration“ in the insulin lesson) as they
described their thinking before answering the explanation and
prediction question of the interview after instruction.

In addition, I asked the students who received analogies

the following general question at the end of the interview

47

after instruction (this question is related to the insulin
lesson): In answering the previous questions did you think
about the emigration situation we talked about two days ago?
When did you think about it? This question showed if the
student ever thought about the analogy, since the student may
have thought about it without mentioning it in his/her
description of his thinking. If the student said that he/she
never thought about the analogy, this would indicate that the
student did not use the analogy to answer the questions of
the interview after instruction. This question was not
scored since it did not measure student learning about the
topic, and because I asked it only to the students who
received analogies only.

I used the same previous measures in the second

experiment.

CHEAPTTEII4: REERHJTS

I organized this section according to the two questions
of this study and the relevant hypotheses. I will start with
the results related to the first question, which includes
the first and second hypotheses. I will report the relevant
results related to the first experiment, which include two
lessons: the insulin lesson, the hypothalamus lesson, and the
two lessons combined. Then I will report the results of the
second experiment, which includes the second insulin lesson.
This lesson is different from.the insulin lesson of the first
experiment in that it does not include illustrations, and has
a period of one week between instruction and the interview
instead of two days as in the insulin lesson of the first
experiment.

After that, I will report the results relevant to the
second question, which includes the third and fourth
hypotheses of this study. Similar to the first question, I
will start with the first experiment and then the second
experiment.

In Appendix F I listed tables of each students' scores
on each question. The tables are organized according to
lesson (Insulin lesson, Hypothalamus lesson, or second

Insulin lesson) and treatment (Analogy or No analogy). I also

48

49

listed tables of students' scores on each question according
to the type of question (recall, explanation, or prediction).
The means, and the standard deviations are indicated.

Question I

W

The first hypothesis of this study (which is related to
the first question mentioned above) states that students who
receive analogies will learn more about the targeted
principle than those who do not receive analogies. Learning
is assessed by the ability of the students in each group to
answer the questions of the interview after instruction. The
following are the results of the first experiment and the
second experiment that are relevant to this hypothesis.
Wt

. 1' J .

Figure 1 compares the means of the Analogy and No
Analogy groups for the Insulin lesson, the Hypothalamus
lesson, the two lessons of the first experiment combined, and

the second Insulin lesson of the second experiment.

50

I Analogy
E! No Analo
25 I gy

   
   
   

1443 1466

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

: 1 3—1
Insulin Hypothalamus Combined Sec. Insulin
Eigure_l¢ The Mean Scores of the Analogy and No Analogy

Groups for the First and Second Experiment

The mean for the Insulin Analogy group is 21.25. The
mean for the Insulin No Analogy group is 20.125. I performed
a two sample t-test (n=8). The result shows that there is no
significant statistical difference between the two groups
p > 0.05 (p = 0.58).

W559!)-

Figure 1 indicates that the mean for the Hypothalamus
Analogy group is 14.4. The mean for the Hypothalamus No
Analogy group is 14.6. I performed a two sample t—test
(n=8). The result shows that there is no significant
statistical difference between the two groups p > 0.05 (p =

0.91).

51

Wm.

Figure 1 shows that the mean for the Insulin and
Hypothalamus Analogy group is 17.84. The mean for the
Insulin and Hypothalamus No Analogy group is 17.39. I
performed a two-sample t-test (n=16). The result shows that
there is no significant statistical difference between the
two groups p,> 0.05 (p = 0.81).

W12

As indicated by Figure 1, the mean for the Insulin
Analogy group is 19. The mean for the Hypothalamus No
Analogy group is 14.7. I performed a two sample t-test
(n=5). The result shows that there is no significant
statistical difference between the two groups, p_> 0.05 (p,=
0.12).

The results of the first experiment, which includes the
Insulin and.Hypothalamus lessons, indicate that analogies did
not help students learn more than students who did not
receive analogies. The result of the second experiment which
included the insulin lesson without illustrations and with
more time between instruction and interview, is also
statistically not significant. However, the p value of this
experiment (p = 0.12) is much smaller compared to the p value
of the insulin lesson in the first experiment (p = 0.58).
Thus, although the difference was statistically not
significant in the second experiment, comparing the p values

of the first and the second experiments indicates that the

52

emigration analogy in the insulin lesson helped students
learn more in comparison to the No Analogy group, after
removing the illustrations and testing students after a

longer period of time (one week vs. two days).

53

W

The second hypothesis of this study is related to the
first question of this study; Does the use of an analogy in
instruction help students to learn a scientific principle
better than instruction without an analogy? The second
hypothesis states that students who receive analogies will
benefit more in explanation and prediction, compared to
factual knowledge questions. To test this hypothesis I
compared the average score of each question type for the
groups that received analogies with the average score of each
question type for the control groups.
W

Figure 2 compares the mean scores of Insulin Analogy and
No Analogy groups according to the three types of questions
in the interview after instruction. The three types of
questions are recall, explanation, and.prediction. Each type
of question is represented by three questions in the
interview, with a total score of 9.

The mean of the Analogy group on recall questions is
7.3, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is
6.1. The mean of the Analogy group on explanation questions
is 7.1, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is
7.2 . The mean of the Analogy group on prediction questions
is 6.7, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is

6.7. I performed a t-test to see if there was any

54

significant difference between the means of each question

type. None of these differences were significant p > 0.05.

10 --

9 "‘ IAnangy
ElNo Analogy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recall Explanation Prediction

Figure 2, A Comparison Between the Score Means of the
Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on the Three Types of

Questions

Wesson.

Figure 3 compares the mean scores of Hypothalamus
Analogy and No Analogy groups according to the three types of
questions in the interview after instruction. The mean of
the Analogy group on recall questions is 5.8 compared to 6.23
the mean of the No Analogy group. The mean of the Analogy

group on explanation questions is 4.18, compared to the mean

55

of the No Analogy group which is 3.68. The mean of the
Analogy group on prediction questions is 5.5, compared to the
mean of the No Analogy group which is 5.4. None of these

differences were significant p > 0.05.

10 T

9 -- IAnalogy
ElNo Analogy

8 --

 

 

 

 

 

Recall Explanation Prediction

Eigure_3+ A Comparison Between the Score Means of the
Hypothalamus Analogy and No Analogy Groups on the Three Types

of Questions

Waxed.

Figure 4 compares the mean scores of the combined
(Insulin and Hypothalamus) Analogy and No Analogy groups
according to the three types of questions. The mean of the

combined Analogy group on recall questions is 6.5, compared

56

to the mean of the combined No Analogy group which is 6.1.
The mean of the combined Analogy group on explanation
questions is 5.6, compared to the mean of the No Analogy
group which is 5.4. The mean of the Analogy group on
prediction questions is 6.1, compared to the mean of the No
Analogy group which is 5.4. None of these differences were

significant p > 0.05.

10 --

9 " IAnangy
BN0 Analogy

 

 

 

 

 

Recall Explanation Prediction

Eigure_4‘ A comparison Between the Score Means of the
Combined Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy and No Analogy

Groups on the Three Types of Questions

57

W

i . 1' J .
Figure 5 compares the mean scores of Insulin Analogy and No
Analogy groups according to the three types of questions in

the interview after Instruction.

10 T

9 -- IAnalogy
E] No Analogy
8

 

 

 

 

 

Recall Explanation Prediction

Eigu:§_fi* A Comparison Between the Score Means of the
Insulin Analogy and No Analogy Groups on the Three Types of

Questions, the Second Experiment

The mean of the Analogy group on recall questions is
6.4, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is

4.3. The mean of the Analogy group on explanation questions

58

is 5.9, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is
6.2. The mean of the Analogy group on prediction questions
is 6.7, compared to the mean of the No Analogy group which is
4.2.

I performed a t-test (n=5) to see if any of these
differences is statistically significant. Only the
difference between the two means of the recall questions is
statistically significant p < .05 (p =0.04l).

These results indicate that the emigration analogy in
the Insulin lesson was most useful in helping students to
recall information. The difference between the means of the
recall questions is 1.2 points in favor of the analogy
group. This benefit reached a significant level (p =0.041)
in the second experiment after removing the drawings and
allowing for more time between instruction and interview
questions.

For explanation questions the emigration analogy in the
insulin lesson did not help students answer these questions.
This is true for the first and second experiment. In fact, in
both experiments the mean of the No Analogy group was
slightly higher than the mean of the Analogy group.

Regarding prediction questions, the means of the Analogy
and.No Analogy groups were identical = 6.75. This means that
the emigration analogy did not help students learn more under
the circumstances of the first experiment. However, in the
second experiment in which I removed the illustrations and

allowed for more time between instruction and interview

59

questions, the difference between the two means is 2.5 points
in favor of the analogy group.

In the Hypothalamus lesson, the thermostat analogy did
not help students to answer recall questions. To the
contrary, there is a l/2-point difference in favor of the No
Analogy group. Thus there is an indication that the
thermostat analogy may have hindered students recall.
Regarding explanation questions, the thermostat analogy
slightly helped students answer this type of question since
there is a 1/2-point difference in favor of the analogy
group.

For prediction questions, the means of the Analogy group
and the No Analogy group are almost the same. This indicates
that the thermostat analogy, under the conditions of the
first experiment, did not help students answer this type of

questions better than the No Analogy group.

60

Question II

The third hypothesis of this study (which is related to
the second question mentioned above) states that analogies
will help students answer recall questions by providing cues
that help them.remember the targeted principles. I predicted
that students would think about the analogy and use it to
retrieve information regarding the targeted principle, and
this would show in the students' answers to the interview
questions or their descriptions of their thinking process as
they prepared to answer recall questions.

Table 3 lists the lessons and the number of students who
mentioned the analogy and the number of students who did not

mention the analogy.

Table 3
WW
1 :‘ill I . 1E] . Ell

 

 

Lesson Mentioned.Analogy Did not Mention
Insulin 3 5
Hypothalamus 4 4

Second Insulin 2 3

 

61

I considered mentioning any word related to the vehicle
part of the analogy (e.g., emigration situation in the
insulin lesson), either in the students' answers to the
interview questions and/or in the students' comments on the
videotaped interview, to be the criteria for considering a
student as one that mentioned the analogy.

Table 4 is a list of the names (not the real names) of
all students who mentioned the analogy, their gender, group
or lesson, where they mentioned the analogy (in their answer
and/or comments), and score on the interview after

instruction.

62

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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:momm To
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mma Hamoom To moEoHosuonhm mane—om one: mme
m2: danced v.0 .mgfiamsuogm mam: Eon—mun? mat
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Hamowm H.o
mm Hamowm To cwanmsH magnum wagon an:
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mm amiss mo 53on can: bacon me
Humvee H.o
Won—nos
ouoom 1309 so momma-=00 mo Hosanna common Hopsow one 952
bounce—um

 

 

 

 

 

 

.e o-.. o i z: e e

o-.. f-) o...

 

63

Figure 6 is a histogram of the number of students who
mentioned the analogy according to the type of question. This
indicates where students mentioned the analogy according to
question type. For example, in the Insulin lesson there are 3
students who mentioned the analogy in recall type questions

and 1 mentioned the analogy in explanation type questions.

 

I Recall
l3 Explanation
I Prediction

 

 

 

 

 

Insulin Hypothalamus Sec . Insulin

W The Number of Students Who Mentioned the Analogy

According to Question Type

64

I' E .

As shown in Tables 3 and 4, out of the 8 students who
received the emigration analogy, 3 students mentioned the
emigration analogy in their comments on their answers.

All 3 students mentioned the analogy in their comments
on the first question, which is a recall-type question. Only
1 student mentioned the analogy in his comments on the fifth
question, which was an explanation question.

Students' comments about the first question indicate
that they remembered the emigration situation, the vehicle,
and used it to construct their answers about the insulin
situation, the target. The following are the transcripts of
what the students answered.when I asked them.to comment on
their videotaped answers. These are the comments of Jacob on
his videotaped interview regarding what went through his mind
before answering the first question. In the first question I
asked Jacob to use his own words to explain to me how the
human body regulates the level of sugar in blood (I
identified myself as the Teacher in all transcripts):

Teacher: What went in your mind when I asked you
this question?

Jacob: When you asked the question ... I remembered
that we compared insulin hormone and glucose ... we
compared it to the emigration administration or the

airport.

65

Teacher: OK.

Jacob: I remembered the airport and the emigration
what will happen if one counter is working or

two or three ... and I.move it with insulin

insulin hormone.

Jacob explained that he remembered the comparison
between the vehicle part of the analogy, the emigration
administration, and the target, the insulin situation. He
explained that he remembered first what happened in the
emigration when one counter is working compared to two or
three counters and used this to recall what happened in the
human body: “and I move it with insulin ... insulin hormone".
This supports the hypothesis that students will use the
emigration situation (vehicle) to provide cues which will
help them to remember information about the insulin situation
(target) .

It is important to remember that Jacob did not mention
the emigration situation in his correct answer to the
question, but that it is in his description of what went
through his mind. This means that methods that rely only on
students' verbal or written responses will not detect that
students actually remembered and used the analogy, as this
student did in this example.

These are the comments of Sarah on her videotaped answer
to the same first question (how does the human body regulates

the level of sugar in blood?):

66

Teacher: See your answer and tell what did you

think about as you answered ... what went in your

mind?

The student saw part of her answer.

Teacher: What did you remember here?

sarah: The paper ... the two papers ... the

travelers and so on.

Teacher: OK.

sarah: I started collecting from here and from here
and saidflmaybe ... I said what was there.

The student saw the rest of her answer.

Teacher: As you were answering ... what went in

your mind?

sarah: From the paper ... I was recalling;

Teacher:.How?

sarah: I was recalling the drawing ... when you
said explain from one ... and go to the second
‘paper about the travelers ... same thing ... from

one point to other point.

In this case, Sarah remembered the two drawings of the
emigration and insulin and she compared the two situations
'from.one point to another point“ in the process of answering
the question. Sarah did this comparison as part of the
instruction provided two days before this interview. At the
end of instruction and after presenting the analogy to the
students, I asked them to use the two figures representing

the insulin and emigration analogy to explain how the human

67

body regulates the level of sugar. So Sarah remembered the
comparison she did in the instruction in which she compared
each stage in the insulin situation with its equivalent in
the emigration situation. For example, she compared the
situation before insulin secretion with the emigration area
before the arrival of the administrators (see the protocol of
the Insulin lesson for the Analogy group in the method
section). This point—to—point comparison may have facilitated
the recall of how insulin regulated the level of glucose in
the blood in a way that is similar to what Jacob articulated
earlier. That -is, they recalled first what happened in the
emigration situation and used this as a cue to remember what
happened in the insulin situation.

Jasmine is the third and last student who mentioned the
analogy in her comments (on her videotaped interview)
regarding what she thought about before answering the first
question. The following are Jasmine's comments:

Teacher: What happened?

Jasmine: I was remembering when . . . you told me

the pancreas . . . when you told me that sense that
there is an increase in glucose in the blood . . . so
it stimulates it . . . and secretes (pan . . . the . . .
insulin . . . what else . . . yes the insulin . . . when
you showed me the picture . .

Teacher: Which picture?

Jasmine: Which contained the transporters after . . .

they come . . . I remembered the airport.

68

Teacher: How did this help you?
Jasmine: That at first they were not active and
then how they.became active ... when the
administrators came ... at first there were crowds
which.mean excess in glucose ... after that .. the
employees were sitting ... than the administrators
came like ... when pancreas saw that ... so it
secretes the insulin ... the inactive became active
and the crowds decreased.

Here Jasmine said that she remembered the figure that
illustrated the influence of insulin. This seemed to remind
her that she recalled the airport situation as she thought
about this question. I think my next question to her, "how
this helped.you?" was a leading question. A better question
would.be “can you elaborate more?“ or something to that
effect. Nevertheless, Jasmine's description of how the
emigration situation helped her shows that she benefited from
the emigration situation by recalling and understanding how
the transporters became active:

Teacher: How did this help you?
Jasmine: That at first they were not active and
then how they became active ...

This is at the heart of the process that explain how
insulin regulates the level of sugar in the blood. I think
the ability to recall and.understand this central and crucial
point helped the student remember the other details of the

targeted principle. In addition, in her description the

69

student went back and forth between the emigration situation
(vehicle) and the insulin situations (target), mapping
correctly between what happens in the two situations. This
correct mapping between the two situations may have also
facilitated the recall of what happened in the insulin
situation in a way that is similar to what the previous two
students did. That is, they used the emigration situation as
a cue to recall the insulin situation.

We

As indicated by Tables 3 and 4, 4 students out of 8
mentioned the thermostat. Out of these 4 students, 3
students mentioned the thermostat in two recall-type
questions involving the first question (2 students) and the 4
question (1 student).

In the first question I asked students to explain to me
how the human body maintains a stable body temperature
through the sweat glands. As in the insulin lesson,
students' answers and comments indicate that the students
remembered the comparison between the hypothalamus and the
thermostat and used the thermostat as a vehicle to remember
how the hypothalamus regulates the body temperature. This is
what Mona said in her comments regarding what she thought
about before answering the first question (how does the human
body maintain a stable body temperature through the sweat

glands?):

70

Teacher: What went in your.mind regarding the first

question?

.Mona: I was remembering the table ... the one you
shown me about the hypothalamus ... and the one
about the air conditioning ... so that's why I was
answering ...from it ... I did.not remember exactly

what we said.

Mona explained that she remembered the drawings about
the thermostat and the hypothalamus, and used these two
drawings to construct her answer. Mona indicated that she
did not remember exactly what we said about the two drawings,
but she was able to construct her answer by remembering the
drawings of the thermostat and the hypothalamus, the two
parts of the analogy.

Adam.mentioned the thermostat in his comments and also
in his answer to the first question. This is part of his
answer to the question, “how does the human body maintain a
stable body temperature through the sweat glands?":

.Adam: we will first go with increasing the
secretion ... first thing his body temperature will
be high ... this will cause an increase in the
blood temperature ... the blood will go to the
brain it will reach the ... thallamus ...

Teacher: 0K .

.Adam: OK ... this thalamus is considered like a
thermostat ... OK ... it increases and decreases

the ... sweat ... it is the control center of

71

sweat in the whole human body ... OK ... so when
the temperature increases it will order all the
sweat glands in the body to secretes sweat ... when
it secret sweat the temperature will decrease ...
and return ... do you want the decrease condition?

This is part of Adamfs comments describing what he
thought about before stating his previous answer (mentioned
above):

Teacher: OK ... what went in your.mind after you
heard this question?

Adam: The air conditioner ...

Teacher: Minhmm .

Adam: And the human body .. the two.maps.

In his answer Adam.mentioned the thermostat when he
wanted to talk about how the hypothalamus increases the
secretion of the sweat glands. He said, “this thalamus
(hypothalamus) is considered like a thermostat“ it is the
”control center of sweat in the whole human body“. This
shows that the Adam recalled the air conditioning situation,
which is confirmed by his comments on his videotaped answer
when he said that he remembered "the air condition” and "the
human body .. the two maps (figures)' of the air conditioner
and the human body. This implies that Adam used the two
figures in constructing his answer. Adamfls comments do not
indicate how he utilized the figures of the two situations to

answer the question.

72

Abraham, mentioned the analogy in question four.
Question four is a simple recall question asking the student
to name the organ that controls the temperature of the human
body. The answers indicate that Abraham resorted to the
analogy when he had difficulty remembering the name of the
organ (the hypothalamus).

Teacher: What is the name of the part or organ in

the human body that controls the temperature of the

human body?

Abraham: The theo .. theo .. the theo .. we talked

about it .. the theo .. the blood passes through it
we said it is like the thermostat of the .. theo
theomalus or something .. approximately .. I do

not memorize it well.

Abraham mentioned the thermostat to indicate that he
knew the organ, but could not remember its name. This shows
that Abraham recalled the air conditioning analogy, and the
thermostat. Then he tried to use the thermostat in the air
conditioning situation to remember its equivalent in the
human body, which is the hypothalamus. This again supports
the hypothesis that students will use the elements in the
vehicle (thermostat) to provide cues that help them.remember
their equivalents in the target (hypothalamus).
Madmen;

.As indicated.by Table 3 and 4, 2 students out of 5

students mentioned the analogy in their answers and comments.

 

73

Similar to the students in the insulin lesson of the first
experiment, both students mentioned the analogy on the first
question. It is important to remember that I changed the
position of this question from the first question to be the
third in this experiment (I referred to it as the first
recall question to avoid confusion). I did this to see if
the position of this question influenced student recall of
the analogy. Yet, similar to the first experiment, all
students recalled the emigration analogy in the first recall
question that required them.to provide or recall the whole
picture about the insulin situation. Add to this the fact
that in the Hypothalamus lesson 2 out of 3 students also
mentioned the analogy in the first recall question (similar
general recall question). This implies that analogies were
used more in recall questions that required students to give
the big picture about the targeted domain, in contrast to
recall questions that focused on a specific detail (for
example, recalling the name of the organ that controls the
body temperature).

Both students in the second insulin lesson mentioned the
analogy after I asked them to explain to me or provide more
details regarding what they had already said about the
targeted principle. That is, students mentioned the airport
(vehicle), in the process of explaining to me how insulin
regulates glucose in the body (target).

The following is the answer of Kareem on the first

recall question:

74

Teacher: using your own words, and with as much
detail possible, explain to me how the human body
regulates the level of sugar in blood. (Repeating
the question)

Kareem: When there is a shortage of glucose in the
blood ... the pancreas gland starts the secretion
of insulin ... insulin regulates glucose in the
blood through increasing glucose transporters in
the cell membrane ...

Teacher: Explain this to.me.

Kareem: It regulates glucose in the blood like the
airport .

In his answer Kareem mentioned the analogy to explain to
me how insulin regulates the level of glucose in the blood.
However, Kareem did not elaborate on the analogy; he only
said “It regulates glucose in the blood like the airport".
This may be because he thought there was no need to
elaborate, since I was the one who provided the analogy in
the first place, or simply because I did not ask him to
elaborate on what he said. In addition, Kareem.provided
short answers to all other interview questions.

Nevertheless, mentioning the analogy indicates that
Kareem thought about the emigration situation as he tried to
answer the question. This is confirmed by his comments after
he saw the video depicting him thinking before answering the

question. So here he is describing what went through his

75

mind before answering the first recall question (how does the
human body maintain a stable temperature?):
Teacher: What went in your mind?
Kareem: I remembered last wednesday ... I was
recalling the airplane and the airport.
Teacher: You thought about it?
Kareem: Yes I thought about it.

Kareem indicated that he recalled the emigration
situation and thought about it when I asked him the question.
The other student who remembered the analogy in the

first recall question was Mohammed. This student also
mentioned the analogy when I asked him.to provide more
details for his answer. The transcript shows that Mohammed
mentioned the analogy to boost his short and incomplete
answer on the question about how the human body regulates a
stable body temperature:

Teacher:.How do transporters decrease the level of

sugar?

Mbhammed: It will attach itself to the wall

attach itself to the cell wall ... this is what I

know.

Teacher: Do you have more details?

Mohammed: You gave me an example ... you made an

analogy with the airport ... the KUwait airport

when travelers come and they feund only one on the

counter ... a lot of passengers will.be standing in

lines in front of that counter ... so in this

 

76

situation there will a pressure on that employee

other employees are talking or something else

if someone went to the official ... he will
organize this process ... so that he distributes
other employees on the other counters so that
travelers will go to the other counters ... this
way the problem will be solved ... everybody will
take his luggage and leave ... you.made this
analogous to the human body ... that the travelers
are the glucose ... and the employee is the insulin

I think I am confused ... I hope I got it
right.

Mohammed's answer shows that he was able to recall the
emigration situation with good detail. However he did not
provide any details regarding the targeted.principle, which
is how insulin regulated glucose level. In addition,
.Mohammed‘was not able to map all the elements on the
emigration situation (vehicle) to their correct
correspondents on the insulin situation (target). Although
he correctly mapped the travelers to glucose, he incorrectly
mapped insulin to the employees, and did not mention other
elements.

Mohammed's comments on his interview video show that he

recalled the emigration situation:

77

T: What went in your mind here?

S:.Here .. I remembered every thing .. you tied the

situation with examples .. specifically the example

of the airport

Although I consider mentioning the analogy as a sign

that the student is using the analogy in some way to
construct his answer. Yet, recalling the analogy does not
mean that the analogy is always helping the student in his
answer. In this case the student did not map correctly the
elements between the two situations and this may have
decreased the effectiveness of using the vehicle to recall

the target situation.

78

Fourth Hypothesis

The fourth hypothesis is related to the second question
of this study; How does the use of an analogy in instruction
influence students' learning? The fourth hypothesis states
that analogies will help students to answer explanation and
prediction questions in two ways. First, they permit the
learning of the targeted process as a whole, not as isolated
parts of information. Second, they will use the vehicle part
of the analogy to infer some equivalent relationships and
predictions in the targeted part of the analogy. I proposed
that this would show in the improved ability of students who
received analogies to answer explanation questions and
prediction questions. This was not confirmed, as I explained
in discussing the second hypothesis.

Also, I suggested that students who received analogies
would mention the vehicle part of the analogy (e.g.,
“emigration“ in the insulin lesson) as they described their
thinking before answering the explanation and prediction
question of the interview after instruction. Figure 6 shows
that only 4 students out the of the 21 students who received
analogies in this study mentioned the analogy in their
answers or comments to an explanation or prediction question.
This demonstrates that most students were not inclined to
recall the analogy and use it to answer explanation and
prediction.question. Instead they may have focused on the

tEIQEted principle and the information directly related to

79

it. The following is an analysis of the transcripts of the 4
students, starting with the first experiment.
3' l .

Out of the 8 students who received the emigration
analogy in the insulin lesson, Sarah was the only student who
mentioned the analogy. This happened as she was commenting
on the explanation question number 5 (when an individual has
a high glucose level in his blood, we say that he has
diabetes. What do you think goes wrong in the human body to
cause this disease?). Sarah's answer was ”the pancreas .. the
pancreas gland ... weakness ... in producing the insulin
hormone“ which is a correct answer. These are her comments
on what she thought about before she answered the question:

Teacher: What happened.here?

sarah: I remembered the same thing ... the story of
administrators and the emigration ... I remembered
through ... if it increases ... the level of sugar
there must be something to reduce it ... if did.not
let something redbce it ... the people will ... you
will get a disease ... similarly'in the emigration
iij u put or increased a new counter ... the
number of people in the emigration area ... their
number will.be large ... unreasonable I.mean ... it
is difficult for one person to finish their papers

in the speed required.

80

Sarah said that she remembered the emigration situation
when she answered this question. Sarah's description of her
thinking process indicates that she started with the
situation presented in the question (high glucose level) and
applied the same situation to the emigration situation to
find the solution. Sarah stated that when the sugar level is
high "there must be something to reduce it". She then went
to the emigration situation to apply the situation. She said
that 'shmilarly” if you want to overcome the same situation
in the emigration situation “you put or increased a new
counter ...“ because if you don not increase a new counter
”the number of people in the emigration area ... their number
will be unreasonable I mean .. it is difficult for one person
to finish their papers ...“ This is the situation presented
in the question, but it is now in terms of the emigration
situation.

Sarah's correct answer implied that she then concluded
that the equivalent of not having a new counter in the
insulin situation is a shortage in insulin secretion, which
is the answer provided by the student. This again supports
the hypothesis that students use the vehicle part of the
analogy to infer the equivalent predictions in the target
part of the analogy, and that this will facilitate answering

prediction questions.

.(‘l

81

hmthalamlesson.

Out of the 8 students who received the thermostat
analogy, 1 student mentioned the analogy in an explanation
question, and another mentioned it in a prediction question.

Adam mentioned the thermostat in his answer to the
explanation question number 9:

Teacher: Let's say that an individual has an
accident which resulted in removing a portion of
his brain. After the operation this individual
experienced a disorder in sweat secretion. Why do

you think this happened?

Adam: I think this ... the thalamus ... the
thermostat of the.body ... it apparently went away
or ... something happened to it.

Teacher: And this caused?
Adam: A disorder.

.As I predicted in the measures section,.Adam.mentioned
the vehicle part of the analogy as he answered this question.
In his answer, Adam said that the hypothalamus is I'the
thermostat of the body.” Using this metaphor indicates that
Adam.recalled the analogy between the body and the air
conditioning and he mapped the hypothalamus in the body to
its equivalent in the air conditioner, which is the
thermostat.

.Also, Adam's statement shows that the air conditioner

reinforced his understanding of the notion that the

82

hypothalamus is the device that controls the temperature in
the body. All this supports the hypothesis that students use
the relationships in the vehicle part of the analogy to infer
the same relationships in the target domain, and that this
would facilitate answering explanation questions.

Fatimah mentioned the analogy in her answer and
comments on the prediction question number 6. In her answer
she started by indicating that there will be changes in the
body because of the new situation presented in the question.
Although this is a correct start, Fatimah was not able to go
beyond this to explain what the changes are, and why they
happen. After I asked Fatimah twice to explain to me
further, she mentioned the analogy. This is the transcript
of the question and what she said in her answer:

Teacher: We know that the normal tenperature of the
human body is thirty seven, it is called the set
.point. Let's say that an individUal took certain
.medicine that suddenly changed the set point from
thirty seven to thirty eight or.ninety eight, what
do you think is the reaction of the human.body in
this case?

Fatimah: The.body will change

Teacher: What do you.mean?

Fatimah: The response of the.body to the heat will
change ... different from the human whose
temperature is thirty seven ... his set point.

Teacher:.Mmhmm.

83

Fatimah: Y0u.mean his set point is thirty eight?
Teacher:.Mmhmm.

Fatimah: It will change.

Teacher:.EXplain to me.

Fatimah: I mean like the instrument you told.me
about.bef0re ... the thermostat ... same way this
one?

Teacher: Think about it?

Fatimah: I am recalling I do not know I do
not remember.

Fatimah mentioned the analogy when she said 'I.mean like
the instrument you told me about befbre ... the thermostat

same way this one?'.

Although this is a correct response the student was not
able to elaborate more on this. The following are her
comments regarding what she thought about before stating her
previous videotaped answer:

Teacher: What went in your.mind regarding this
question?

Fatimah: This question is difficult

Teacher: Do you want to see your answer maybe ...
Fatimah: Yes.

The student saw.her answer.

Fatimah:.Here I was recalling the answer that you
gave.me ... I was saying what is the answer ... I

am afraid that it is the instrument ... I said

O)

 

84

maybe this is the answer ... I said let me say it
it maybe correct.

It is clear that Fatimah experienced difficulty in
answering this question (the average score of all students
who received the analogy on this particular question was
about 1.7 out of 3). Her comments indicate that she felt or
maybe guessed that the answer is related to the analogy I
presented to her two days ago. Therefore, she mentioned the
analogy without any elaboration. Nevertheless, Fatimah's
answer and comments point out that (a) the student thought
about and resorted to the analogy when faced with difficulty,
and (b) she concluded or guessed that the solution to the
situation, presented in the question in terms of the target,
had a similar solution in tenms of the vehicle.
W

Hakeem was the only student (out of the 5 students who
received the emigration analogy in the second experiment) to
mention the analogy in an explanation or prediction question.
He mentioned the analogy in his comments on his answer to the
prediction question.number 9. This is Hakeem's correct
answer (he did.not mention the analogy here):

Teacher: What do you think would happen if the
glucose carriers in the cells.become resistant and
db not respond to the insulin effect? (Repeating

the question)

 

85
Hakeem: I think the increase in the amount of sugar

in the blood .

Teacher: Why did you say that?
Hakeem: Because there is no regulation glucose

transporters regulate this substance in the blood.
Hakeem saw his previous answer on video and instantly

described what he thought about before answering the question

saying :

Hakeem: Let me tell you . before I forget . . . I

remembered . . . the emigration official . you told

me that travelers come to the hall an airplane

the emigration employee if he is not present

the place will be crowded . . . I think this is what

went in my mind.

Hakeem said that he recalled the emigration situation
and thought about the situation presented in the question
(glucose carriers are not functioning) but in terms of the
emigration situation "the emigration employee if he is not

present. " Then he predicted that "the place will be

crowded. "
Examining Hakeem's answer presented earlier in which he

said "I think the increase in the amount of sugar in the
blood" indicates that Hakeem then used his prediction in the
emigration situation and applied it to the insulin situation.

This demonstrates that when students use the analogy to

answer a prediction question, they use the vehicle part of

the analogy (emigration) to make predictions about a

86

situation presented to them in terms of the target part of
the analogy (insulin). Students then apply their prediction

to the target.

87

Other Findings
1. Students"perfOrmances on new questions indicate a
‘positive influence of using analogies to handle new
situations.

Both in the insulin lesson and hypothalamus lesson,
there were three new questions in the interview after
instruction that were not asked in the interview before
instruction. These questions represent the three categories
of questions used in this study, namely recall, explanation,
and prediction. Analyzing the results of these questions
alone would indicate students' abilities to answer questions
that are totally new to them, which demonstrates the
influence of analogies on students' abilities to handle new
situations in terms of targeted domain.

Table 5 summarizes the mean score of all Analogy and.No
Analogy groups on these three new questions in this study,
including combining the results of the insulin and
hypothalamus lesson. The following is a discussion of the
results of each lesson. The comparisons between the Analogy
and No Analogy groups are based on comparing the value of the
mean score of each group on the three new questions.

Insulin lesson: The means of the three new questions
indicate that the Analogy group outperformed the No Analogy
group in the new recall and explanation questions, but not in
the new prediction question, in which the No Analogy group

did better. The largest difference between the two groups is

88

in the new recall question, which indicates again that the
emigration analogy helped most in recalling information about
the targeted insulin situation. The total average score of
the three questions indicates that overall the emigration

analogy helped students answer the new questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 5

. ‘ -0‘ o ‘ o ‘- o o o 09 9‘ U9 -- 5‘ 0 ‘ 0! 'h-
I . E .

W

I I Recall IExplanation I Prediction I Total I
IAnalogy 14.5 l2.75 I2 |9.25 |
No Analogy I3.37 I2.l3 12.62 [8.12 I
W:

I I Recall I Ebcplanation I Prediction I Total I
IAnalogy l3.15 I1.18 11.5 I5.83 I
No Analogy 13.31 Io.75 I1.68 15.74 |
Wed

I I Recall I Explanation I Prediction I Total I
Analo I4 11 I1.97 [1.81 I7.89 I
No Analogy |3.34 11.44 12.16 16.94 I
We

I I Recall I Explanationl Prediction I Total I
Anal [3.9 I17 l1.7 |7.3 |
iNo Analogy l2.3 I2 2 [1.3 I5.8 |

 

 

89

Hypothalamus lesson: Examining the average scores of the
three new questions indicates that the thermostat analogy had
a positive influence on the ability of students to answer the
new explanation question. The total average score does not
indicate an overall positive influence of using the
thermostat analogy in answering new questions.

The two groups combined: Combining the scores of the
previous two groups indicates that there is an overall
positive influence of using the emigration and thermostat
analogies on students' abilities to answer new questions.

The second insulin lesson: The average scores of the
three new questions indicate that the emigration analogy had
a large positive influence on the ability of students to
answer the new recall question. There is a slight positive
influence on students' abilities to answer the new prediction
question and a somewhat negative influence on answering the
new explanation question. The total average score indicates
a clear positive influence of using the emigration analogy to
answer the new questions.

Overall, analogies seemed to help students answer new

questions, and therefore to handle new situations.

 

9O
2. Students’ comments indicate that the analogy helped them
recall infornation about the target domain.

At the end of the interview after questions, I asked
students who received analogies about some of their
perceptions and opinions regarding the analogy:

Question number 10: In answering the previous questions
did you think about the (vehicle part of the analogy: the
emigration or the thermostat) we talked about previously?

When did you think about it?

Why do you think you thought about it?

How did thinking about it influence your thinking?

One purpose of this question is to see how students
perceived the influence of the analogy on their thinking.
Analyzing the responses of all students who received
analogies indicates that they think analogies helped them in
two main ways (See Figure 7 below):

Hindered Me _
14% Liked It

7 °/o

    

Clarified
Target
29%

 

I Easier Recall Easwr
Race"

ncummd1amm 50%

I Hindered Me

DLiked It

 

 

 

Eign;§_1g The Percentages of Students in Terms of How They

Perceived the Influence of the Analogy

 

91

1. Made them.recall information more easily.
2. Clarified and simplified the target principle by providing
easier or more concrete example.

It is important to indicate that students' perceptions
of how analogies influenced their thinking coincide with both
quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis presented
earlier: that analogies were most useful in recalling

information about the target principle.

92

3. Students who did.not use the analogy either failed to see
the applicability of the analogy or they simply did not need
the analogy.

In the first experiment, and in question 10, I asked
students who said that they did not think about the analogy
when they answered the interview questions about the reason
for not thinking or recalling the analogy. Student responses
indicated two reasons:

a. Students did not think about or mention the analogy
because the questions were about the target principle
(insulin or hypothalamus) and not about the vehicle
(emigration or thermostat). This implies that students did
not see the applicability of the analogy, and therefore did
not use it to answer the interview questions (5 out of 7
mentioned this reason).

An example of this would be student number 10 from.the

hypothalamus treatment group, who said: "No ... there was no
reason to tie it to the air conditioning ... my answers were
related to the instruction ... the questions were not related

to the air conditioning.“

b. Students did not need the analogy either because they
understood the lesson or had some information before about it
(2 out of 7 mentioned this reason). An example of this would
be student number 23 from.the insulin treatment group, who
said: “May be the one who will remember the airport is

someone who first hears about this information ... but

93

because I had this information before ... it is true that the
information may be wrong ... but it exists ... so the airport

thing was not important because I knew the topic before."

94

4. Analogies helped to resist students incorrect explanations
to the target domain.

There is evidence only in the second experiment, that
analogies helped to eliminate students' incorrect or
inaccurate explanations of how insulin regulated the level of
sugar in blood. In instruction, I told students that insulin
regulates the level of sugar in blood through increasing the
number of active transporters in the cell wall.

Transporters, in turn, will transport glucose from.the blood
into the cell.

However, 2 students from.the control (No Analogy) in the
second experiment mentioned different explanations of how
insulin helped glucose to enter inside the cells. Both of
their explanations came in response to the recall question:
“Using your own words, and.with as much detail possible,
explain to me how the human body regulates the level of sugar
in blood?“

Student number 3 said the following in response to the
previous question:

“When the human eats the food ... some food contain
sugar materials ... some food contain complex sugars
the glucose is a simple sugar ... the tissues are

unable to absorb some of these sugar materials

because of their complex chemical structure ... the
role of insulin comes here ... insulin hormone ... the
pancreas secretes it I think ... during digestion ...

the pancreas secretes amounts of insulin that equate

95

the amount of sugar ... so it reduces the complexity
of sugar materials ... to make it easier for the
tissues to absorb it ..."

The student suggested that the role of insulin is to
reduce the complexity of glucose so it can be absorbed by the
cells. Although this explanation is reasonable, it is not
the correct scientific explanation of the phenomenon offered
in instruction. On the other hand, the breakdown of complex
materials to simpler ones to facilitate absorption is correct
in the context of the digestion process of food. This show
that the student incorrectly applied his knowledge of food
digestion to how insulin regulates the level of glucose in
the blood. This suggests that maybe after a while (one week
in this experiment) students start to forget the explanations
of the targeted domain that were presented to them.in
instruction, and.will apply other plausible explanations from
their previous experiences.

Student number 8 said the following to explain how
glucose molecules get inside the cells:

“... sugar as any other substance needs regulation ...
so the pancreas starts to secrete certain amount of
insulin to reduce the level of sugar in the blood ...
this is through increasing the pores or the openings
of the cell ... to absorb the largest amount of
sugar“.

Again, although the students' explanation is plausible,

it is not the explanation offered in instruction. These

 

96

alternative explanations were found only in the control
group, and only in the second experiment in which no drawings
were used and the students were interviewed one week after
instruction. There were no alternative explanations in the
analogy group, which suggest that analogies helped students
to maintain the correct explanation presented to them in

instruction.

 

CHAPTER 5:
LIMITATIONS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

LIMIIAIIQNS

The limitations of this study can be summarized by the
following:
1. Most of the evidence on how analogies influence students'
learning came from.students' descriptions of their thinking
process before they answered the questions of the interview
after instruction, which is a form.of self reporting.
According to Ericsson and Simon (1984), some psychologists
have strong doubts regarding the suitability of subjects'
verbalization as scientific data, arguing that it may be
useful for the discovery of thought processes but not for
verifying them”
2. Some aspects of this study's methodology (interviews,
double stimulus procedure) required the use of tutoring which
has different dynamics compared to instruction in a regular
classroom. This reduced the external validity of this study.
3. The use of volunteers to form the sample in this study put
some limitations on generalizing the findings of this study
to other students.
4. Researcher bias may have played a role in this study

because I did the scoring of the interview after instruction

97

98

questions and I also transcribed and translated students'

answers and comments.

5. Individualized interviews and the use of tape-recording
and video may have exerted negative pressure on students,
which may have negatively influenced their thinking processes

and also their ability to describe their thinking.

6. The small sample size (32 students in the first experiment
and 10 in the second) resulted small number of students in
each group (8 in the first experiment and 5 in the second).
This made it difficult to get significant differences in the
t-test I used to see if analogies influenced students'

learning.

The previous results can be summarized by the following
three main points:
1. There were no significant differences in overall
interview scores between Analogy and.No Analogy groups.
Removing illustrations from instruction and assessing
students' performances after a longer period were in favor of
the analogy group.
2. Students' scores, comments, and opinions suggest that
analogies facilitated students' recall (by Providing cues to
recall the relevant information in the target principle), but
it did not facilitate students' comprehension.
3. There is evidence that analogies have a positive
influence in areas that were not the main concern of this
study (e.g. to resist students incorrect explanations of the
targeted.phenomenon).

The following is a discussion of these results in
relation to the two questions of this study:
1. Do analogies improve students' learning?

2. How do analogies influence students' learning?

99

100

Question I: Do Analogies Improve Students' Learning?

The first question of this study focused on whether
using analogies in instruction facilitates students'
learning. That there where no significant differences in
this study between students who are taught using analogies
and those who are taught without analogies suggests that
analogies do not facilitate students' overall learning.
These results support the results of one study out of the
three studies reviewed earlier that dealt with the
effectiveness of analogies in instruction. Gable and
Sherwood (1980) reached.similar results when they concluded
that using analogies in instruction over a wide variety of
topics for the entire school year did not improve students'
achievement in comparison to control groups. Teachers in the
treatment groups presented 10 chemical concepts in terms of
analogies. In the control groups additional examples were
presented instead of analogies. There were no significant
differences in favor of the analogy groups compared to the
control groups.

Yet, in the two studies in.which differences were
observed between the Analogy and No Analogy groups (Clement,
1993; Dupin & Johsua, 1989) the Analogy groups received hours
of additional instruction that were not available to the
control groups. In the Gable and Sherwood study, and in
this study, the amount of time devoted for presenting

analogies was much less. For instance, the additional time I

 

101

devoted for presenting the analogy was about 5 minutes (out
20 minutes of instruction). I did not devote more time
because I wanted to act as a teacher in a regular classroom
(like the teachers who participated in Gable & Sherwood
study) who had to cover certain lessons in a specific period
of time, among other constraints. Therefore the results of
this study and previous research suggest that using analogies
in instruction, in a way that they might be used in a regular
classroom, will not yield significant improvements in
students' performances.

This is not to say that analogies do not have a positive
influence, since the mean score of the analogy group in this
study was always higher than the mean score of the control
group in all lessons. It could be for example that questions
after instruction are not suitable to show the positive
influence of using analogies in instruction on students'
reasoning. Qualitative analysis of students' reasoning in
different stages of instruction could be a better approach to
show the subtle but important influence of analogies on
students' thinking. In this study, for instance, qualitative
analysis of students' descriptions of their thinking provided
evidence for a positive influence of analogies. .As I
explained in the results section (under other findings),
analogies helped students resist their incorrect explanations
of the targeted principle.

In addition, four aspects of this study may have

lessened the positive influence of analogies: the use of

102

illustrations, teaching a lesson that is not challenging
enough, using an unfamiliar vehicle, and waiting for two days
to assess performance.

Wuhan:

The inclusion of illustrations depicting the targeted
principle in the instruction of both the control and analogy
groups helped all students to understand the targeted
principle and decreased the need for the analogy. Research
on the influence of illustrations on students' performances
indicates that illustrations can improve students' learning,
especially if the learner is able to see the connection
between the illustrations and the verbal content (Levie &
Lents, 1982). The positive influence of illustrations in
this study comes from the comments of many students from.both
the Analogy and No Analogy groups. Most students mentioned
that they recalled the illustrations and used them to answer
the interview questions.

Furthermore, directly after the interviews I asked 6
students in the Insulin control group to mention one or two
things from the instruction that were particularly helpful in
answering the interview questions. 4 out of 6 students
stated that the illustrations that I used in instruction
helped them to answer the interview questions. This means
that students in the Insulin control group benefited from.the
illustrations I presented and explained during instruction.

Although the effect of analogies may have been lessened

t5? the illustrations, it can be argued that analogies and

103

illustrations function in a similar way. Both analogies and
illustrations facilitate students' understanding by
concretizing the targeted domain, and providing an organizing
structure for the targeted information so that the
relationships among its various parts are clarified and the
important aspects are highlighted. Actually, illustrations
can be viewed as one form of analogical representation.
Shapes and lines in illustrations are used to analogically
represent the elements and relationships in the targeted
principle.

It follows that presenting illustrations to all students
in this study helped all students understand the targeted
principle in a similar way as if an analogy were presented to
all students. In essence the experimental groups in the
first experiment of this study received two analogies, one in
the form of illustrations, and another in the form of
illustrated analogy, while the control groups received one
illustrated analogy. This might explain the results in the
second experiment when illustrations were removed. The
difference in performance between the experimental group and
control group increased. This is because the experimental
group received an analogy but the control did not.

The second aspect of this study that might have lessened
the influence of analogies is related to one of the two
topics I used.in this study, the Insulin lesson. Literature

cmn analogies suggests that analogies are most useful when the

104

targeted domain is difficult for the learners (e.g., Gick &
Holyoak, 1983; Duit, 1991). All students, both in the No
Analogy and Analogy groups, did relatively well in the
Insulin lesson, with an average score of about 20 out of 27.
Therefore, the Insulin lesson may not be challenging enough
to demonstrate the advantage of using analogies in
instruction.

The vehicle part of the analogy (how the thermostat
works) which I used in the Hypothalamus lesson was not
effective because students were not familiar with it.
Literature on analogies emphasized the importance of using a
familiar vehicle for effective results (e.g., Duit, 1991;
Harrison & Treagust, 1993). learning through an analogy is
based on the idea of using students’ prior knowledge
(represented by the vehicle), to facilitate the learning of
new information. If the students are not familiar with the
vehicle, that it is not part of their prior knowledge, then
it will be difficult for students' to use the vehicle to
learn the new information.

Unlike the emigration situation which seemed to be
familiar to all students, the thermostat seemed.much less
familiar. This may be because the emigration situation is a
real life situation experienced.by most students, whereas the
thermostat involves technical information the students took
one time and then forgot. As indicated.by the Hypothalamus

lesson protocol (see Appendix A), I had to explain to the

 

105

students what a thermostat was, and how it worked, because
all students said during instruction that they did not know
or they had forgotten how a thermostat functioned. This, I
think, decreased the effectiveness of the resulting analogy
between how the hypothalamus functions and how the thermostat
functions.
I H 'l' E I i I E

Waiting for only two days to assess students' learning
after instruction was not enough time for the positive
influence of analogies to appear. This may have contributed
to the more positive results in favor of the analogy in the
second experiment, in which I waited for one week to assess
students' performance. The difference between the Analogy
and No Analogy groups increased.markedly. There was a large
difference in mean values on the prediction questions in
favor of the Analogy group. There was also even a
significant difference between the Analogy and the No Analogy
group in the recall-type questions in favor of the Analogy
group. This supports Radford's (1989) finding that analogies
improve students' abilities on delayed recall in comparison
to immediate recall. Yet, the difference between this study
and Radford's study is that in this study, analogies were
used in instruction and not in text.

Another factor that could influenced how students
learned from analogies in this study is that the Kuwaiti
students who participated in this study are not used to

receive analogies as part of instruction. Students at Kuwait

 

106

university are used to "receive" facts from instructors with
heavy emphasis on memorizing these facts for examinations.
As the teacher in this study, many students expressed their
admiration toward.my efforts (specifically using an analogy)
to make them.understand the lesson. Many commented that they
hoped that they were taught these lessons in the same way I
taught them. This means that although using analogies in
instruction is perceived as a positive thing by the students,
it is not a common experience to them" This may influenced
the effectiveness of analogies because students are not used
to employ analogical reasoning when the dealt with new
scientific phenomena.

In summary, the effectiveness of analogies in
instruction depend upon several factors. Targeted domain
difficulty, students' familiarity with the analogy, other
instructional material used in instruction, and how and when
students' performance are assessed are some factors
highlighted by the results of this study. The following is a
discussion of the results related to the second question of

this study.

107

Question II: How do Analogies Influence Students'
Learning?

The second question of this study is focused on how
analogies influence student learning. I will discuss first
how analogies influenced students' recall and then discuss
their influence on students' understanding.

From the analysis of students' comments and answers on
the interview after instruction, I concluded that analogies
were particularly helpful in facilitating students' abilities
to recall the information mentioned in the instruction.

The evidence for this conclusion comes from all four
data sources of this study:

91: - . - oo .o- .9 -‘ °-. 4 .o q '04

Analogy groups in the Insulin lessons in the first and
second experiment outperformed.the No Analogy groups on
recall type questions, and I found a significant difference
between the two groups on recall-type questions in the second
insulin lesson. It is important to keep in mind.that in the
second experiment there were only five students in each
group. To find a significant difference with such a small
number of individuals in each group means that the effect of
using analogies is quite large, that is analogies greatly
improved students' ability to recall information related to

the targeted.principle.

Students spontaneously mentioned the vehicle part of
the analogy as they answered recall questions.
0.29 ' owu‘! :‘eo. 0.09 ‘19-. Ho‘ 10.0.! L90-
1‘ o - 4o .- ,oo, 9- o 5“. 4 - 1.1. 09 .l.‘ 09
Students' descriptions of their thinking suggest that
they recalled the vehicle part of the analogy and use it to

recall the targeted domain.

Q ...-.0 ' .1. 9 .0 .9 Q0. 0‘ 1‘»Q¢ 0!. .l, .--! ‘1 9‘

Thinking...

Fifty percent (50%) of the students who used the
analogy in their answers or comments said that analogies
helped them to recall information mentioned in the
instruction. I

These findings support the hypothesis that students used
the vehicle part of the analogy to provide them with cues
about the targeted principle. Thus, they support the
argument of Stepich and.Newby (1988) who said that:

Using analogies facilitates efficient retrieval of
information from.memory by providing an effective retrieval
cue. It can be used to initiate a reconstructive process of
recall by providing a memorable image, along with other
associated pieces of information. Recalling the analogy leads
to recalling the I'is like“ relationship existing between the
new information and a schema stored in memory. This triggers

the recall of further aspects of the new information and so

109

on until the desired amount of detail has been recalled.
(p.134).

Yet students' scores and their comments on the interview
questions warrant a closer look. The scores of the interview
recall questions indicate that there is a single question
that contributed the most for the positive difference in
recall questions' scores in favor of the analogy group. It
is the first recall question. This question required
students to use their own words to provide a detailed
description of the targeted principle. Other questions asked
students to recall specific information from.the instruction
(e.g., What is glucose?). In addition, the analysis of
students' answers and comments regarding where the analogy
groups mentioned the analogy (see p.80 in the results
section) suggests that most students mentioned the analogy in
the first recall question. .As a matter of fact many students
mentioned the analogy in this question only.

These data suggest that students were inclined to use
analogies in recall questions that required them.to
articulate the big picture of the targeted domain, in
contrast to recall questions that focused on a specific
detail. Analogies then were helpful because they enabled
students to encode the information, not as isolated bits of
information but as integrated parts within an organized whole
(Stepich & Newby, 1988). In the hypothesis section I said
that the ability of learning the principle as a whole would

be one of the ways by which analogies would improve

110

comprehension (indicated by students' scores of explanation
and prediction questions). I think this applies to recall
questions that require the articulation of the big picture,
because, I think, the ability to articulate the big picture
in detail is enhanced by students' understanding of the
principle. Therefore, not all recall questions in this study
assessed students' ability to memorize information presented
to them.in instruction, as most previous studies did (e.g.,
Radford, 1989; Donnelly and.NcDaniel, 1993). The first
recall question in this study assessed students'
comprehension in addition to their ability to recall.

I believe that the emigration analogy in the insulin
lesson (in which the positive effect on the first recall
question is observed) provided a story-like situation which
facilitated the recall and the understanding of the different
steps required to explain the targeted domain. Students
remembered the emigration story and used it to remember how
insulin regulated the level of sugar in the body.

The results of this study contradicted.my second
hypothesis that students who received analogies would benefit
more in explanation and prediction questions compared to
recall questions. The basis of this hypothesis comes from
the results of the Donnelly and.ucDaniel study (1993). The
Donnelly and mcDaniel study suggests that including analogies
in text was helpful in improving students' answers on

inferential questions (equivalent to explanation and

111

prediction questions in this study) but they had a negative
effect on basic level questions (equivalent to recall-type
question in this study). Donnelly and McDaniel argued that
analogies diverted students' attention away from the details
and information in the target principle because students were
focusing on the familiar domain of the vehicle.

In the hypothesis section I argued that analogies would
still be helpful because, unlike the Donnelly and McDaniel
study, in this study the analogy was introduced by a teacher
who emphasized the targeted domain through questioning. Yet
the results of this study went beyond that suggesting that
analogies were helpful in recall but not in comprehension
questions. One factor that may have contributed to this
result has to do with what I mentioned above regarding the
four aspects of this study that lessened the positive
influence of analogies (the inclusion of illustrations, a
lesson that is not challenging enough, unfamiliar vehicle,
and waiting for two days to assess performance).

The second factor is related to the fact that the
teacher in this study (the researcher) did his best to
explain the targeted principles to all students (in both the
Analogy and.No Analogy groups). In addition, instruction was
interactive (students asked questions and provided answers
during instruction) and.individualized.(which.made it easier
for students to focus on the instruction). It could be that
under these circumstances and with the presence of other

instructional strategies (illustrations and questioning in

112

this study), the analogy lost its advantage as a tool for
improving students' comprehension because all students (in
all groups) understood equally the targeted principle.
Therefore, all students performed equally well on
comprehension questions (explanation and prediction
questions).

But why was the analogy able to help students in recall
questions? As I said before, the first recall question was
the key for this positive effect. It appears that analogies
provided an overall schema for the targeted domain that was
not provided by illustrations and was not undermined by the
other conditions of this study mentioned above (e.g., using
not enough challenging lesson and waiting for two days to
assess students' performance).

Does this mean that analogies in this study were helpful
in general recall questions only? Some other findings suggest
otherwise. As I mentioned in the results section (under
other findings) there is evidence that:

a. Analogies helped students deal with new situations.
The total score of the Analogy groups in the three new
questions (that were asked in the interview after instruction
but not in the interview before instruction) was always
higher than for the No Analogy groups.

b. Analogies helped students' resist explanations that
contradicted with the explanation offered in instruction.
There is evidence only in the second.experiment, that the

emigration analogy helped to eliminate students' incorrect or

113

inaccurate explanations of how insulin regulated the level of
sugar in blood.

c. There is evidence in the second experiment that
analogies helped students in answering prediction questions.
Although the difference is not significant, the difference
between the means (6.7 vs. 4.2 out of 9) clearly favors the
Analogy group. This suggests that in the second experiment,
the emigration analogy improved to some degree students'
understanding of how insulin regulated the level of sugar in
blood.

In summary; the influence of analogies in instruction is
determined by a host of interrelated factors. The successful
implementation of analogies as an instructional tool depends
on careful consideration of all these factors. In this study
analogies fell short on demonstrating their usefulness in
improving students' understanding of the targeted principle.
There is evidence that they improved recall and other aspects

of students' reasoning.

Analogies influence students' reasoning in subtle but
important ways that may not show in an overall assessment of
students' performance. The successful implementation of
analogies in instruction depends on the careful consideration
of several factors related to the analogy, instruction, and
students' prior knowledge. Familiar analogy and difficult
targeted domain are two important factors (highlighted by
this study) for the successful implementation of analogies in

instruction.

114

l. The qualitative analysis of this study suggested that
analogies influence students' reasoning in subtle but
important ways, for instance, by resisting students'
incorrect explanations of a phenomena. Therefore, there is a
need for more qualitative research that is not limited to
investigating the influence of using analogies in instruction
on students' recall and comprehension, but goes beyond that
to explore the more subtle influences of using analogies in
instruction on students' reasoning of the targeted phenomena.
2. Since analogies influence students'reasoning in subtle
(but important) ways, analogies positive influence may not
appear in regular classroom tests. Therefore, teachers must
not be discouraged if they noticed no improvements in
students' test scores after using analogies.

3. For successful implementation of analogies in
instruction, teachers and textbooks authors should use
analogies that are familiar to the students who will receive
the instruction, that is the vehicle part of the analogy is
already part of students past experience. It is not enough
that teachers “think“ that the vehicle is familiar to

students. Teachers must confirm that students are familiar

115

116

with the vehicle by asking students what they know about it
before using it to explain the target phenomena.

4. The insulin lesson results indicated the importance of
using analogies to teach difficult scientific topics. If the
targeted topic is relatively easy for students to understand,
then there is no need to use an analogy to teach that topic.
5. The results of the second experiment suggested that the
positive influence of analogies will show more with the
passage of time. Thus, there is a need to investigate the
influence of using analogies in instruction after a long
period of time.

6. In this study I used students' comments on their
videotaped answers to understand how analogies influenced
their thinking. To better understand how analogies influence
students' reasoning, this and other more creative ways are
needed to render students' thinking as they reason with

analogies.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A

INSULIN LESSON PROTOCOL

The following is the protocol I used to teach students
the Insulin lesson. The text in Bold is what I said to the
student. I started by explaining to the student what the
general purpose of this study is, and what to expect as a
participant in this study:

You are participating in a study of how people think and
learn. We will meet twice. today and the day after tomorrow.
Today I am going to ask you some questions about yourself and
then I will ask you some questions about a topic related to
Biology. Then I will explain that topic to you. I will meet
you again the day after tomorrow to continue this emeriment.
I will tape-record and videotape the questioning part of
today's meeting.

After turning on the tape recorder, I tried to build a
relaxing atmosphere by asking the student the following
questions:

1. What is your name? What is your major?
2. What courses you are taking this semester?
3. Do you have a hobby?
This lasted for approximately 5 minutes. Then, I tolled

the student the following:

117

118

As I mentioned earlier, today I'm going to talk with you
about a topic related to biology and it will be about how our
bodies function. First I will ask you few questions. Then I
will explain the topic to you.

WW

Before asking the questions I tolled the student to
follow this procedure in answering each question:

1. near the question and make sure that you understand the
question (If necessary, I repeated the question to help
students understand the question).

2. Take as much-time as necessary to think and prepare the
answer.

3. Tell me if you are ready to answer.

4. Answer the question.

Wow I will ask you few questions, please tell me all

what you know about each question.

1. What causes the secretion of many hormones?

2. What is glucose? Why is it important to the human body?
3. Why do we feel tired after a period of not eating? Why did
you say that?

4. Why do we advice people who have diabetes disease not to
eat sweat food? Why did you say that?

5. What would be the level of insulin in blood after a long
period of fasting? And why?

6. Diabetes patients receive daily injections to control
their disease, what do you think is the substance used in
these injections? Why did you say that?

119

(I turned off the tape recorder)

Motion

I explained to the student the insulin lesson using one
of two conditions:

1. Instruction without an analogy (control).
2. Instruction with an analogy (treatment).

I used Figures 8 and 9 with the control group. I used
Figure 8, 9, and 10, with the analogy group. These figures
were presented to students on 8' by 11' paper (same size as
shown here). The following is how I explained the insulin
lesson to a student in the No Analogy group (control) and
then the Analogy group (treatment).
WWII

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human.body maintains a relatively stable levels of glucose in
the blood. Please feel free to ask questions or to make
statements about the topic any'time during instruction.

Hormones are molecules secreted by the endocrine glands
into the blood and travel to other parts of the body. The.
secretion of certain hormones is controlled by the
concentration of other chemicals in the blood.

flow, Can.you name some of the endocrine glands in.the
body and the hormones that they produce?

(I listened to student answer)

One of endocrine glands is the pancreas. Can you name

any hormone secreted by the pancreas?

120

(I listened to student answer)

The pancreas secretes more than one hormone. today we
‘will discuss one of most important hormones secreted by the
pancreas which is insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to
a high concentration level of a simple type of sugar? Do you
know the name of this simple sugar?

(I listened to student answer)

Glucose, a simple sugar and an important product of food
digestion. It is important because many cells in our body,
especially the nervous system, drive its energy from glucose.
Glucose level in the blood is highest in the period
immediately following a meal. If glucose level remains high,
this could lead to wasteful loss of glucose in the urine as
well as losses of large volume of water. Insulin is the
hormone that can.prevent this situation. Can you tell me how?

(I listened to student answer).

The effect of insulin is to increase glucose uptake and
use by cells and thus to lower the level of glucose in the
blood. Look at this figure (showing the student Figure 8).

(I explained the steps in Figure 8 to the student)

So can you explain to me using this figure (Figure 8)
the role of insulin in regulating the concentration of
glucose in blood?

(I listened to the student answer)

But how exactly does insulin.increase the glucose uptake
and use by cells? Can.you try telling me how?

(I listened to student answer)

121

 

I Bood glucose

1

IInsulin secretion

 

 

 

 

IInsulin in blood

- l

Glucose uptake
into cells

1

Reduction in
blood glucose
concentration

1

Restoration of
blood glucose
to normal level

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure_fig,Role of Insulin in the Regulation of Blood
Glucose Concentration

122

Insulin increase the entrance of glucose into cells by
increasing the number of glucose transporters in the cell
membrane.

Look at this figure (showing the student Figure 9 {a}),
You can see that after a meal, there is high glucose level in
the blood, because glucose is one product of digestion.

So what do you think'will happen next inside the body
given the situation of high glucose level?

(I listened to student answer)

(I showed student Figure. 9 {b})

Because of high glucose concentration, the pancreas
secretes insulin.into blood. Insulin reaches the cells and it
increases glucose uptake by increasing the number of glucose
transporters in the cell membrane.

What do you expect to happen to the level of glucose in
blood? (I listened to student answer)

The level of glucose is low after insulin effect.

Using this figure (showing student Figure 9) can you
explain.to me how insulin regulates the uptake of glucose by
cells?

(I listened to student answer)

So this is how insulin.regulates glucose level in.hlood.
Do you have any question or do you need any clarification
regarding how the human.body regulates the glucose level in
blood.

(a)

After a meal,
high glucose
level in the
blood.

(b)

Insuline is
secreted into
blood. Insulin
increases
glucose uptake
by increasing
the number of
glucose
transporters
in cell
membrane

(0)

Glucose level
in the blood
is low after
insulin
effect.

Figure_2* The Effect of Insulin to Stimulate Glucose
Uptake into Cells.

123

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

124

(I listened to the student and respond to his
questions).

This conclude our session today and I will see you the
day after tomorrow.

(I set an appointment with the student two days after
the instruction for the post instruction interview).
W

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human body maintain a relatively stable levels of glucose in
the blood.

Hormones are molecules secreted by the endocrine glands
into the blood and they travel to other parts of the body.
The secretion of many hormones is controlled by the
concentration of chemicals in the blood that are not
hormones.

Now, Canyounamesome of the endocrine glands inthe
body and the hormones that they produce?

(I listened to student answer)

One of endocrine glands is the pancreas. Can you name
any hormone secreted by the pancreas?

(I listened to student answer)

The pancreas secret more than one hormone, today we will
discuss one of most important hormones secreted by the
pancreas which is insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to
a high concentration level of a simle type of sugar? Do you

know the name of this simple sugar?

125

(I listened to student answer)

Glucose, a simle sugar and an important product of food
digestion. It is important because many cells in our body,
especially the nervous system, drive its energy from glucose.
Glucose level in the blood is highest in the period
immediately following a meal. If glucose level remains high,
this could lead to wasteful loss of glucose in the urine as
well as losses of large volume of water. Insulin is the
hormone that can prevent this situation. Can you tell me how?

(I listened to student answer).

The effect- of insulin is to increase glucose uptake and
use by cells and thus to lower the concentration of glucose
in the blood. Look at this figure (showing the student Figure
8) .

(I explained the steps in Figure 8 to the student)

So can you explain to me using this figure (Figure 8)
the role of insulin in regulating the concentration of
glucose in blood?

(I listened to the student answer)

But how exactly does insulin increases the glucose
uptake and use by cells? can you try telling me how?

(I listened to student answer) ‘

Insulin increase the entrance of glucose into cells by
increasing the number of glucose transporters in the cell
membrane.

126

Look at this figure (showing the student Figure 9 {a}),
You can see that after a meal, there is high glucose level in
the blood, because glucose is one product of digestion.

So what do you think‘will happen next inside the body
given the situation of high glucose level?

(I listened to student answer)

(I showed student Figure 9 {b})

Because of high glucose concentration. the pancreas
secretes insulin into blood. Insulin reaches the cells and it
increases glucose uptake by increasing the number of glucose
transporters in the cell membrane.

What do you expect to happen to the level of glucose in
blood? (I listened to student answer)

The level of glucose is low after insulin effect.

So far the instruction was identical to the instruction
in the control group. In the following part of the
instruction I introduced the “Emigration analogy“ to the
student.

To help you understand this, I want you to tell me what
would happen.in.the following situation. Lets say that a 1
large airplane arrived in.the airport from a foreign.country.
There was a lot of passengers in the airplane and all of them
rushed to the emigration area. However, there was only one
emigration officer on the counters. What would be the
situation in the emigration area?

(I listened to student answer)

127

I showed the student Figure 10 and used it as I continue
the instruction. I started by showing the student part (a) of
Figure (10) while part {b} and {c} are covered by a sheet of
paper.

There will be a lot of passengers waiting on lines to
get through emigration. At this moment the emigration
supervisors heard about the situation and they went to the
emigration area. When they arrived they immediately called
for more emigration officers to help passengers pass through
(showing student Figure 10 {b}) . Can.you tell me what would
be the situation in.the emigration area after a period of
time?

(I listened to student answer)

lost passengers would pass through emigration and there
'will be few'passengers in the emigration area. (directing
students' attention to Figure 10 {c}).

What happened in this situation is similar to the way
human body regulates glucose level. Insulin decreases glucose
level by increasing the number of glucose transporters like
the emigration supervisors who decreased the number of people
in the emigration area by calling additional emigration
officers.

Using these figures (showing student Figure 9 and 10)
can.you explain to me how'insulin regulates the uptake of
glucose by cells?

So this is how'insulin.regulates glucose level in

blood. Do you have any question or do you need any

128

 

(a)

After the
arrival of an @fifig El

airplane,
many
passengers
are waiting
in the
emigration
area.

    
   

WW 4 It

I“! Emigration officers
(not on counters)

 

 

 

(b)

Emigration
supervisors
arrive in the
custom area
and call for
additional
emigration
officers.
More
emigration
officers are
on counters,
therefor more
passengers
are passing
through..

(C)

passengers
are waiting
in the
emigration
area.

 

 

 

 

 

Eignre_lfl; The Emigration Situation

 

 

129

clarification regarding how the human body regulates the
glucose level in blood.

(I listened to the student and responded to his
questions).

This conclude our session today and I will see you the
day after tomorrow.

(I set an appointment with the student two days after
the instruction for the post instruction interview).
WW

Two days after instruction I interviewed the student
using the following questions. I tape recorded and video
taped the interview. Before asking the questions I reminded
the student that we will use the same procedure that we used
during the interview before instruction.

I will ask you few questions, please tell me all what
you know about each question:

1. Using your own words. explain to me how the human body
regulates the level of sugar in blood?

2. Why do we feel tired after a period of not eating? Why did
you say that?

3. What would be the level of insulin in blood after a long
period of fasting? And why?

4 . What causes the secretion of many hormones?

5. When an individual has a high glucose level in his blood.
we say that he has diabetes. What do you think goes wrong in
the human body to cause this disease? Why did you say that?

130

6. Diabetes patients receive daily injections to control
their disease, what do you think is the substance used in
these injections? Why did you say that?

7. What is glucose? Why is it important to the human body?
8. Why do we advice people who have diabetes disease not to
eat sweat food? Why did you say that?

9. What do you think would happen if the glucose carriers in
the cells become resistant and do not respond to the Insulin
effect? Why did you say that?

The following question is only for the students who
received the emigration analogy:

10. In answering the previous questions did you think about
the emigration situation we talked about two days ago? If
yes, when did you think about it? Did this influence your
thinking? Bow?

After the interview I showed each student the video of
his/her interview after instruction. I stopped (pause) the
video just before student answer of each question, and asked
him what s/he was thinking about. I also stopped the video
after each answer and asked if the student can add more
information regarding what he was thinking about before

answering the question.

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX B
HYPOTHALAMUS LESSON PROTOCOL

The following is the protocol I used to teach students
the Hypothalamus lesson. The text in Bold is what I said to
the student. I started by explaining to the student what the
general purpose of this study is, and what to expect as a
participant in this study:

You are participating in.a study of how'people think and
learn. we will meet twice, today and the day after tomorrow.
Today I am.going to ask you some questions about yourself and
then I'will ask you some questions about a topic related to
Biology. Then I will explain that topic to you. I will meet
you again the day after tomorrow to continue this experiment.
I'will tape-record and videotape the questioning part of
today's meeting.

.After turning on the tape recorder, I tried to build a
relaxing atmosphere by asking the student the following
questions: I
1. What is your name? What is your major?

2. What courses you are taking this semester?
3. Do you have a hobby?
This lasted for approximately 5 minutes. Then, I tolled

the student the following:

131

132

As I mentioned earlier, today I'm going to talk with you
about a topic related to biology and it will be about how our
bodies function. First I will ask you few questions. Then I
will ewlain the topic to you.

Before asking the questions I told the student to follow
this procedure in answering each question:

1. Bear the question and make sure that you understand the
question (If necessary, I repeated the question to help
students understand the question).

2. Take as much time as necessary to think and prepare the
answer.

3. Tell me if you are ready to answer.

4. Answer the question.

Wow I will ask you few questions, please tell me all
what you know about each question.

1. Bow does the lumen body maintains its stable body
temperature against the external changes in temerature?

2. We notice that when the human sweets in humid and hot
days, he will feel more uncomfortable compared to only hot I
days with no humidity, why?

3. If we measured the body temerature of an individual every
two hours throughout one day, are we going to get the same
exact reading of his body temperature every time?

4. What is thenameofthepartororganinthehumanbody
that controls the temperature of the human body?

133

5. We know that the normal temperature of the human body is
thirty seven, it is called the set point. Lets say that an
individual took certain medicine that suddenly changed the
set point from thirty seven to thirty eight or ninety eight,
what do you think the reaction of the human body in this
case?

6. Lets say that an individual has an accident which resulted
in removing a portion of his brain. After the operation this
individual emerienced a disorder in sweat secretion. Why do
you think this happened?

Instruction

I explained to the student the Hypothalamus lesson using
one of two conditions:

1. Instruction without an analogy (control).
2. Instruction with an analogy (treatment).

I used Table 6 and Figure 11 with the control group. I
used Table 6, and the Figures 11, 12 and 13, with the analogy
group. These figures were presented to students on 8" by 11"
paper (same size as shown here). The following is how I
explained the insulin lesson to a student in the No Analogy
group (control) and then the Analogy group (treatment) .
WWII

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human body maintains a relatively stable body temperature.
Please feel free to ask questions or to make statements about

the topic any time during instruction.

134

Animal species are often described as either "cold
blooded'I or I'warm.blooded". What do you think is meant by
that?

(I listened to student answer)

Fish, reptiles, and invertebrates like insects are
called cold blooded because their internal temperature
depends on the temperature of the environment. an the other
hand Birds and mammals, including humans, are called warm
blooded. They evolved means of maintaining stable body
temperatures over a range of environments.

Bumans, produce heat within their bodies through
metabolism, But how does a human keep its internal
temperature nearly constant?

(I listened to student answer)

There are several processes through which the human body
maintains a stable temperature.

(I showed and explained to the student Table 6; listing
the different processes by which the human body keeps its
temperature stable).

Can you now explain to me the processes through which
the human.maintains a stable body temperature?

(I listened to student answer)

Today-we will talk in detail about only one of these
processes which is sweating. What do you know about how the
body maintain.a stable body temperature through sweating?

(I listened to student answer)

Table 6

135

MW

 

Response

 

Mechanism

Body temperature
below set point

Body temperature
above set point

 

Blood vessels Constrict so that less

Sweat glands

Metabolism

Muscles

Behavior

Hair

blood flows through skin

reducing the amount of
heat lost by
radiation.

Secret less fluids
reducing amount of
heat lost by
evaporation.

Increases, thus
producing more heat.

Become tense, induce
shivering, increasing
production

of heat.

.Move to a sunny place
put on additional
clothing, produce heat
with fire

Muscles contract,
causing hair to stand
increasing the amount
of air trapped next to
the body. This increase
in insulation decreases
the loss of body heat.

Enlarge so that more
blood flows

through skin
increasing the
amount of heat lost
by radiation.

Secret more fluids
increasing amount of
heat lost by
evaporation.

Decreases thus
producing less heat.

Become relaxed,
decreasing
production of heat.

Move to a shed
remove clothing,
cool the environment
by air conditioning.

Muscles contract,
causing hair to lie
against the body
decreasing the air
trapped next to the
body. This decrease
in insulation
increases the loss
of body heat.

 

136

The human body maintains a stable body temperature
through the Hypothalamus, which is part of our brain. The
hypothalamus controls the body temperature. Do you know how
this is done?

(I listened to student answer)

The hypothalamus regulate the body temperature by
monitoring the temperature of the blood passing through it.
When the temperature of the blood rises above the normal
temperature, which is thirty seven degrees. The hypothalamus
sends nerve messages to the sweat glands in the skin, causing
them to produce more sweat. when the sweat evaporates heat is
lost from the body, and the body temperature falls toward the
normal temperature. Look at this figure,

(I explained to the student Figure 11)

Can you use this figure (Figure 11) and explain to me
how the human body regulate its temperature through the
hypothalamus and the sweat glands.

(I listened to student explanation)

So, this the way the hypothalamus and the sweat glands
regulates the body temperature. Do you have any questions or
do you need and clarification regarding this process?

(I listened to the student explanation and responded to
his questions).

This conclude our session today and I'will see you the
day after tomorrow.

(I set an appointment with the student two days after the

instruction for the post instruction interview).

137

 

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138

W

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human.body maintains a relatively stable body temperature.
Please feel free to ask questions or to make statements about
the topic any time during instruction.

Animal species are often described as either l'cold
blooded“ or I'warm.blooded". What do you think is meant by
that?

(I listened to student answer)

Fish, reptiles, and invertebrates like insects are
called cold blooded because their internal temperature
depends on the temperature of the environment. an the other
hand Birds and manuals, including humans, are called warm
blooded. They evolved means of maintaining stable body
temperatures over a range of environments.

Bumam, produce heat within their bodies through
metabolism. But how'does a human keep its internal
temperature nearly constant?

(I listened to student answer)

There are several processes through which the human.body
maintains a stable temperature.

(I showed and explained to the student Table 6, listing
the different processes by which the human body keeps its
temperature stable).

Can you now'explain to me the processes through which

the human maintains a stable body temperature?

139

(I Listened to student answer)

Today'we will talk in detail about only one of these
processes which is sweating. What do you know about how'the
body maintain a stable body temperature through sweating?

(I Listened to student answer)

The human body maintains a stable body temperature
through the Hypothalamus, which.is part of our brain. The
hypothalamus controls the body temperature. Do you know'how
this is done?

(I Listened to student answer)

The hypothalamus regulate the body temperature by
monitoring the temperature of the blood passing through it.
When the temperature of the blood rises above the normal
temperature, which is thirty seven degrees. The hypothalamus
sends nerve messages to the sweat glands in the skin, causing
them to produce more sweat. when the sweat evaporates heat is
lost from the body, and the body temperature falls toward the
normal temperature. Look at this figure,

(I explained to the student Figure 11)

So far the instruction was identical to the instruction
in the control group. In the following part of the
instruction I introduced the “Thermostat analogy“ to the
student.

To help you understand this, can.you answer the
following question: Do you know'how the central air
conditioning is automatically turned on and off?

(I Listened to the student answer)

140

The working of central air conditioning is regulated
through the thermostat? Do you know what is the thermostat
and how it works?

(I Listened to the student answer)

The thermostat is a two-layered strip, look at this
figure:

(I explained to the student Figure 12)

thice that the way the thermostat work is similar to
the way the hypothalamus work. Look at this figure:

(I explained to the student Figure 13)

now, can you use these figures (Showing the student
Figures 11 and 13) and explain to me how both are similar in
regulating the temperature?

(I listened to the student answer)

80, this the way the hypothalamus and the sweat glands
regulates the body temperature. Do you have any questions or
do you need and clarification regarding this process?

(I listened to the student explanation and responded to
his questions)

This conclude our session today and I'will see you the
day after tomorrow.

(I set an appointment with the student two days after

the instruction for the post instruction interview).

141

 

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Conditioning

 

 

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Air Conditioning

142

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143

W

Two days after instruction I interviewed the student
using the following questions. I tape recorded and video
taped the interview. Before asking the questions I reminded
the student that we will use the same procedure that we used
during the interview before instruction.

I will ask you few questions, please tell me all what
you know about each question:
1. Using your own words, and with as much detail possible,
eaqplain to me how the human body maintains a relatively
stable body temerature through the sweat glands?
2. We notice that when the human sweets in humid and hot
days, he will feel more uncomfortable compared to only hot
days with no humidity. why? I
3 . If we measured the body temperature of an individual every
two hours throughout one day, are we going to get the same
exact reading of his body temperature every time?
4. What is thenameofthepart ororganinthehumanbody
that controls the temperature of the human body?
5. The relationship between the change in body temperature
and the response of the body to this change is described as a
negative relationship. Why do you think it is described as a
negative relationship?
6. We know that the normal tesperature of the human body is
thirty seven, it is called the set point. Lets say that an
individual took certain medicine that suddenly changed the

144

set point from thirty seven to thirty eight or ninety eight,
what do you think the reaction of the human body in this
case?

7. Bow does the human body maintains its stable body
temperature against the external changes in temperature? What
are the ways?

8. This is a hypothetical question. In a hot day an
individual puts a bag of ice below his head, Lets say that
this resulted in cooling the blood that reaches the brain
only. What do you think will happen?

9. Lets say that an individual has an accident which resulted
in removing a portion of his brain. After the operation this
individual werienced a disorder in sweat secretion. Why do
you think this happened?

The following question is only for the students who
received the emigration analogy:

10. In answering the previous questions did you think about
the emigration situation we talked about two days ago? If
yes, when did you think about it? Did this influence your
thinking? Bow?

After the interview I showed each student the video of
his/her interview after instruction. I stopped (pause) the
video just before student answer of each question, and asked
him what s/he was thinking about. I also stopped the video
after each answer and asked if the student can add more
information regarding what he was thinking about before

answering the question .

APPENDIX C

APPENDIX C
SECOND INSULIN LESSON PROTOCOL

The protocol of the interview before instruction is not
included here because it is identical to the protocol of the
interview before instruction in the first insulin lesson. The
protocol below starts from the Instruction presented to the
Analogy and No Analogy groups. The text in 'Bold' is what I
said to the student.
W

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human body maintains a relatively stable levels of glucose in
the blood. Please feel free to ask questions or to make
statements about the topic any time during instruction.

Bormones are molecules secreted by the endocrine glands
into the blood and travel to other parts of the body. The I
secretion of certain hormones is controlled by the
concentration of other chemicals in the blood.

flow, Can you name some of the endocrine glands in the
body and the hormones that they produce?

(I will listen to student answer)

One of endocrine glands is the pancreas. Can you name

any hormone secreted by the pancreas?

145

146

(I will listen to student answer)

The pancreas secretes more than one hormone, today we
will discuss one of most important hormones secreted by the
pancreas which is insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to
a high concentration level of a simle type of sugar? Do you
know the name of this simple sugar?

(I will listen to student answer)

Glucose, a simple sugar and an important product of food
digestion. It is important because many cells in our body,
especially the nervous system, drive its energy from glucose.
Glucose level in the blood is highest in the period
imediately following a meal. If glucose level remains high,
this could lead to wasteful loss of glucose in the urine as
well as losses of large volume of water. Insulin is the
hormone that can prevent this situation. Can you tell me how?

(I listened to student answer).

The effect of insulin is to increase glucose uptake and
use by cells and thus to lower the level of glucose in the
blood. Let me explain this more, after a meal, there will be
high glucose level in the blood, this is because glucose is
an important product of digestion as we said earlier. Bigh
glucose level will cause the pancreas to secret insulin
hormone. Insulin will increase glucose uptake into the cells.
As a result the level of glucose in the blood is reduced, and
this will restore blood glucose to its normal level.

So can you emlain to me the role of insulin in

regulating the concentration of glucose in blood?

147

(I listened to the student answer)

But how exactly does insulin increase the glucose uptake
and use by cells? Can you try telling me how?

(I listened to student answer)

Insulin increase the entrance of glucose into cells by
increasing the number of glucose transporters in the cell
membrane.

You see, after a meal, there is high glucose level in
the blood. What do you think will happen next inside the body
given the situation of high glucose level?

Because of high glucose concentration, the pancreas
secretes insulin into blood. Insulin reaches the cells and it
increases glucose uptake into the cells by increasing the
number of glucose transporters in the cell membrane. So there
will be more glucose transporters that transport glucose from
the blood to inside the cells. Therefore more glucose will
inter the cells.

What do you expect to happen to the level of glucose in
blood? (I listened to student answer)

The level of glucose is low after insulin effect.

can you explain to me how insulin regulates the uptake
of glucose by cells?

(I listened to student answer)

So this is how insulin regulates glucose level in blood.
Do you have any question or do you need any clarification
regarding how the human body regulates the glucose level in
blood.

148

(I will listen to the student and respond to his
questions).

This conclude our session today and I will see you one
week from now.

(I will set an appointment with the student one week
after the instruction for the post instruction interview).
W

In the next few minutes I will explain to you how the
human body maintain a relatively stable levels of glucose in
the blood.

Bormones are molecules secreted by the endocrine glands
into the blood and they travel to other parts of the body.
The secretion of many hormones is controlled by the
concentration of chemicals in the blood that are not
hormones. 1

Now, Canyounamesome oftheendocrineglends inthe
body and the hormones that they produce?

(I will listen to student answer)

One of endocrine glands is the pancreas. Can you name
an hormone secreted by the pancreas?

(I will listen to student answer)

The pancreas secret more than one hormone, today we will
discuss one of most important hormones secreted by the
pancreas which is insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to
a high concentration level of a simle type of sugar? Do you
know the name of this simple sugar?

(I will listen to student answer)

149

Glucose, a simple sugar and an important product of food
digestion. It is important because many cells in our body,
especially the nervous system, drive its energy from glucose.
Glucose level in the blood is highest in the period
immediately following a meal. If glucose level remains high,
this could lead to wasteful loss of glucose in the urine as
well as losses of large volume of water. Insulin is the
hormone that can prevent this situation. Can you tell me how?

(I listened to student answer).

The effect of insulin is to increase glucose uptake and
use by cells and thus to lower the concentration of glucose
in the blood. Let me emlain this more, after a meal, there
will be high glucose level in the blood, this is because
glucose is an important product of digestion as we said
earlier. Bigh glucose level will cause the pancreas to secret
insulin hormone. Insulin will increase glucose uptake into
the cells. As a result the level of glucose in the blood is
reduced, and this will restore blood glucose to its normal
level.

So can you enlain to me the role of insulin in
regulating the concentration of glucose in blood?

(I listened to the student answer)

But how exactly does insulin increase the glucose uptake
and use by cells? Can you try telling me how?

(I listened to student answer)

150

Insulin increase the entrance of glucose into cells by
increasing the number of glucose transporters in the cell
membrane.

You see, after a meal, there is high glucose level in
the blood. What do you think will happen next inside the body
given the situation of high glucose level?

Because of high glucose concentration, the pancreas
secretes insulin into blood. Insulin reaches the cells and it
increases glucose uptake into the cells by increasing the
number of glucose transporters in the cell membrane. So there
will be more glucose transporters that transport glucose from
the blood to inside the cells. Therefore more glucose will
inter the cells.

What do you expect to happen to the level of glucose in
blood? (I will listen to student answer)

The level of glucose is low after insulin effect.

So far the instruction is identical to the instruction
in the control group. In the following part of the
instruction I introduced the “Emigration analogy" to the
student.

To help you understand this, I want you to tell me what
would happen in the following situation. Lets say that a
large airplane arrived in the airport from a foreign country.
There was a lot of passengers in the airplane and all of them
rushed to the emigration area. Bowever, there was only one
emigration officer on the counters. What would be the

situation in the emigration area?

151

(I listened to student answer)

There will be a lot of passengers waiting on lines to
get through emigration. At this moment the emigration
supervisors heard about the situation and they went to the
emigration area. When they arrived they imediately called
for more emigration officers to help passengers pass through.
Can you tell me what would be the situation in the emigration
area after a period of time?

(I listened to student answer)

Most passengers would pass through emigration and there
will be few passengers in the emigration area.

What happened in this situation is similar to the way
human body regulates glucose level. Insulin decreases glucose
level by increasing the number of glucose transporters like
the migration supervisors who decreased the number of people
in the emigration area by calling additional emigration
officers.

Can you eawlain to me how insulin regulates the uptake
of glucose by cells?

So this is how insulin regulates glucose level in
blood. Do you have any question or do you need any
clarification regarding how the human body regulates the
glucose level in blood.

(I listened to the student and respond to his
questions) .

This conclude our session today and I will see you one

week from today

152

(I set an appointment with the student one week after
the instruction for the post instruction interview).
WW1:

One week after instruction I interviewed the students
using the following questions. I tape recorded and video
taped the interview. Before asking the questions I reminded
the student that we will use the same procedure that we used
during the interview before instruction.

I will ask you few questions, please tell me all what
you know about each question:

1. Why do we feel tired after a period of not eating?

2. Bow do you describe the level of insulin hormone in the
blood after a period of not eating?

3. Using your own words, and with as mch detail possible,
explain to me how the human body regulates the level of sugar
in blood?

4. When an individual has a high glucose level in his blood,
we say that he has diabetes. What do you think goes wrong in
the human body to cause this disease?

5. Diabetes patients receive daily injections to control
their disease .. what do you think is the contents of in
these injections?

6. What causes the secretion of many hormones?

7. Why do we advice people who have diabetes disease not to

eat sweet food?

153

8. What do you think would happen if the glucose carriers in
the cells become resistant and do not respond to the Insulin
effect?

9. What is glucose? Why is it important to the human body?

The following question is only for the students who
received the emigration analogy:

10. In answering the previous questions did you think about
the emigration situation we talked about two days ago? If
yes, when did you think about it? Did this influence your
thinking? Bow?

After the interview I showed each student the video of
his/her interview after instruction. I stopped (pause) the
video just before student answer of each question, and asked
him what s/he was thinking about. I also stopped the video
after each answer and asked if the student can add.more
information regarding what he was thinking about before

answering the question.

APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D
MODEL ANSWERS FOR THE INSULIN LESSON

The following are the model answers that I used to score
students answers for the Insulin lesson interview questions.
I will first state the question and then its' answer.

Q.l. Using your own words, and.with as much detail possible,
explain to me how the human body regulates the level of sugar
in blood?

Answer
Statements of infbrmation.mentioned in instruction:

After a meal, there will be high glucose level in the
blood, because glucose is one product of digestion. Since
there is high glucose concentration in blood, the pancreas
secretes insulin into blood. Insulin reaches the cells and it
increases glucose uptake by increasing the number of glucose
transporters in the cell membrane. Insulin does this by
activating the inactive transporters inside the cells to
transport glucose from.the blood into the cells. Therefore,
the level of glucose will decrease after insulin effect and

return to its normal level.

154

155

Q.2. Why do we feel tired after a period of not eating?
Answer
Statement of the likely cause:

We feel tired because of insufficient glucose level in
the blood or in the cells which is a major source of energy
to the human body.

Statement of hOW'the principle is used:

Since glucose comes from the digestion of food,

therefore, a period of fasting will cause a drop in the level

of glucose in the blood which means low energy.

Q.3. What would be the level of insulin in blood after a long
period of fasting?
Answer

The likely result:

The concentration of Insulin will be low.
Explanation in terms of the principle:

Because after fasting the level of glucose in blood is
low, and low glucose levels will not trigger the secretion of

Insulin from.the Pancreas.

0.4. What causes the secretion of many hormones?
Answer
Statements of infbrmation.mentioned in instruction:
The secretion of many hormones is controlled by the
increase or decrease in the concentration of other chemicals
in the blood.

(0.5) When an individual has a high glucose level in his
blood, we say that he has diabetes. What do you think goes
wrong in the human body to cause this disease?

156

Answer
Statement of the likely cause:

High glucose level may result from.insufficient amount
of insulin secreted by the pancreas or from relative lack of
response by target cells to insulin.

Statement of hOW'the principle is used:

Insulin effect is to increase glucose uptake and use by
the cells, thus lowering the level of glucose in blood. Since
diabetes patients have high level of glucose in their blood
then their must be something wrong regarding the presence or
influence of insulin, that is it may be insufficient or

ineffective.

(Q.6) Diabetes patients receive daily injections to control
their disease, what do you think is the contents of in these
injections?
Answer
The likely result:
It contain insulin hormone.
Explanation in terms of the principle:

Insulin effect is to increase glucose uptake and use by
the cells, thus lowering the level of glucose in blood. Since
diabetes patients have high glucose level, they receive
insulin injections to lower their glucose level.

(Q.7) What is glucose?
Answer
Statements of information.mentioned in instruction:
A simple type of sugar.

157

Why is it important to the human body?
Answer
Statements of infbrmation.mentioned in instruction:
It is important because many cells in our body,

especially the nervous system, drive its energy from glucose.

(0.8) Why do we advice people who have diabetes disease not
to eat sweet food?

Answer
Statement of the likely cause:

Because diabetes patients already have high glucose
level in their blood and more glucose that comes from.the
sweet food may have dangerous effects on their health.
Statement of hOW’the principle is used:

Diabetes patients have high glucose level because of
insufficient or ineffective insulin that can not deal with
normal amounts of glucose. Sweet food contain high amounts of
glucose which will further increase the level of glucose in
the body of diabetes patients and have harmful effects.

(0.9) What do you think would happen if the glucose carriers
in the cells become resistant and do not respond to the
Insulin effect?
Answer
The likely result:
Glucose level in blood will become high.
Explanation in terms of the principle:

Insulin decreases the level of glucose in blood by
increasing the number of glucose transporters in the cell
membrane which transport glucose from the blood to inside the
cell. Insulin increase the transporters number by activating
the inactive transporters in the cell. If these transporters
do not respond to insulin, then there will be no increase in

158

the number of transporters in the cell membrane which leads
to high glucose level in the blood.

APPENDIX E

APPENDIX E

MODEL ANSWERS FOR THE HYPOTHALAMUS LESSON

The following are the model answers that I used to score
students answers for the Insulin Hypothalamus interview
questions. I will first state the question and then its'

answer .

0.1. Using your own words, and.with as much detail possible,
explain to me how the human body maintains a relatively
stable body temperature through the sweat glands?

Answer
Statements of information.mentioned in instruction:

The human body maintains a stable body temperature
through the hypothalamus which is part of our brain. The
hypothalamus acts as a temperature regulating center,
monitoring the temperature of the blood.passing through it.
When the temperature of the blood rises above the set point,
it stimulates the brains' temperature regulating center, the
hypothalamus, to send messages to the sweat glands, causing
them to produce more sweat, sweat evaporates and more heat is
lost from the body, and the body temperature falls toward the
set point. In the other hand, when the temperature of the
blood decreases below the set point, the hypothalamus will
send messages to the sweat glands causing them this time to
produce less sweat or stop sweating, less sweat evaporates
and less heat will be lost from the body. This will cause
temperature to rise toward the set point.

159

160

0.2. We notice that when the human sweats in humid and hot
days, he will feel more uncomfortable compared to only hot
days with no humidity, why?

Answer
Statement of the likely cause:

This is because humidity will reduce or hinder the
evaporation of sweat, and this do not help cooling the body.
Statement of how the principle is used:

The body secrets sweat so that when it evaporates it
will take the heat necessary for evaporation from the body,
therefore this cools the body. Humidity means higher water
vapor in the air and this hinder the evaporation of sweat and
as a result hinder cooling the body.

0.3. If we measured the body temperature of an individual

every two hours throughout one day, are we going to get the

same exact reading of his body temperature every time?
Answer

The likely result:

No, the readings will not be exactly the same every
time. Temperature will slightly fluctuate up and down around
the set point of thirty seven.

Explanation in terms of the principle:

The body regulates its temperature through the
hypothalamus. The body temperature do increase and decrease
according to the external temperature and human activity. The
hypothalamus keeps the body temperature around the set point
of thirty seven by invoking the mechanisms (sweat glands,
blood vessels, ..) that will bring back body temperature
toward the set point. Therefore, the readings will not be
exactly thirty seven all the time.

161

Qu4. What is the name of the part or organ in the human body
that controls the temperature of the human body?
Answer
Statements of'infOrmation.mentioned in instruction:
The name of the organ is hypothalamus.

0.5. ‘The relationship between the change in body temperature
and the response of the body to this change is described as a
negative relationship. Why do you think it is described as a
negative relationship?

Answer
Statement of the likely cause:

The relationship is described as a negative relationship
because there is a negative relation between the direction of
temperature change and the direction of body response.
Statement of how the principle is used:

There is a negative relation between the direction of
temperature change and the direction of body response because
when the temperature increase above the set point the
hypothalamus will try to reduce it. In the other hand, when
it decrease below the set point the body will try to increase
it.

0.6. we know that the normal temperature of the human body is
thirty seven, it is called the set point. Lets say that an
individual took certain medicine that suddenly changed the
set point from.thirty seven to thirty eight or ninety eight,
what do you think the reaction of the human body in this
case?
Answer

The likely result:

The individual will shiver, his metabolism will
increase, his blood vessels will constrict, sweating will

stop, hair will erect.

162

Explanation in terms of the principle:

The set point is the point the hypothalamus tries to
maintain. Therefore, when the medicine increased the set
point and the temperature of the body become below the set
point, the hypothalamus will activate the mechanisms that

will increase the body temperature to the set point.

0.7. How does the human body maintains its stable body
temperature against the external changes in temperature? What
are the ways?
Answer
Statements of infbrmation.mentioned in instruction:
There are six mechanisms:
Sweat glands.
Blood vessels.
. Metabolism,
. Muscles.
Behavior.
. Hair.

O‘UIIbUNI-i

0.8. This is a hypothetical question. In a hot day an
individual puts a bag of ice below his head, Lets say that
this resulted in cooling the blood that reaches the brain
only. What do you think will happen?
Answer

The likely result:

The individual will stop sweating, his blood vessels
will constrict, his metabolism will increase, hair will
erect.

163

Explanation in terms of the principle:
The cold blood that reached the brain will pass through
the hypothalamus and stimulate it to activate the mechanisms

responsible for increasing body temperature.

0.9. Lets say that an individual has an accident which
resulted in removing a portion of his brain. After the
operation this individual experienced a disorder in sweat
secretion. Why do you think this happened?
Answer

Statement of the likely cause:

The operation resulted in removing part of the
hypothalamus.
Statement of how the principle is used:

The hypothalamus regulates the sweat glands secretion.
If part of it was removed in the operation a disorder in the

secretion of sweat glands could occur.

APPENDIX F

APPENDIX F

TABLES OF STUDENTS' SCORES

Table 7

Sggres of the Insulin Analggy Qrggp 9n the gustions
AW

 

Question Number

 

Stud.# 1 2 3 4 5 6 ,7 8 9 Total

 

31 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 l 20

17 5 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 25

23 5 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 25

19 4 3 3 1 3 3 2 2 3 24

27 5 2 3 0 3 2 2 2 2 21

 

Mean 4.5 2.12 2.25 1.25 2.75 2.5 1.62 2.25 2 21.25
Group SD = 1.60

164

165

Table 8

Scores of the Insulin No analogy Group on the Questions

AW

 

Question Number

 

Stud”# 1 2 3 4 5 6 '7 8 9 Total

 

15 4 3 0 1 0 3 1 1 2 15
26 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 25

16 3 3 3 2 0 3 2 2 3 21

32 5 2 O 0 2 3 1 3 3 19
11 2 3 0 0 3 2 2 2 3 17

21 4 3 3 0 3 3 2 2 3 23

 

Mean 3.37 2.75 1.5 1 2.12 2.62 1.75 2.37 2.62 20.12

Group SD = 1.22

166

Table 9

Scores of the Hypothalamus Analogy Group on the Qustions
Won

 

Question Number

 

Stud.# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

 

10 3 0 1.5 0 0.5 3 1.6 0 2.5 12.1
25 4 1 2.5 1.5 0 2.5 1.3 2 2.5 17.3
22 3 O 2 2 2.5 2.5 1.6 3 3 19.6
20 3 0 2 0 1 1 1.3 1.5 2.5 12.3

18 2.5 0 0 1 3 0.5 1.3 1 2.5 11.8

13 3 1 0 2 0 2 1.3 2.5 3 14.8

4 3.75 1.5 2.5 2 0.5 1 1.3 1 1.5 15.05

 

Mean 3.15 0.44 1.31 1.31 1.18 1.62 1.33 1.5 2.56 14.43

Group SD = 2.83

167

Table 10

Scores of the Hypothalamus No Analogy Group on the Qustions
Winn

 

Question Number

 

Stud.# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

 

7 4.5 0 2 2 0 3 2 2 3 18.5

12 3.5 3 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 1.6 2.5 3 23.1

24 3.5 0 2 2 0.5 2.5 1.3 2.5 3 17.3

29 3.5 0 0 1.75 1. 1 1.3 0.5 1.5 10.55

30 3 0 O 0 0.5 1 1 1 1.5 8
28 2.5 1 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.3 0 2 9.8
14 2 0.5 1.5 1 0.5 3 1.6 2.5 2 14.6

 

Mean. 3.31 0.56 1.37 1.40 0.75 1.68 1.51 1.68 2.37 14.67

Group SD = 5.05

168

Table 11
Scores of the Insulin and Hypothalamus Analogy Groups

h ' rn in

 

Question Number

 

Stud. # l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

 

10 3 0 1.5 0 0.5 3 1.6 0 2.5 12.1
25 4 1 2.5 1.5 0 2.5 1.3 2 2.5 17.3
22 3 0 2 2 2.5 2.5 1.6 3 3 19.6
20 3 0 2 0 1 1 1.3 1.5 2.5 12.3

18 2.5 0 0 1 3 0.5 1.3 1 2.5 11.8

13 3 1 C 2 O 2 1.3 2.5 3 14.8
8 3 0 0 2 2 0.5 1 1 3 12 5
4 3.7 1.5 2.5 2 0 5 1 1 3 1 1 5 15.05
31 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 20
9 5 2 3 1 2 2 1 3 3 22
17 5 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 25
23 5 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 25
5 4 0 0 O 3 2 0 1 1 11
19 4 3 3 1 3 3 2 2 3 24
27 5 2 3 0 3 2 2 2 2 21
2 5 3 0 2 3 2 2 3 2 22

 

Mean 3.8 1.2 1.7 1.2 1.9 2.0 1.4 1.8 2.2 17.84

Group SD = 5.07

169

Table 12

Scores of the Insulin and Hypothalamus No Analogy Groups

0 in h ' n In ru i n

 

Question Number

 

Stud. # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

 

7 4.5 o 2 2 o 3 2 2 3 18.5
12 3.5 3 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 1.6 2.5 3 23.1
6 4 o 1.5 2 0.5 o 2 2.5 3 15.5
24 3.5 o 2 2 0.52.5 1.3 2.5 3 17.3

29 3.5 0 0 1.7 1 1 1.3 0.5 1.5 10.55

30 3 0 (3 0 0.5 1 1. 21 '1.5 8

28 2.5 1 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.3 0 2 SL8
14 2 0.5 1.5 1 0.5 3 1.6 2.5 2 14.6
15 4 3 0 l 0 3 1 1 2 15
26 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 25
16 3 3 3 2 0 3 2 2 3 21
3 1 3 O 1 3 2 2 3 3 18
32 5 2 0 0 2 3 1 3 3 19
11 2 3 0 0 3 2 2 2 3 17
21 4 3 3 0 3 3 2 2 3 23
1 4 2 3 1 3 3 2 3 1 23

 

Mean 3.3 1.6 1.4 1.1 1.4 2.1 1.6 2.0 2.5 17.40

Group SD = 5.04

170

Table 13
Scores of the Insulin Analogy Group on the Qustions
Af n ' n ' n

 

Question Number

 

Stud.# 1 2 13 4 5 6 '7 8 9 Total

 

6 2.5 3 4.5 3 1.5 1 2 0 2 19h5
9 2 3 5 2.5 3 0.5 3 2 2 23

10 1.5 22 4 3 3 0.5 2.5 22 2 20.5

Mean 2 1237 3.9 1.7 JZJ3 0.5 2.2 1137 2 .19

Group SD = 2.97

171

Table 14

Scores of the Insulin No Analogy Group on the Qustions
After Instrpgtipn f9; the Segppd Expepiment

 

Question Number

 

Stud . # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

 

2 2 3 44 2.5 2.5 (3 2.5 :3 2 21.5

 

Mean 1.8 2.7 2.3 2.2 1.1 0.4 2.2 1.3 1.6 14.7

Group SD = 4.42

172

 

 

 

 

Table 15
The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy and
l r n e R l i n

Analogy Group No Analoogy Group
Question Number Question Number

1 4 7 Total 1 4 7 Total

3 2 2 7 4 1 l 6

5 1 1 7 4 2 2 8

5 2 2 9 3 2 2 7

5 2 2 9 1 1 2 4

4 O O 4 5 O l 6

4 l 2 7 2 0 2 4

5 O 2 7 4 O 2 6

5 2 2 9 4 2 2 8

 

Mean 7.38 Mean 6.12

Group SD = 1.68 Group SD = 1.55

173

Table 16

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy and

 

 

 

 

 

l l n 'on i n
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number

2 5 8 Total 2 5 8 Total

2 2 2 6 3 O 1 4

2 2 3 7 3 3 3 9

3 3 2 8 3 O 2 5

2 3 3 8 3 3 3 9

0 3 1 4 2 2 3 7

3 3 2 8 3 3 2 8

2 3 2 7 3 3 2 8

3 3 3 9 2 3 3 8
Mean 7.12 Mean 7.25

Group SD = 1.55 Group SD = 1.80

174

 

 

 

 

Table 17
The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy and
N r r i ' n ' n
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number

3 6 9 Total 3 6 9 Total

3 3 1 7 O 3 2 5

3 2 3 8 3 2 3 8

3 3 2 8 3 3 3 9

3 3 2 8 O 2 3 5

O 2 1 3 O 3 3 6

3 3 3 9 O 2 3 5

3 2 2 7 3 3 3 9

O 2 2 4 3 3 l 7

 

Mean 6.75 Mean 6.75

Group SD = 2.12 Group SD = 1.75

175

Table 18

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Hypothalamus Analogy

 

 

 

 

 

an R l e i n
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question NUmber
1 4 7 Total 1 4 7 Total
3 0 1 6 4 6 4.5 2 2 8 5
4 1.5 1.3 6.8 3.5 2 1.6 7.1
2.5 2 1.6 6.1 4 2 2 8
3 O 1.3 4.3 3.5 2 1.3 6.8
3 1 1.3 5.3 3.5 1J75 1H3 6.55
3 2 1.3 6.3 3 0 l 4
3 2 1 6 2.5 0.5 1.3 4.3
3 75 2 1 3 7.05 2 1 1 6 4 6
Mean 5.81 Mean 6.23

Group SD = 0.99 Group SD = 1.72

Table 19

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Hypothalamus Analogy

n N An 1 r

176

l n i n i

 

Analogy Group

Question Number

 

2 5 9 Total

No Analogy Group

Question Number

 

5 9 Total

 

0 3 2.5 5.5

l 1.5 2.5

 

1 0 3 4 0.5 1.5 2
0 2 3 5 0.5 2 3.5

1.5 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0.5 2 3
Mean 4.19 Mean 3.69

Group SD = 0.99

Group SD = 2.01

177

Table 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number
3 6 8 Total 3 6 8 Total
1 5 3 2 5 7 2 3 3 8
2.5 2.5 2.5 7.5 2.5 2.5 3 8
2 2.5 3 7.5 1.5 0 3 4.5
2 1 2.5 5.5 2 2.5 3 7.5
O 0.5 2.5 3 0 1 1 5 2 5
O 2 3 5 O 1 1 5 2 5
O 0 5 3 3 5 1.5 0.5 2 4
2 5 1 1 5 5 1 5 3 2 6 5
IMeanL 5.5 IMean. 5.44
Group SD = 1.73 Group SD = 2.35

178

 

 

 

 

 

Table 21
The Scores and the Group Mean for the Combined Insulin
n H h n r n
W
Combined Analogy Group Combined No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number

1 4 7 Total 1 4 7 Total

3 0 1.6 4.6 4.5 2 2

4 1.5 1.3’ 6.8 2 1.6 7.1
2.5 2 1.6 6.1 4 2 2 8

3 O 1.3 4.3 3.5 2 1.3 6.8

3 1 1.3 5.3 3.5 1.75 1.3 6.55

3 2 1.3 6.3 3 0 1 4

3 2 1 6 2.5 0.5 1.3 4.3
3.75 2 1 3 7.05 2 1 1.6 4.6

3 2 2 7 4 1 1 6

5 l 1 7 4 2 2 8

5 2 2 9 3 2 2 7

5 2 2 9 1 1 2 4

4 0 0 4 5 O 1 6

4 1 2 7 2 O 2 4

5 O 2 7 4 O 2 6

5 2 2 9 4 2 2 8

Mean 6.59 Mean 6.18

Group SD = 1.56 Group SD = 1.58

179

 

 

 

 

 

Table 22
The Scores and the Group Mean for the Combined Insulin
W
!h E J . .
Combined Analogy Group Combined No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number

2 5 9 Total 2 5 9 Total

0 0 5 2.5 3 O 0 3 3

1 O 3.5 3 3

O 2.5 3 5.5 O .5 3

O 1 2. .5 0 O 5 3 .5

0 3 2.5 5.5 O 1 2.5

1 O O 0.5 2

0 2 3 5 1 0.5 2 3.5
1.5 0.5 1.5 3.5 0.5 0.5 2 3

2 2 2 6 3 O 1 4

2 2 3 7 3 3 3 9

3 3 2 8 3 0 2 5

2 3 3 8 3 3 3 9

O 3 1 4 2 2 3 7

3 3 2 8 3 3 2 8

2 3 2 7 3 3 2 8

3 3 3 9 2 3 3 8

Mean 5.66 Mean 5.47

Group SD = 1.97 Group SD = 2.61

180

Table 23

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Combined Insulin

n H l l l n

the Ptedietipp Qpestipps

 

 

 

 

 

Combined Analogy Group Combined No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number
3 6 8 Total 3 6 8 Total
1 3 2.5 7 2 3 3 8
2.5 2.5 3
2 2.5 1 5 0 3
2 1 5 5 2 2.5 3 7.5
O 0.5 2 5 l
O 2 5 O 1
O 0.5 3 3.5 1.5 0.5 2 4
2 5 1 1.5 5 1.5 3 2 6.5
3 3 1 7 O 3 2 5
3 2 3 8 3 2 3 8
3 3 2 8 3 3 3 9
3 3 2 8 0 2 3 5
O 2 1 3 0 3 3 6
3 3 3 9 O 2 3 5
3 2 2 7 3 3 3 9
O 2 2 4 3 3 1 7
Mean 6.12 Mean 6.09

Group SD = 1.97 Group SD = 2.11

181

Table 24

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy

 

 

 

 

 

an An 1 r n h R all i n
r n 'men
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number
3 6 9 Total 3 6 9 Total
4 0 2 6 4 O 2 6
2 0.5 2 4.5 2.5 0.5 2 5
4.5 1 2 7.5 1 0.5 1.5 3
5 O 5 2 7 5 1 0 1 5 2 5
4 O 5 2 6.5 3 1 1 5
Mean 6.4 Mean 4.3

Group SD = 1.24 Group SD = 1.48

182

Table 25

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy

 

 

 

 

 

an i i n
W
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number

1 4 7 Total 1 4 7 Total
1 5 0 l 5 3 2 2.5 2.5 7
2 5 O 2 4.5 2 5 3 3 8 5
2 5 3 2 7 5 1.5 2 2 5 6

2 2.5 3 7.5 1.5 1.5 2 5
1 5 3 2 5 7 1.5 2 1 4 5

lMeanL 5.9 IMean. 6.2

Group SD = 2.04 Group SD = 1.60

183

Table 26

The Scores and the Group Mean for the Insulin Analogy and

 

 

 

 

 

N 1 h r ' i n u i n f r
h n 'm n
Analogy Group No Analogy Group
Question Number Question Number
2 5 8 Total 2 5 8 Total
3 1 3 7 3 2.5 3 8 5
2 5 3 1 5 7 0 1 5 O l 5
3 1 5 O 4.5 0 O 2 2
3 3 2 8 3 0 O 3
2 3 2 7 3 1.5 1.5 6
Mean 6.7 Mean 4.2

Group SD = 1.30 Group SD = 2.97

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