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Degree

Master of Arts in Education, Defiance College, Education, 2003.

Abstract

This action research project investigated the use of analogy in high school biology and chemistry classes in a rural northwest Ohio classroom environment. Each student was randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: control, teacher-generated analogy, or student-generated analogy. Biology classes were working on the concept of cell organelles and chemistry classes were studying electron arrangement of the atom. Pre-tests were administered to assess prior knowledge on the topics. For two instructional classroom days, students in the control group read text and answered questions on the assigned topic. The students in the teacher analogy group filled out teacher designed analogical guides on either the cell as a factory or the atom structure as an apartment. Student-generated analogy groups created their own analogical guides. Post-test assessments were used to measure students' rate of gain for concept comprehension. Results for the biology classes showed the greatest increase in pre-test versus post-test scores for the teacher-generated analogy groups, followed by the control, and last, the student-generated analogy groups. In the chemistry classes, the control groups had the highest rate of gain, followed by the teacher-generated groups, and again, the student-generated analogy group scores were lowest.

Subject Headings

Biology; Chemistry

Keywords

biology; chemistry; high school; analogy; cell organelles; electrons; atoms

Committee / Advisors

James Bray (Advisor)
Suzanne McFarland (Committee Member)

Pages

59p.

Document number: def1281549287
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=def1281549287

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