Analogy-Enhanced Instruction: Effects on Reasoning Skills in Science

Abstract

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