Students' reasoning in making predictions about novel situations: the role of self-generated analogies

This cross age study was designed to investigate students’ predictions in novel situations and the role that analogies play in their reasoning. It was a small scale study in which a total of 41 students from three different age groups and three different schools in Greece were recruited. A mixed method approach was used with data being collected through the use of written questionnaires and audio-recorded group interviews. Students’ responses were analysed to ascertain how they made their predictions, whether these drew on the use of analogies, and if so, the nature of the analogies that they used. The study found that students regularly used analogies in order to make their predictions. In many cases students’ reasoning was based on their experiential knowledge which led them to make predictions that were not compatible with the scientific view. The analogies used by different students, when presented with the same novel situations, were, in many cases, similar irrespective of their year group. The findings of the study suggest that teachers need to be more aware of the nature of the analogies used and how, and why, reasoning on the basis of such analogies can, in many cases, lead students to make scientifically incorrect predictions.