How should textbook analogies be used in teaching physics?

Analogies are suitable for teaching scientific concepts by comparing an unknown with a known. For this reason, they are widely used by textbook authors or science teachers for different aims such as introduction, clarification, or discrimination of new concepts. This study examines the analogies used in elementary science textbooks from 3rd to 8th grades and criticizes the use of analogies. By considering Glynn’s teaching-with-analogies approach, this study identifies the missing parts of the analogies that should be revised and presents examples of how textbook analogies could be improved by teachers in teaching physics concepts.

Figure 1

An analogy with TWA steps for the photoelectron emission. This analogy, named the family relationship analogy, was originally presented in Didiş’s [8] study investigating the analogies used in the teaching of introductory quantum theory. While the quoted parts were taken directly from Didiş [8], a relevant text was added to improve the analogy by TWA steps.

Figure 2

Distribution of the analogies used in science textbooks among the disciplines.

Figure 3

Revised version of the analogy used in the 7th grade textbook [41] (p. 70) due to TWA. The textbook is originally in Turkish and the analogy was presented with magnet figures. So the text explaining the analogy was translated and the magnet figures were redrawn similar to the ones given in the textbook.

Figure 4

Revised version of the analogy used in the 6th grade textbook [43] (p. 211) due to TWA. The textbook is originally in Turkish and the analogy was presented with tub figures. So the text explaining the analogy was translated and the tub figures were redrawn similar to the ones given in the textbook.