A elaboração de analogias como um processo que favorece a expressão de concepções de professores de Química

Resumen

Drawing of Analogies as a Process that Favours the Expression of Chemistry
Teachers´ Conceptions
Analogies are comparisons between relations from a familiar domain (base) to an unknown domain (target). On account of this, they can be important teaching tools in the teaching scientific concepts. At the same time, the analogies drawn by teachers can evidence their conceptions, their beliefs, and mainly the knowledge they mobilise when drawing them. In the current paper, we investigate the expression of teachers’ conceptions on both the scientific content they teach and analogies as teaching tools. In order to do so, six chemistry teachers were interviewed. They were asked to draw analogies to introduce the topic chemical bonds. They showed to know some of the students’ alternative conceptions, but they also expressed some improper ideas about the topic and about analogies (taken as examples or animistic representations). Assuming the importance of the teacher’s role as a guide in the process of students’ knowledge building, the knowledge about such teachers’ ideas can help those responsible for teachers’ education in both discussing issues concerning scientific topics to be taught and promoting situations that could favour the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge about the use of analogies.