Using Analogies to Increase Student Interest in Science

Abstract

• Much of our thinking is done in pictures, and even young students have vivid imaginations that help them see objects, stories, and situations in their mind's eyes. • Adults and students enjoy making sense of new situations by seeing problems and scenarios in everyday terms. • An additional value of analogy and analogies is that they are often used to raise interest in stories and jokes. • Learning about nonobservable phenomena in science is enhanced when we can see and think about objects and processes in terms of everyday objects and events.