The hidden hand that shapes conceptual understanding: Choosing effective representations for teaching cell division and climate change

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

Authors

In interviews within our studies, students revealed their conceptions of cell division and climate change. Their conceptions of these topics are far from the current scientific theory, but they still make sense to the students. Employing the theory of experientialism, we argue that students use imaginative thinking, that is, metaphors to understand the imperceptible world of cell division and climate change. This metaphorical understanding is achieved by conveying the structure of a source domain to a target domain. Usually the source domain is a conceptual structure grounded in bodily experience that is understood directly. The source-to-target mapping that leads to this kind of understanding is done unconsciously. It functions like a hidden hand that shapes everyday conceptual understanding of abstract target domains in the microcosm and macrocosm. We identify and characterize common source domains that lie in the perceptible mesocosm to understand biological phenomena in the microcosm (cell division) and macrocosm (climate change). Furthermore, we present successful representations that foster students understanding of these phenomena.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMultiple representations in biological education
EditorsC Y Tsui, D Treagust
Number of pages18
Place of PublicationDordrecht
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Publication date2013
Pages293-310
ISBN (print)978-94-007-4191-1
ISBN (electronic)978-94-007-4192-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Risk preferences under multiple risk conditions – survey evidence from semi-arid rangelands
  2. Intraorganizational Tensions Around Being Good: Explaining (De-)coupling of Purchasing and CSR in Garment Brands and Retailers
  3. Computational study of Lagrangian transport in turbulent convection
  4. Professional School (Organisation)
  5. Research Workshop “Innovation & Value Creation"
  6. Urban Sound Research
  7. 11th EIASM Conference on Performance Measurement and Management Control
  8. 9th International Workshop on Set-Oriented Numerics 2022
  9. Titel: Worker voice on digital platforms and beyond.
  10. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik - WI 2020
  11. 11. Sino-German Frontiers of Science Symposium - SINOGFOS 2019
  12. Authentizität mathematischer Modellierungsaufgaben in standardisierten Testsituationen
  13. Student Gender and Teachers' Grading and Written Feedback on Math or Language Assignments
  14. On the structurual Richness of Art Historical Discourse
  15. Teaching and Exploring Sustainability in Virtual Space
  16. Liquidity, Flows, Circulation: The Cultural Logic of Environmentalization (1st part)
  17. EAWOP Small Group Meeting - 2011
  18. Mathematikdidaktisches Kolloquium
  19. A kinetic approach to the study of ideal multipole resonance probe
  20. Creating Space for Academic Feedom: Progressive Liberal Education in a German Public University
  21. Detached and out of touch? Political Elites between public criticism and logic of professionalization.
  22. Between the Wage and the Commons
  23. Network-Based Analysis of Lagrangian Transport and Mixing
  24. The Future of International Sanctions