The hidden hand that shapes conceptual understanding: Choosing effective representations for teaching cell division and climate change
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
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Multiple representations in biological education. ed. / C Y Tsui; D Treagust. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013. p. 293-310 (Models and Modeling in Science Education; Vol. 7).
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
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TY - CHAP
T1 - The hidden hand that shapes conceptual understanding: Choosing effective representations for teaching cell division and climate change
AU - Niebert, Kai
AU - Riemeier, Tanja
AU - Gropengießer, Harald
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Didactics of sciences education
KW - Biologie
KW - Carbon Cycle
KW - Teaching Experiment
KW - Scientific Understanding
KW - Target Domain
KW - Global Carbon Cycle
U2 - 10.1007/978-94-007-4192-8_16
DO - 10.1007/978-94-007-4192-8_16
M3 - Contributions to collected editions/anthologies
SN - 978-94-007-4191-1
T3 - Models and Modeling in Science Education
SP - 293
EP - 310
BT - Multiple representations in biological education
A2 - Tsui, C Y
A2 - Treagust, D
PB - Springer
CY - Dordrecht
ER -