Abstract
Use of self-generated analogies has been proposed as a method for students to learn about a new subject by reference to what they previously know, in line with a constructivist perspective on learning and a resource perspective on conceptual change. We report on a group exercise on using completion problems in combination with self-generated analogies to make sense of two thermodynamic processes. The participants (N = 8) were preservice physics teacher students at the fourth year of the teacher education program. The students experienced challenges in accounting for the constant entropy in reversible, adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas and the constant temperature in free, adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas. These challenges were found to be grounded in the students’ intuitive understanding of the phenomena. In order to come to terms with the constant entropy in the first process, the students developed idiosyncratic explanations, but these could by properly adjusted given suitable scaffolding. In contrast, the students by themselves managed to make sense of the constant temperature in free expansion, by use of microscopic explanatory models. As a conclusion, self-generated analogies were found to provide a useful approach to identifying challenges to understanding among students, but also for the students to come to terms with these challenges. The results are discussed against a background of different perspectives on the issue of conceptual change in science education.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For a brief introduction of key thermodynamics concepts, please see “Appendix”.
The rationale for this conclusion is that within the caloric theory of heat, heat in the form of caloric is assumed to be a self-repulsive fluid attracted to matter, implying a dependence on the density of the matter.
The temperature decreases in free expansion of real gases, however, where attraction between particles cannot be neglected, since energy is required to separate the particles in the expansion. See e.g. Cheng (2006) for a quantitative treatment of the cooling of a van der Waals gas in free expansion.
References
Achinstein, P. (1987). Scientific discovery and Maxwell’s kinetic theory. Philosophy of Science, 54(3), 409–434.
Amin, T. G. (2001). A cognitive linguistics approach to the layperson’s understanding of thermal phenomena. In A. Cienki, B. Luka, & M. Smith (Eds.), Conceptual and discourse factors in linguistic structure (pp. 27–44). Stanford: CSLI.
Anderson, J. R., Reder, L. M., & Simon, H. A. (1996). Situated learning and education. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 5–11.
Andersson, B. (1986). The experiential gestalt of causation: A common core to pupils’ preconceptions in science. European Journal of Science Education, 8(2), 155–171.
Aubusson, P. J., & Fogwill, S. (2006). Role play as analogical modelling in science. In P. J. Aubusson, A. G. Harrison, & S. M. Ritchie (Eds.), Metaphor and analogy in science education (pp. 93–104). Dordrecht: Springer.
Aubusson, P. J., Harrison, A. G., & Ritchie, S. M. (Eds.). (2006). Metaphor and analogy in science education. Dordrecht: Springer.
Baierlein, R. (1994). Entropy and the second law: A pedagogical alternative. American Journal of Physics, 62(1), 15–26.
Blanchette, I., & Dunbar, K. (2000). How analogies are generated: The roles of structural and superficial similarity. Memory & Cognition, 28(1), 108–124.
Brookes, D. T., & Etkina, E. (2007). Using conceptual metaphor and functional grammar to explore how language used in physics affects student learning. Physical Review Special Topics–Physics Education Research, 3(1), 010105.
Brosseau, C., & Viard, J. (1992). Quelques réflexions sur le concept d’entropie issues d’un enseignement de thermodynamique (Some reflections on the entropy concept from thermodynamics teaching). Enseñanza de las ciencias, 10(1), 13–16.
Brown, D. E. (1993). Refocusing core intuitions: A concretizing role for analogy in conceptual change. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30(10), 1273–1290.
Brown, D. E., & Clement, J. (1989). Overcoming misconceptions via analogical reasoning: Abstract transfer versus explanatory model construction. Instructional Science, 18(4), 237–261.
Bucy, B. R. (2007). Investigations of student understanding of entropy and mixed second-order partial derivatives in upper-level thermodynamics. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
Caravita, S., & Halldén, O. (1994). Re-framing the problem of conceptual change. Learning and Instruction, 4(1), 89–111.
Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in childhood. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Carnot, S. (1824). Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu er sur les machine propre à développer cette puissance (Reflections on the motive power of fire). Paris: Bachelier.
Carson, E. M., & Watson, J. R. (2002). Undergraduate students’ understandings of entropy and Gibbs’ free energy. University Chemistry Education, 6(1), 4–12.
Cartier, S. F. (2011). The statistical interpretation of classical thermodynamic heating and expansion processes. Journal of Chemical Education, 88(11), 1531–1537.
Cheng, Y.-C. (2006). Macroscopic and statistical thermodynamics. Hackensack: World Scientific.
Chi, M. T. H. (2005). Commonsense conceptions of emergent processes: Why some misconceptions are robust. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 14(2), 161–199.
Chi, M. T. H., Slotta, J. D., & De Leeuw, N. (1994). From things to processes: A theory of conceptual change for learning science concepts. Learning and Instruction, 4(1), 27–43.
Christensen, W. M., Meltzer, D. E., & Ogilvie, C. A. (2009). Student ideas regarding entropy and the second law of thermodynamics in an introductory physics course. American Journal of Physics, 77(10), 907–917.
Clark, D. (2006). Longitudinal conceptual change in students’ understanding of thermal equilibrium: An examination of the process of conceptual restructuring. Cognition and Instruction, 24(4), 467–563.
Clement, J. (1982). Students’ preconceptions in introductory mechanics. American Journal of Physics, 50(1), 66–71.
Clement, J. (1987). Generation of spontaneous analogies by students solving science problems. Paper presented at the international conference on thinking (3rd), Honolulu, HI, January 4–8.
Cochran, M. J., & Heron, P. R. L. (2006). Development and assessment of research-based tutorials on heat engines and the second law of thermodynamics. American Journal of Physics, 74(8), 734–741.
diSessa, A. A. (1993a). Responses. Cognition and Instruction, 10(2&3), 261–280.
diSessa, A. A. (1993b). Toward an epistemology of physics. Cognition and Instruction, 10(2–3), 105–225.
Duit, R. (1984). Is the second law of thermodynamics easier to understand than the first law? Tijdschrift Didactiek Natuurwetenschappen, 2(2), 102–111.
Duit, R. (1991). On the role of analogies and metaphors in learning sciences. Science Education, 75(6), 649–672.
Enghag, M., & Niedderer, H. (2008). Two dimensions of student ownership of learning during small-group work in physics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 6(4), 629–653.
Gaggoli, R. A. (2010). Teaching elementary thermodynamics and energy conversions: Opinions. Energy, 35(2), 1047–1056.
Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7(2), 155–170.
Gentner, D., & Jeziorski, M. (1993). The shift from metaphor to analogy in Western science. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (2nd ed., pp. 447–480). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gick, M. L., & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306–355.
Glynn, S. M. (1989). The teaching with analogies model. In K. D. Muth (Ed.), Children’s comprehension of text: Research into practice (pp. 185–204). Newark: International Reading Association.
Granville, M. F. (1985). Student misconceptions in thermodynamics. Journal of Chemical Education, 62(10), 847–848.
Greeno, J. G. (1997). Response: On claims that answer the wrong questions. Educational Researcher, 26(1), 5–17.
Greiffenhagen, C., & Sherman, W. (2008). Kuhn and conceptual change: on the analogy between conceptual changes in science and children. Science & Education, 17(1), 1–26.
Gupta, A., Hammer, D., & Redish, E. F. (2010). The case for dynamic models of learners’ ontologies in physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(3), 285–321.
Haglund, J. (2013). Collaborative and self-generated analogies in science education. Studies in Science Education, 1–34. doi:10.1080/03057267.2013.801119.
Haglund, J., & Jeppsson, F. (2012). Using self-generated analogies in teaching of thermodynamics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(7), 898–921.
Hammer, D., & Elby, A. (2003). Tapping epistemological resources for learning physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(1), 53–90.
Harré, R. (1959). Metaphor, model and mechanism. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 60, 101–122.
Herrmann, F. (2000). The Karlsruhe Physics Course. European Journal of Physics, 21(1), 49–58.
Hesse, M. B. (1966). Models and analogies in science. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Hestenes, D., Wells, M., & Swackhammer, G. (1992). The force concept inventory. The Physics Teacher, 30(3), 141–158.
Heywood, D., & Parker, J. (1997). Confronting the analogy: primary teachers exploring the usefulness in the teaching and learning of electricity. International Journal of Science Education, 19(8), 869–885.
James, M. C., & Scharmann, L. C. (2007). Using analogies to improve the teaching performance of preservice teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(4), 565–585.
Jeppsson, F., Haglund, J., Amin, T. G., & Strömdahl, H. (2013). Exploring the use of conceptual metaphors in solving problems on entropy. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 22(1), 70–120.
Jeppsson, F., Haglund, J., & Strömdahl, H. (2011). Exploiting language in teaching of entropy. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 10(1), 27–35.
Joule, J. P. (1898). On the changes of temperature produced by the rarefaction and condensation of air. In J. S. Ames (Ed.), The free expansion of gases. Memoirs by Gay-Lussac, Joule and Joule and Thomson (pp. 15–30). New York: Harper & Brothers.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakatos, I. (1970). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In I. Lakatos & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge (pp. 91–196). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Leinonen, R., Asikainen, M. A., & Hirvonen, P. E. (2012). University students explaining adiabatic compression of an ideal gas–A new phenomenon in introductory thermal physics. Research in Science Education, 42(6), 1165–1182.
Leinonen, R., Räsänen, E., Asikainen, M., & Hirvonen, P. E. (2009). Students’ pre-knowledge as a guideline in the teaching of introductory thermal physics at university. European Journal of Physics, 30(3), 593–604.
Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science. Language, learning and values. Norwood: Ablex.
Linder, C. J. (1993). A challenge to conceptual change. Science Education, 77(3), 293–300.
Loverude, M. E., Kautz, C. H., & Heron, P. R. L. (2002). Student understanding of the first law of thermodynamics: Relating work to the adiabatic compression of an ideal gas. American Journal of Physics, 70(2), 137–148.
Mortimer, E. F. (1995). Conceptual change or conceptual profile change? Science & Education, 4(3), 267–285.
Mozzer, N. B., & Justi, R. (2012). Students’ pre- and post- teaching analogical reasoning when they draw their analogies. International Journal of Science Education, 34(3), 429–458.
Niaz, M. (2000). A rational reconstruction of the kinetic molecular theory of gases based on history and philosophy of science and its implications for chemistry textbooks. Instructional Science, 28(1), 23–50.
Pintrich, P. R., Marx, R. W., & Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), 167–199.
Pittman, K. M. (1999). Student-generated analogies: Another way of knowing? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(1), 1–22.
Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W., & Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66(2), 211–227.
Reif, F. (1999). Thermal physics in the introductory physics course: Why and how to teach it from a unified atomic perspective. American Journal of Physics, 67(12), 1051–1062.
Schoultz, J., Säljö, R., & Wyndhamn, J. (2001). Heavenly talk: Discourse, artifacts, and children’s understanding of elementary astronomy. Human Development, 44(2–3), 103–118.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13.
Sherin, B. L. (2001). How students understand physics equations. Cognition and Instruction, 19(4), 479–541.
Smith, J. P., diSessa, A. A., & Roschelle, J. (1993). Misconceptions reconceived: A constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(2), 115–163.
Sözbilir, M. (2001). A study on undergraduates’ understandings of key chemical ideas in thermodynamics. Doctoral Dissertation, University of York, York.
Spiro, R. J., Feltovitch, P. J., Coulson, R. L., & Anderson, D. K. (1989). Multiple analogies for complex concepts: Antidotes for analogy-induced misconception in advanced knowledge acquisition. In S. Vosniadou & A. Ortony (Eds.), Similarity and analogical reasoning (pp. 498–531). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tegmark, M. (1998). The interpretation of quantum mechanics: Many worlds or many words? Fortschritte der Physik, 46(6–8), 855–862.
Treagust, D. F., Harrison, A. G., Venville, G. J., & Dagher, Z. R. (1996). Using an analogical teaching approach to engender conceptual change. International Journal of Science Education, 18(2), 213–229.
van Merriënboer, J. J. G., Shuurman, J. G., de Croock, M. B. M., & Paas, F. G. W. C. (2002). Redirecting learners’ attention during training: effects on cognitive load, transfer test performance and training efficiency. Learning and Instruction, 12(1), 11–37.
Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. F. (1992). Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24(4), 535–585.
Wong, E. D. (1993). Self-generated analogies as a tool for constructing and evaluating explanations of scientific phenomena. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30(4), 367–380.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.
Yerrick, R. K., Doster, E., Nugent, J. S., Parke, H. M., & Crawley, F. E. (2003). Social interaction and the use of analogy: An analysis of preservice teachers’ talk during physics inquiry lessons. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(5), 443–463.
Zook, K. B. (1991). Effects of analogical processes on learning and misrepresentation. Educational Psychology Review, 3(1), 41–72.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the participating teacher students and our colleagues within the Swedish National Graduate School in Science and Technology Education, in particular Konrad Schönborn, Roland Kjellander and Astrid Bulte for insightful suggestions at different stages of the study. We are also grateful for having had the possibility to discuss our ideas at the third Conceptual Change Modeling workshop, arranged by Ismo Koponen at the University of Helsinki. Finally, constructive suggestions from four anonymous reviewers helped strengthening the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix: Key Thermodynamics Concepts
Appendix: Key Thermodynamics Concepts
Introductory thermodynamics typically involves the study of different thermodynamic processes, where the state of a system, such as a box containing gas, changes. The system can exchange energy with the surrounding environment through the mechanisms of work, W, and heat, Q. Work refers to changes in macroscopic variables of the system, such as its volume, V, or amount of particles, N, and heat is typically due to a difference in temperature, T, between the system and its environment. The first law of thermodynamics may be stated in terms of: ΔU = W + Q, i.e. that the change of internal energy of a system is equal to the work and heat added to it.
Different thermodynamic processes are characterised by the mechanisms of energy exchange and changes to involved physical quantities. For instance, the present study focuses on the processes of reversible, adiabatic expansion and free, adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas. An ideal gas is assumed to consist of randomly-moving particles that interact exclusively through exchange of energy during collisions and occupy a negligible part of the system’s volume. Reversible processes are processes that can run backwards in time, while free expansion refers to allowing the gas to expand into a part of the volume that previously was inaccessible, and adiabatic means that no heat is exchanged with the environment. Equations of state, such as the ideal-gas law: pV = nRT, provide important information on the relation between the involved quantities, here, in addition to the temperature, the pressure, p, the volume, V, and the amount of substance, n, while R is the universal gas constant.
Entropy, S, is an extensive—i.e. depending on the size of a system—physical quantity, which was introduced as a macroscopic variable, through the relation: dS ≥ dQ/T, by Clausius, in order to account for equivalence values of work and heat in heat engines. Subsequently, Boltzmann gave entropy a microscopic interpretation in relation to the number of ways an isolated system’s energy and its constituent particles can be distributed, i.e. the number of microstates, Ω, according to: \( S = k_{B} \ln \Upomega \), where k B is Boltzmann’s constant. Subsequently, Gibbs introduced a microscopic interpretation of entropy in relation to the probability p i of the system being in microstate i: \( S = - k_{B} \sum\nolimits_{i}^{{}} {p_{i} \ln p_{i} } \), which could be generalised to systems that are allowed to exchange energy and particles with their surroundings.
Temperature, in turn, is an intensive quantity; if a system doubles in size, all other things equal, its temperature remains the same. Within the field of the kinetic theory of gases, a system’s temperature is often introduced as proportional to the average kinetic energy of its constituent particles. However, a more foundational definition depends on the system’s entropy:
i.e. the temperature is the inverse of the partial derivative of the entropy with regards to the internal energy, given constant volume V and number of particles N.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haglund, J., Jeppsson, F. Confronting Conceptual Challenges in Thermodynamics by Use of Self-Generated Analogies. Sci & Educ 23, 1505–1529 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-013-9630-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-013-9630-5