Analogies in High School Classes on Quantum Physics

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary findings of research on using analogies in high school classes on quantum physics. Use of analogies in teaching activities has been proposed in science education research as a method to construct appropriate meanings from and through science representations. We can find in the literature several articles where using such analogies requires some care in order to help in the learning process of concepts presented. However, we contend that in Modern and Contemporary Physics (MCP) we find some epistemological and/or ontological obstacles when trying to represent quantum entities, for example. Our purpose is, based on data gathered through the recording of classes on quantum physics at high school, and using categories from Curtis & Reigeluth (1984), to search for the common analogies that are used. We obtained transcriptions from the classes of teachers from different public schools in São Paulo. The identification of some features of a possible classification might help in the teacher training as well as in teaching of quantum physics. We highlight that it is essential that the teacher be aware of his/her actions. The recognition of some characteristics of the different representations may contribute to make the teacher's actions less and less alienating and enable sharing of the meaning with students.