Metaphors and analogies proposed by perspective primary teachers to support the exploration of magnetic phenomena.

Abstract

Analogies and Metaphors play an important role in primary science education to correlate abstract aspects and lived experiences, providing concrete meanings for pupils. They represent important educational tools that can help young pupils to approach towards abstract physics concepts like those related to magnetic phenomena. The significant presence of these phenomena in the world of 21th century allows pupils to explore and to familiarize with them starting from their childhood. These daily experiences offer pupils the opportunity to build spontaneously their own interpretative models about magnetic phenomena that influence also their future learning processes during the school careers. Recent educational researches have shown how pupils are able to master the interpretation of magnetic phenomena if those aspects are activated in the context of Conceptual Laboratories of Operative Exploration (CLOE). In order to improve the competencies of Prospective Primary Teacher (PPT) students related to the use of analogies and metaphors in education, a specific module of formative intervention was developed and proposed involving 92 PPT students enrolled at the University of Udine and 67 PPT students at the University of Verona. Initially, an overview of a well-experimented learning path was proposed to the involved PPT students and then they had the opportunity to try experimentally the proposed activities. After that, they discussed in small groups how to face magnetic phenomena with primary pupils with the use of analogies and metaphors. Finally, each PPT student was asked to produce an individual proposal that was shared within the small groups, commented and, finally, individually revised. In this paper, we present a preliminary analysis of the analogies and metaphors through which PPT students would introduce the magnetic phenomena observed in the GEI exhibition to primary school pupils.