The word "example" comes from the word "sample" which means a portion of the whole which shows the quality and character of the whole. The use of examples is fundamental to helping students understand science concepts. The teacher that identifies examples of concepts, or asks students to cite examples of concepts is acknowledging that learning must be tied to students prior knowledge. Using examples is a way to tie science teaching to the students world.
Examples should be exciting, and should be recognizable as everyday phenomena. We use the acronym EEEP to mean "Exciting Examples of Everyday Phenomena." EEEPs should be used to help students understand science concepts. EEEPs can exist in the form of an object (a rubber door wedge to represent an inclined plane), an artifact (a piece of pottery to help students understand soil), a machine, photograph, a piece of technology, or a toy.
One way to help you think about examples is to examine a list of categories and use the list a stimulus for connecting these categories with science concepts. What kinds of examples can you generate from the following list?
Examples can be used deductively or inductively in helping students understand concepts. However, it is important to keep in mind what we have discussed about the learning cycle and the generative model of learning. As you recall, cognitive psychologists theorize that students construct their knowledge (of concepts) and must do so through their interaction with ideas, phenomena and people.
In the deductive approach of using examples, learning begins with the idea, principle or concept, and is then followed by an exploration of examples and phenomena. The process culminates in relating the concept to the examples (Figure 1)
Figure 1.
Deductive Use of Examples Figure 2.
Inductive Use of Examples
In the inductive approach, which is closer to the constructivist notion of how students learn concepts, students begin with an exploration of ideas and phenomena, followed by a teacher directed activity to facilitate the "invention" of the science concepts. (Figure 2)
In either approach it is important to start with the simplest examples, and ones that are relevant to your student's experience and knowledge. Examples can be thought of as metaphors and analogies of the science concepts in the curriculum. The more familiar the examples are to the students experience, the greater the probability of hooking the student's understanding of the concept.
Research by Treagust et.al. has shown that examples, especially those in the form of analogies are rarely used to help students understand science concepts. Typically, the teacher introduces the new science concept by defining it, or using an example that is not too familiar to the students.
An interesting finding by Treagust and his colleagues was that teachers who were not familiar with the content being taught typically use definitions to explain concepts; teachers well versed in the content used definitions the least.