An example of an analogy:
"Scientists generally operate with the assumption that there is, in principle, a single coherent account of the world (the universe, everything). We might consider this a metaphysical commitment underpinning science as an activity. Science would not make much sense without this assumption. Scientists can be considered to be working towards such a unitary worldview (even if each individual scientist is only concerned with a few pieces of the overall puzzle), although they may differ considerably in the extent to which they believe humans may eventually be capable of revealing the full picture. So, if ideas are being proposed in two areas of science which both seem fruitful and productive at the moment, but which also seem inconsistent, then the typical scientist would assume that either it will be found that the inconsistency is only apparent, or that at least one of the ideas has a flaw.
An authentic science education reflects the authentic nature of science and this includes this notion that it works towards a coherent picture of the world. This means biology cannot adopt a notion of protein structure that is at odds with what is taught in chemistry, and chemistry cannot use an energy concept inconsistent with the energy concept applied in physics. The links between different concept areas, within and beyond chemistry, should be emphasised in teaching as that is an important aspect of science: we do not adopt concepts or principles which seem to work well in one local sub-field without regard to their being consistent with the rest of science (or if we do, we do so as a stop-gap measure till 'the parole board' has considered the matter).
I know from my own work with learners that this 'obvious' feature of science is not always apparent to them and that sometimes they seem to treat different science courses as akin to a range of different sports, each with its own concepts and rules. For some learners, expecting physics to apply to chemistry is something akin to having to worry about being given out 'leg-before-wicket' when playing soccer when you should be focusing on keeping onside. An authentic science education emphasises how ideas from one area of science often support or build on those from others, and in any case are considered to reflect a limited number of underlying core principles."
"Subject Index
"…I talked to a learner in one of my chemistry classes who was struggling making sense of energy levels in atoms. As I also taught her physics, I was aware that she had only a few days earlier undertaken a physics experiment measuring the diffraction of light from a sodium lamp, in order to measure the frequency of emission lines. From my teacher's perspective, this was relevant, and should have helped her understand – but the learner seemed horrified that whilst she was already struggling to make sense of the chemistry, I wanted to complicate matters further by asking her to think about something she had happily done in a different curriculum subject … (In terms of the analogy used [above], she did not consider it helped her when she thought she was playing soccer, to be warned she needs to avoid being given out 'leg before wicket'.)"
Taber, Keith S. (2024) Chemical pedagogy. Instructional approaches and teaching techniques in chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry.
Read examples of scientific analogies
