Good Use of a ‘Bad’ Metaphor

Abstract

Entropy is often introduced to students through the use of the disorder metaphor. However, many weaknesses and limitations of this metaphor have been identified, and it has therefore been argued that it is more harmful than useful in teaching. For instance, under the influence of the disorder metaphor, students tend to focus on spatial configuration with regard to entropy but disregard the role of energy, which may lead their intuition astray in problem solving. Albeit so, a review of research of students' ideas about entropy in relation to the disorder metaphor shows that students can use the metaphor in developing a more nuanced, complex view of the concept, by connecting entropy as disorder to other concepts such as microstates and spreading. The disorder metaphor-in combination with other explanatory approaches-can be used as a resource for learning, in giving students an early flavour of what entropy means, so long as we acknowledge its limitations; we can put this Bbad^metaphor to good use in teaching.

How history and philosophy of science can inform teaching and learning of general relativity in upper secondary school

“…Kampourakis' call created a common interest in metaphorical practices to which we aim to contribute with this study. Investigating how the-possibly Bbad^-RSA can be put to good use in teaching and learning of GR is very much in line with a recent exploration by Haglund (2017), who studied the scientific concept of entropy that is metaphorically conceptualized as disorder. Just like spacetime, entropy is Ba genuinely challenging concept for students to grasp, due to its abstract, complex, and mathematical nature^ (Haglund 2017, p. 208).…”

Undergraduate Student Thinking on the Threshold Concept of Entropy

“…Some authors have criticized teaching entropy as a measure of disorder, , but research on the question is still scarce. This connection is misleading because, due to the lack of understanding of the scientific meaning of the term, students resort to their ordinary meaning of chaos, which is an obstacle to a true understanding of entropy.…”

Communication modes in collaboration: an empirical assessment of metaphors, visualization, and narratives in multidisciplinary design student teams

“…Once the decontextualized knowledge is transferred, the team members can apply it to the new situation (or recontextualize it) and thereby learn (Loewenstein et al 1999). Some research has indicated that metaphors may also lead to misunderstandings (Haglund 2017;Kampourakis 2016). Recipients of an offered metaphor may have some, but not all information about the metaphor.…”

“…Recipients of an offered metaphor may have some, but not all information about the metaphor. Therefore, they might misinterpret the metaphor's meaning, so potentially be convinced of something that is not true (Haglund 2017). Further, metaphors may highlight certain aspects of a relationship while downplaying others (Haglund 2017).…”