Complex Learning• Interactive Analogies

Interactive analogies are pairs of simulations. One simulation comes from a target domain like biomechanics (e.g., a heart) and the other simulation comes from an analogous domain like fluid mechanics (e.g., a pumper fire truck). In the attempt to answer specific problems, students interact with each simulation and map the analogous structures in each. Interactive analogies provide a complementary use of analogies and simulations; the weaknesses of one approach are handled by the strengths of the other. For example, simulations, on the one hand, do not always provide a causal model that students understand. For example, simulations of voltage do not always help students understand the idea of a drop in potential energy. Analogies are useful in this regard because they allow students to draw on prior knowledge from a related domain (e.g., the difference between the fluid pressure at the top of a tank and the bottom of a tank). On the other hand, analogies do not provide feedback that helps students progressively map the structures between two domains. For example, simply telling someone that a battery is like an elevated water tank will not help most students work out the relevant similarities. Simulations provide useful feedback by allowing the student to test out possible relations. Interactive analogies may provide an excellent way to use the strengths of analogies and simulations to compensate for the weaknesses of each.