An Analogy is Like__________

#9:  An Analogy is Like ___________

For many, the word analogy conjures up memories of high school SAT torture. Back in the day, we were subjected to horrific multiple-choice challenges like this one:

perspicacity:  obtuse::  truculence : _________

A. tranquility

B. pacific

C. phlegmatic

D. rancorous

Thankfully, analogies are gone from the SAT, but the practice of teaching our students to think about similarities and differences is still well worth our time as educators. Identifying similarities and differences is one of Robert Marzano’s nine high-yield instructional strategies outlined in his influential book Classroom Instruction That Works. Analogous thinking is important. I’m not saying that we should resurrect the analogies of olden days, which, let’s face it, were really measures of showy vocabulary and test-taking savvy. Instead, I invite you to think about more authentic, engaging ways to help your students discern differences and spot similarities.

The easiest and most foundational (but still important) way is to ask students to consider similarities and differences within your curriculum:

• What are the similarities between persuasive and expository essays?
• How is Scout similar to her father, Atticus?
• What parallels can you find between the Texas legislature and the national legislature? What are the distinctions between them?
• How can you tell a plant cell from an animal cell? What features do they have in common? What’s different?
• What are the similarities and differences between proportional and nonproportional linear relationships?

This kind of thinking helps learners see patterns and make connections. Additionally, students can clarify their understandings and fit their learning into a larger schema. Once they get in the habit of seeking clarification by finding similarities and differences, they will begin to look for patterns in new learning, trying to see how it intersects with their established understanding.

My alma mater, Southwestern University, is taking this to the next level by asking students and faculty to foster the exploration of connections among courses and disciplines. Their Paideia principle, which is a foundation for the university’s instructional philosophy, explicitly endorses connecting and finding similarities throughout a student’s post-secondary experience. Their website explains the Paideia concept:

Paideia centers on making connections between different ways of knowing and understanding complex issues, between academic coursework and campus life experiences, and between one’s own life and the world around them. Paideia encourages students to explore the complexity of life’s challenges through integrating multiple viewpoints and perspectives, and by engaging in intensive, varied experiences.

Southwestern is thinking ahead as it considers the possibilities of a truly interconnected curriculum. In the first years of implementation of Paideia, Southwestern has already seen changes in the approaches to learning of its faculty and its students. With the expectation that connections will be made in every class and in every discipline, faculty members are stepping outside their offices and having interdepartmental conversations, and students are understanding that an education isn’t a series of isolated, unrelated experiences.   

Many elementary schools have mastered the cross-curricular connection idea as teachers who teach the same students a variety of subjects help their students see similarities throughout their academic day. Students may consider the importance of systems in solving mathematical problems, in running a smooth city, and in the functioning of the human body. Though the systems have many differences, commonalities exist. Strengthening these connections promotes powerful, long-lasting learning.

Secondary educators have to work harder to make these connections because learning seems to become more compartmentalized and departmentalized as students get older. Creating an awareness of what’s being studied throughout the building is a start. A great way to end a lesson might be to throw the similarity-finding back onto the students: “Who can tell us how what we learned today is similar from something you’ve learned in another class?” The students’ responses might surprise you, and, if you practice this routinely, students may develop the habit of noticing more similarities and connections to share.

Perhaps my favorite analogous thinking strategy is synectics, the making of forced, unexpected connections. Students expect to compare mitosis and meiosis in a biology class, but it’s a different—and perhaps more intriguing challenge—to consider the question, “How is mitosis like making cookies?” or “How is meiosis like a middle school social?”  

I sometimes like to allow students to brainstorm a list of topics—actions, famous people, things you find in a school, modes of transportation, etc.— and then choose one connection to elaborate on:

• The protagonist in the story is like a bowl of cereal because...
• Conducting a chemistry lab experiment is like planning a vacation because...   
• Linear equations are like GPS systems because…
• The U.S. Constitution is like Clark High School because…

Students enjoy the novelty and playfulness of making these forced connections, and finding similarities between seemingly disparate things stretches students to consider the traits and qualities of both subjects in order to find what they have in common.

Making connections doesn’t have to be a lengthy activity. If you find yourself with a handful of minutes remaining at the end of a class period, throwing a question out to the class asking them to identify some similarities and differences leaves the students thinking more deeply about the topic and reinforces the day’s learning. It’s also a way to check for understandings and misconceptions so you’ll know what kind of reteaching or clarification is needed the following day.

One reminder: it’s easy for us to make connections because we presumably already know the content we are teaching. The students need to be the ones doing the heavy lifting here. Help them learn to wrestle with ambiguity, to persevere in the midst of a challenge, and to seek their own understandings. That’s how learning happens.

By the way, in case it’s been bothering you since the beginning of this article, the answer is B.