Analogy prompt is a great strategy to help learners make sense of critical information and allow them to paint a picture of an important concept. I like to use analogy prompt in my teaching and teacher training workshops. Everyone comes with different experiences and cultural backgrounds. The use of analogy prompt makes discussion fun; allows learners to connect with their personal experiences in the process of making sense of a new idea or concept being introduced; helps them to visualise their thinking. It has been an effective meeting protocol for me when discussing important issues or ideas with teachers. I encourage my students to use analogy prompt to reflect on their learning process. Reflection doesn't have to be tedious. By making an analogy, it engages learners with deeper thinking. It is also a formative assessment strategy to monitor students' understanding of the concept that is being taught.
When using this strategy, it is beneficial to provide an example. Additionally, allocating time for individual thinking is also essential. It is always useful to provide learners with a sentence stem.
When using this strategy, it is beneficial to provide an example. Additionally, allocating time for individual thinking is also essential. It is always useful to provide learners with a sentence stem.
I worked with a group of student teachers from National Taiwan Normal University in October, 2018. I introduced the inquiry-based teaching and learning concept and students were engaged in conducting in an inquiry activity. We also explored different structures of inquiry and discussed the level of scaffolding required for each type of inquiry. At the end of the day, I invited them to consolidate their learning and reflection on inquiry-based teaching and learning by using analogy prompt strategy. These university students were so creative and I can't help to record their thinking in my blog. If you can know Chinese, they are really fun to read. These students had paint a clear picture of what they think inquiry-based teaching and learning is.