Investigating research on analogies: what do the annals of science education meetings show?

Analogical language has been explored by many as an instrument of conceptual mediation in sciences and has consequently been the target of different studies in an attempt to understand its functionality. Thus, this research aimed to quantify publications on the use of analogies in didactic contexts by mapping research lines in educational research. For this purpose, the Annals of the National Meetings of Biology Teaching (ENEBio); National Meeting of Didactics and Teaching Practices (ENDIPE); and National Meetings of Research and Teaching of Sciences ENPEC during the period from 2000 to 2016 were consulted. The material was read in full and subsequently analyzed. As a result, 92 scientific communications on the topic were identified, distributed along six lines of research: the use and didactic exploration of analogies; analogies in school textbooks; analogies in the practice of Science teachers; analogies and teachers’ views of their roles in the teaching-learning process; analogies and review studies; analogies and teaching. The first two lines yielded the highest number of research studies. It was concluded that, while the exploration of analogies from a Science teaching-learning perspective demonstrates the standards presented in previous studies, there has been an increase in the theoretical scope of the theme at the national level in recent years. This helps to outline new ways of working with the theme in various fields of scientific knowledge, which require actions to facilitate discussion and recognition of this resource, in terms of teaching and learning as it relates to the promotion of Science education