The Heart is a Pump, a Dollhouse, a Car or a Ship: How Students Use Conventional and Spontaneously Generated Creative Metaphors to Understand Biology Concepts

Abstract This paper explores how Romanian secondary education students use metaphors to understand the heart and circulatory system. Building on Cameron’s (2003) Goal-directed-Interactive Think Aloud (GITA) protocol, adapted for dyadic interviews, we pursue a twofold goal: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of conventional and novel metaphors presented in biology textbooks and educational videos in enhancing students’ understanding of the heart’s structure and function; (2) to examine how students extend conventional metaphors and/or build alternative analogies to “translate scientific” language and facilitate learning. Findings show that rather than relying on prescribed metaphors, students often construct their own metaphorical associations grounded in familiar and tangible experiences to make sense of complex, abstract information. While acknowledging methodological limitations, this research provides valuable insights into the spontaneous production and use of metaphor in naturally occurring discourse, which can inform future research on the explanatory use of metaphors in science education.