How Structure-Mapping Can Improve K-12 Education

Comparisons are commonplace in children's learning and in K-12 education, but teachers are given limited guidance in how best to scaffold students' comparisons to lead to the best learning outcomes. Structure mapping theory offers a well articulated, evidence-based account of how people carry out comparisons and learn from them. The present article reviews this evidence and highlights ways best practices identified in the structure mapping literature can be used to improve student learning in the K-12 classroom.