Due to the context-dependent nature of analogical modelling, it is worth extending the self-generated analogy study to wider contexts to gauge the usefulness of this approach in enhancing conceptual understanding. Students’ generation of analogy-based modelling is rarely examined in the context of metabolic pathways in molecular life science. These pathways are invariably portrayed as simplified flow diagrams in secondary biology texts, presumably presented at a level commensurate with students’ cognitive ability. Teachers often take for granted that these flow diagrams can facilitate students’ understanding of those complex metabolic pathways, but exactly how students visualise the concepts underlying these pathways remains under-examined.