College Students' Conceptualizations of Academic Reading: What Metaphors Suggest About the Important Role of Purpose in College Reading and Learning

Abstract

AbstractAn important part of college learning is the ability to comprehend complex texts. Research indicates that epistemic beliefs—views about what knowledge is like and how people come to know—may guide readers' goals and behaviors. Metaphor is a tool for uncovering individual's beliefs. This article reports on a study examining 90 beginning university students' conceptualizations—broad‐based understandings and views—of academic reading through collecting metaphors and explanations. Through metaphor analysis, collective patterns of three themes emerged: consumption, obligation, and destination. Threaded across themes was the notion of compliance. Implications center on how college faculty who teach beginning college students might support students' learning in college through (re)examining intentionality of reading in their courses, providing purposeful, specific assignments to accompany reading, and using metaphors to communicate the purposes of reading. Findings from this study, overlayed with previous research, present a need to emphasize the purpose of academic reading tasks in college reading and learning.