Metaphors Of Learning Research Articles

The social cultural and emotional dimensions of scaffolding

Scaffolding as a metaphor for teaching and learning will necessarily remain evocative and an issue of continuing debate. I propose that scaffolding should be framed and researched with greater emphasis on its cultural, social and emotional dimensions. Scaffolding has been studied in this issue as a complex process involving a variety of contexts. I suggest that those researchers who focus on scaffolding in whole class contexts could benefit from considering a range of hybrid social formats (beyond the enduring IRE format) within which scaffolding might be designed and enacted. These hybrid formats provide the context for enacting a culturally responsive form of scaffolding in the classroom. Finally, I address the importance of the affective dimension as an enabling condition for scaffolding to be effective, whether between a teacher and a class, or within a dyadic relationship.

Tale of Two Communities

This study provides a theory-driven account of community building in a bilingual telecollaborative chat setting. A symmetrical arrangement of 70 L1 English learners of Spanish and L1 Spanish learners of English engaged in weekly Internet chat sessions in small groups. The learning metaphors of community and participation serve as the theoretical framework to describe linguistic and social behaviors and interpersonal relationships among participants in two ongoing chat groups, while, at the same time, discourse data are used to build upon theory of (virtual) community. Based on Brown's (2001) classification of levels of online community, the findings illustrate the discursive construction of one community that reached the third, cooperation/camaraderie, level and another that struggled to maintain the second, membership, level.

Physical Education Teachers’ Metaphors of Teaching and Learning

This study was informed by the literature on teaching metaphors and the theory of occupational socialization. Its purpose was to examine in-service Physical Education teachers’ initial (before entering the profession), current, and ideal metaphors of teaching, related factors, and potential differences in participants’ metaphors based on their teaching experience. A mixed-methods approach was employed for this study, including a modified version of an existing survey (N = 66; Alger, 2009) and interviews (N = 13). Descriptive statistics indicated that while participants predominantly embraced teacher-centered metaphors initially, about half of them reported their current and ideal metaphors as student-centered. Constant comparison and analytic induction techniques revealed three themes and several subthemes: (a) fluidity (own definitions, combination of metaphors), (b) formation of initial views of teaching (acculturation, professional socialization), and (c) evolutionary forces and constraints (experience, pressure of test scores, time allocation, resources). These results have implications both for preservice and in-service teacher education programs.

Engineering Design as Hearing

Over the last 15 years, design has become an integral part of engineering programs in Canada. This integration has meant that the closed problem/solution set preferred by science and mathematics has had to make space for the open-ended problem/solution set demanded by design. Integration has been challenging as these two problem/solution sets differ in significant ways. Closed sets teach correctness; open sets teach importance. Drawing on the documentary film, Hear and Now, learning to design is explored through the metaphor of learning to hear, where hearing is suddenly acquired through cochlear implants. As the new hearer must make sense of a world filled with unfamiliar sounds, selectively listening to some while not hearing ignoring others, students of design, inundated with information, must distinguish between what is important and what is not. The metaphor can serve as a learning aid for students, or provide insight to possible ways of teaching design.

Using Metaphors to Aid Student Meta-Learning: When You’re Learning at Your Best Your Like What?

Metaphors are widely discussed within educational research and this paper adds to the body of knowledge in relation to students using these as a tool to support meta-learning. Metaphors free up space for creative thinking by moving the mind from one place to another and have been found to be an effective cognitive device for learning. This project focuses on what students are like when they are “learning at their best” and discusses what knowing this information does for both individual self-awareness and working with others. Six final year students spent half a day exploring, developing and pictorially representing their “learning at best” metaphors. All six metaphors were different and showed the internal representations of the individuals when they were learning at their best. However out of the discourse common themes arose from the group in relation to what was needed to support learning these included time of day, mood, pace and environment. All six students were positive that the development of personal learning metaphors was beneficial and thought that it was important that these were developed systematically over time. The benefits were highlighted to be both for the individual working on their own and for understanding others in group work situations.

Knowledge Building Discourse Explorer: a social network analysis application for knowledge building discourse

In recent studies of learning theories, a new methodology that integrates two prevailing metaphors of learning (acquisition and participation) has been discussed. However, current analytical techniques are insufficient for analyzing how social knowl- edge develops through learners' discourse and how individual learners contribute to this development. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to analyzing learning from an integrative perspective and present a social network analysis application that uses learner discourse as input data: Knowledge Building Discourse Explorer (KBDeX). To investigate the utility of this approach, discourse data analyzed in a previous study is re-examined through social network analysis supported by KBDeX. Results suggest that social network analysis can qualitatively and quantitatively support the conclusions from the previous study. In addition, social network analysis can reveal potential points that are pivotal for social knowledge advancement in groups, and can identify each individual's contribution to this advancement. On the basis of these results, we discuss how social network analysis could be integrated into existing in-depth discourse analysis.

Chalkface; interface; screenface: moving the metaphor of teaching towards the nexus of teaching and learning

This paper provides a nuanced metaphor for teaching and learning, taking into account newer mediated forms of learning that lie at the nexus of teaching and learning. Firstly, the paper navigates this metaphorical minefield by tracing the evolution of the terms for describing learning environments: specifically coalface, chalkface and interface. Secondly, it addresses ways of thinking about curriculum design, taking account of the different actors involved in curriculum — designers, teachers and learners — at the chalkface, the interface and in the proposed new metaphor — the screenface. The screenface metaphor is then elaborated both in terms of the shifts in thinking it can facilitate and the implications of viewing research into teaching and learning through this lens. The screenface is a useful metaphor, with application beyond this initial proposal providing new and fruitful questions that can be asked about teaching and learning. Keywords: teaching; learning; technology; curriculum (Published: 25 April 2012) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20 : 17187 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.17187

Cultural–historical activity theory perspectives on constructing ICT-mediated metaphors of teaching and learning

The identification of personal teaching metaphors is a potentially effective means of assisting pre-service teachers to become reflective teachers. However, although metaphors are often viewed as a way to facilitate self-reflection, teacher education programmes have shed little light on effective communication and collaboration that are essential to enhancing and mediating the construction of metaphors by pre-service teachers. Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), this study explores ways of using information and communication technology (ICT) tools in pre-service teacher education to enhance and mediate the construction of metaphors of teaching and learning. Data included Singaporean pre-service teachers’ ICT-mediated teaching metaphors and online messages. Qualitative analysis revealed that ICT-mediated metaphors provided a unique opportunity for pre-service teachers to interact with teacher educators and peers and it empowered them to reflect on the teaching and learning process critically.

Revealing Shifts and Diversity in Understandings of Self Access Language Learning

This study has traced the growth of a new facility intended to promote independent language study in a Japanese university. The study traces this Self Access Learning Center (SALC) from its inception through the first two years of its development. It has revealed how key qualitative insights from an archive of semi-structured interviews, conversational narratives and questionnaires with students, teachers, center staff and university management are marked by their shifting and diverse nature. Findings related to language policy for the center show how initial ‘English only’ regulations have been opposed and amended by stakeholders. Findings focusing on the center stakeholders’ metaphors of self access language learning have changed or been supplemented and show great diversity. Importantly, SALC’s positioning in the wider university has experienced problems with diverse evaluation expectations and, despite considerable financial backing, remains marginalized. Finally, SALC’s integration with university curricula has seen mixed results; the center is connected closely to the English curriculum as taught by non-Japanese, but not to curricula taught by Japanese teachers of English or content subjects. This indicates that integration of university-wide curricula with autonomous modes of learning remains a hurdle. This study may inform other centers seeking to gather data on the diverse voices impacting upon their development.

Students as learners through the eyes of their teachers in Rwandan higher education

In this study, we aim to explore and thematically analyze higher education teachers’ notions about the most important problems related to students’ learning, including the teachers’ notions about the approaches to learning adopted by students. The study was carried out in Rwanda with 25 university teachers engaged in group interviews. Inspired by the concepts of metaphors for learning and approaches to learning, five main categories of students’ learning problems were identified: dependence, physical and economic resources, experience of a deep approach to learning, reading culture, and previous preparation for higher education. These problems are interrelated and point to the need to understand study levels in education systems as interdependent.

Collective Review: Three Approaches to Teaching and Learning Metaphors

Reflecting on the guiding force of metaphors is a long-standing tradition in the German-speaking sciences. However, no connection is made to the theory of metaphor, which is derived from modern cognitive linguistics. This may in part be due to a lack of qualitative studies in the sciences on the subject of everyday reasoning. These three doctoral studies seek to fill the void, with Peter GANSEN producing detailed descriptions of how children use metaphors, whilst also developing a theory for an educational metaphorology. Sabine MARSCH, on the other hand, shows how metaphors shape subjective theories of teaching and can open or close active learning. Kai NIEBERT's work focuses on an analysis and comparison of metaphors used by both climate change theorists and everyday observers, whilst also building didactical bridges. Although the three studies differ in terms of methodology and thematic focus, they open up the field of metaphor analysis in the sciences, hopefully providing stimulus for further work in this area. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1103195

Metaphors of Creativity and Workplace Learning

Taking a bird's-eye-view of the philosophical discourses that metaphorize creativity as “expression,” “production,” and “reconstruction,” this article depicts their vital characteristics and distinct ways of portraying the relationships between creativity, educative experiences, and the epistemic cultures now occurring within and beyond the workplace. Illustrative examples are taken from an ongoing comparative and longitudinal study that explores the epistemic trajectories of Norwegian nurses, teachers, auditors, and computer engineers. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the contours of creativity in relation to productive workplace learning. This article reveals how different ways of metaphorizing creativity carries distinct images, theoretical representations, and models of thought that provide openings and limitations for our ways of thinking about education and contemporary workplace learning.

Te tuangi (the clam): A metaphor for teaching learning and the key competencies

This article explores the shift from essential skills to competencies in the school curriculum. Drawing on information gathered from teacher interviews and observations at a New Zealand primary school, this article suggests that culture and context strongly shape and influence the interpretation of key competencies. The authors develop a metaphor—te tuangi—to theorise the relationship between a learner (akonga) and a teacher (kaiako) in a cultural and social context.

Internalization and Participation as Metaphors of Strategic Reading Development

Many studies of comprehension strategies instruction rely on an internalization metaphor of strategy learning. In this view, strategies eventually enter students' heads after repeated interactions with teachers who introduce strategies and control how they are used. In this article, the author discusses the limitations of the internalization view and proposes an alternative model of strategy learning. It is argued that learning to read strategically is really a process of learning to participate in textual interactions using the language and procedures of strategic readers. The author lays out specific components of strategy learning consistent with this participation view, including: coming to view reading as a strategic process; mastering the procedures and dialogue of strategic reading; and considering the possibility for resistance of the strategic reading identity. He describes key issues made evident by the participation metaphor that teachers should address as they continue to teach comprehension strategies.

Applying metaphors for learning to continuing professional development (CPD), in the context of a course for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs)

The literature suggests that understandings of teaching and learning can be classified around two metaphors: acquisition and participation. It is further argued that neither metaphor is sufficient and that both are necessary.Drawing on material from a larger study related to the professional development of Special Educational Needs Coordinators, the paper uses concept maps and the associated interviews to explore the understandings of the course participants and changes in their conceptualisation over time. The data reveal that individuals do draw on both metaphors and that their progress can be viewed in terms of both acquiring knowledge and also progress from ‘novice to expert.’If teaching and learning, and participants' progress are viewed in this way, there are implications for course development and evaluation. Some of these are considered.

QACO_Alpha applied to the nuclear reactor core fuel reload optimization

The nuclear reload optimization is an important issue to nuclear engineering. It consists on maximizing the length of the operation cycle of the power plant. The aim is to find a configuration of the fresh fuel assemblies and remnants in order to keep the power plant running at full power by the largest time as possible. Quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithms are optimization tools based in artificial intelligence developed to simulate the quantum processing in classical computers. In this work is introduced one of these tools, which adds quantum concepts to the biological metaphor of collective learning of the real ants, named QACO_Alpha. It uses mechanisms developed in order to avoid premature convergence problems like a pheromone evaporation step besides a new updating method. To show its effectiveness, QACO_Alpha was applied to the optimization of 7th cycle of Angra 1. Experimental results were confronted to that obtained with other optimization methods, qualifying QACO_Alpha as a valid optimization tool for this kind of problem.

Effects of metaphor and analogy use in collaborative learning of history texts

Effects of metaphor and analogy use in collaborative learning of history texts

Employee involvement, the quality of training and the learning environment: an individual level analysis

Theories such as human capital theory, the metaphors of learning and the high involvement work paradigm all suggest that the quality of training and learning varies along a number of axes. This article shows how these theoretical insights have been translated into questions used in a UK survey of 6829 employees carried out in 2006. We find that the qualities of both the training experience and on-the-job learning are strongly associated with the extent and nature of employee involvement. This suggests that employee involvement is likely to play an important role in the process of upskilling the workforce, which has been accorded a central role in the economic strategies of many nation states as well as supra-national organizations such as the European Union.

A teacher educator’s professional learning journey and border pedagogy: a meta‐analysis of five research projects

Continuing learning is central to the professions of teaching and teacher education. Research that explores the nature of professional learning and the conditions that promote it is limited. In this paper I examine my own involvement and that of other teachers and teacher educators in five practice‐based research studies in terms of our professional learning and border pedagogy. I played a key role in each project and offer an ‘insider’ perspective through ‘autobiographical self‐study’. Each project involved crossing a border between professional knowledge contexts, and explores the ‘journey’ metaphor of professional learning. The metaphors of passport and visa are used to explore the identities and purposes for the professional learning ‘journey’. Further metaphors for ways of ‘travelling’ are used to interrogate the significance of identity and purpose in professional learning journeys that involve border‐crossing. The benefits of border‐crossing for professional learning are then discussed.

Digital tools and challenges to institutional traditions of learning: technologies, social memory and the performative nature of learning

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to offer some reflections on the relationships between digital technologies and learning. It is argued that activities of learning, as they have been practised within institutionalized schooling, are coming under increasing pressure from the developments of digital technologies and the capacities to store, access and manipulate information that such resources offer. Thus, the technologies do not merely support learning; they transform how we learn and how we come to interpret learning. The metaphors of learning currently emerging as relevant in the new media ecology emphasize the transformational and performative nature of such activities, and of knowing in general. These developments make the hybrid nature of human knowing and learning obvious; what we know and master is, to an increasing extent, a function of the mediating tools we are familiar with. At a theoretical and practical level, this implies that the interdependences between human agency, minds, bodies and technologies have to serve as foundations when attempting to understand and improve learning. Attempts to account for what people know without integrating their mastery of increasingly sophisticated technologies into the picture will lack ecological validity.