Developing metacognition and cognitive strategies through the use of metaphor in a Year 11 chemistry classroom

Several problems persist in relation to students' science learning. One problem is that students have often been found to be lacking in metacognition, that is, they show minimal evidence of knowledge, awareness and motivated application and control of learning processes associated with higher order learning including cognitive strategies. A second problem, not restricted to science learning and related to the first problem, is that students have been repeatedly found to possess narrow views of teaching and learning that restrict their willingness to be self-regulators of their own learning. Both problems are associated with students' lower than desired learning outcomes in science education and the as yet unresolved problems associated with students' possession of alternative conceptions of science phenomena. A means of communicating with students regarding alternative views of teaching and learning and empowering learning processes is required to try to address these problems.

Metaphor was identified as a pervasive and powerful means of communication that underpins social and individual consciousness, cognition and discourse. Metaphor has been used extensively with teachers to bring about conceptual change related to teachers' conceptions of teaching and their learning practices. The possibility of using metaphor in order to try to bring about changes to students' metacognition, including beliefs about teaching and learning, and their learning processes was explored in this research.

This study investigated the effects of an intervention that was centred on the metaphor, "learning is constructing," on the metacognition, learning processes and perceptions of learning of a class of twenty-four Year 11 chemistry students. The research questions asked whether students' metacognitive knowledge, their metacognition, and/or their beliefs about learning could be changed by such an intervention. An interpretive methodology, characterised by a multi-methods approach and guided by a constructivist framework, was employed to gain insights into students' metacognition, their learning processes and their beliefs about the nature of teaching and learning. The researcher was the normal classroom teacher who engaged in the research as a participant observer.

Prior to the intervention students were found to have low levels of metacognition. Their learning processes were predominantly characterised by the enactment of metacognitive knowledge that was consistent with their beliefs about teaching and learning. These beliefs were predominantly congruent with a transmissionist view of educational practice. Following the intervention one half of the class reported evidence of increased metacognition. These students also reported changes to their metacognitive knowledge and their learning processes. For some students these changes were reflected in improved learning outcomes. Some students also reported evidence of changes to their beliefs about the nature of teaching and learning. A key aspect of the results was the variability in the effect of the intervention, as no two students reported identical changes. Students' decisions in relation to changes mooted by the metaphor were made with reference to a variety of contextual factors.

The findings of this study highlight the potential of using metaphor to provide students with opportunities to consider theories of learning and learning processes that that may be alternatives to their current theories and processes. Such a use of metaphor makes progress towards developing a language of learning for use with students. Significantly, the findings of this study also suggest that viewing metacognition as an individually constructed yet socially mediated construct is useful for understanding the factors that influence students' decisions in relation to becoming more metacognitive ·or changing their learning processes. The major implication for teaching is that other classroom teachers may be able to use metaphor to initiate opportunities for students' to reflect on and possibly change their beliefs, learning processes and, possibly, their learning outcomes. The full potential of such a use of metaphor is still unknown and directions for future research are outlined.