Metaphors for learning: A cognitive exercise for students

Metaphors for learning

A cognitive exercise for students

Margaret Ann Fain

Kimbel Library, Coastal Carolina University, P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528, USA

Abstract

The challenge of teaching first-year students basic library skills is to make the process interesting

and relevant. In this collaborative project between professor and librarian, metaphors in everyday life

were used as a springboard for library research. Through the metaphor project, Honors students

learned how to approach a topic, break down its parts, brainstorm searchable words, and make

assumptions about ways to research. Most importantly, they learned to evaluate the results of their

research to ensure that, in the materials located, they had actually found a real life application of their

metaphor. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Library instruction; Bibliographic instruction; Critical thinking; Metaphors

1. Introduction

Metaphors have been used in teaching since Plato as way of making unfamiliar concepts

familiar. They have been encouraged in library instruction as a means of making presentations

relevant to students (Nibley, 1991). For example, choosing an index can be compared to

choosing a restaurant, pick the one that satisfies your needs. Entire books have been written on

using metaphors to help students understand concepts and make connections between the

known and the new (Sanders & Sanders, 1984). Librarians continuously use metaphors to help

students understand how to search the online catalog, periodical indexes, and the Internet.

They are an integral part of reference service, but metaphors can do more (Rabinowitz, 1997).

The idea of metaphor as pervasive, as an integral part of the way we see the world and of

our ‘‘conceptual system,’’ was first expounded by Lakoff and Johnson (1984) in Metaphors

0734-3310/01/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

PII: S0734 -3310 (02 )00066 -6

E-mail address: [email protected] (M.A. Fain).

Research Strategies 18 (2001) 39–48

We Live By. In their book, they present a whole series of metaphorical concepts that they find

in American English such as theories are buildings, love is war, time is money, and mind is a

machine. According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphors are part of the human thought process.

Each metaphor represents an underlying metaphorical concept that informs the way we view

the world. The metaphors work because people in the culture understand the underlying

concepts, even if they cannot articulate them. Time is money is a prime example of a metaphor

that reflects the value contemporary society places on time. Our conversation contains such

phrases as ‘‘running out of time,’’ ‘‘spending time,’’ ‘‘budget time,’’ and ‘‘waste time.’’ These

phrases occur in our oral and written language and it is the application of these metaphors in

song lyrics, advertisements, and article and book titles that drive the metaphor project.

2. Problem

The Kimbel Library at Coastal Carolina University has a standard program of course-

integrated library instruction for the first-year English sequence. In the first semester, students

are introduced to the online catalog, online indexes, and the Internet. During the second

semester, research skills and sources for literature are introduced. Each library instruction

session is followed by a worksheet that students fill out and turn in for credit. The worksheets

are designed to reinforce the concepts and skills covered in the library session. Each student

then completes the worksheet using his or her own individual topic. Most classes receive a

single instruction session in each semester, but several faculty choose to have more than one

working session in the library.

The first-year Honors English sequence is run differently. Instead of having one research

paper due in the Fall semester and another in the Spring semester, their major paper comes in

the middle of the Spring semester. The professor teaching the course was a great advocate of

library instruction and became concerned that the students would not have their first library

instruction session until January—halfway through their first year. Having worked closely

with the Library Instruction Coordinator in the past, the professor approached the librarian

with the problem. The professor wanted the class to be introduced to the online catalog,

periodical indexes, and basics of research prior to the research project. She was also

concerned that the Honors students develop critical thinking skills and learn to view research

as integral to the learning process. In addition, the professor wanted the library instruction

session to be part of the class, not a tacked on session, so that it would be meaningful to the

students and would get them focused on the process of research.

3. Solution

The professor and the library instruction coordinator met and discussed the possibilities

for an interesting and meaningful assignment related to the topics that the professor was

already planning on teaching. With a background in linguistics, the professor was having

the class read Lakoff and Johnson’s (1984) Metaphors We Live By as one of their texts.

M.A. Fain / Research Strategies 18 (2001) 39–4840

As the professor and librarian discussed the class and its objectives, it quickly became

clear that the metaphor section might lend itself to being used as part of the library

instruction session. As the two teachers discussed the metaphor concept, they realized

how well entrenched these metaphors are in contemporary culture and especially in songs

and book and article titles. For example, the metaphor concept of love is madness quickly

yielded the film Fatal Attraction, the play Fool for Love, and many song titles and lyrics

about being ‘‘crazy’’ in love. It was decided that the focus of the library instruction

session would be to have the students demonstrate their understanding of the underlying

concepts of these metaphors by locating examples of the metaphors in daily life. The

students would work in pairs since collaborative learning was part of the overall focus of

the class. Each pair would be asked to find books and articles that use examples of the

assigned metaphors in their titles. To successfully complete the project, students would

have to use the assigned resources, identify useful search terms, complete the search,

evaluate the results of their search, and present the end result to the class. The titles they

chose as examples would have to demonstrate the meaning of the metaphor and not just

repeat the metaphor phrase.

4. Project

The professor began by introducing the idea of metaphors to the class through selected

chapter readings from the Lakoff and Johnson text. The class readings focused on the

conceptual meanings behind metaphors and how everyday metaphors can be grouped by the

concept they espouse (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). In class, the students responded individually

to the readings in their journals and then formed into groups. Having preselected 14

metaphorical concepts from the text (Fig. 1), the professor had each group select one

metaphor and then brainstorm song titles or lyrics that expressed the concept of the metaphor.

Song titles were written on large sheets of paper and displayed for the whole class. Students

were then encouraged to add additional titles to the lists of other groups. Through the in-class

exercise, the students began thinking about how pervasive these concepts are in everyday life,

as well as some logical places where the metaphors would be expressed.

The following class period, the librarian met with the class. She assigned random pairs a

metaphor with which to work. The metaphors were written on the library exercises that were

given out to each student. She explained that the purpose of the session was to get them

focused on research, thinking about how to tackle a problem and solve it. The librarian started

by saying, ‘‘We are going to build a foundation of research skills and give you food for

thought, in the process I will destroy your preconceptions of library research.’’ By the third

metaphor, most students realized that the librarian was using the metaphors in the order they

appeared on the class handout. Following that introduction, the librarian then talked about the

importance of being able to define what you are looking for in research and about being able

to see beyond the obvious, to use subject terms and alternate ways of expressing the topic. In

addition, she had prepared a sample library exercise using one the metaphors that the class

would not be using. (See Appendix for a copy of the library exercise.)

M.A. Fain / Research Strategies 18 (2001) 39–48 41

To get started, the students were asked individually to brainstorm words that could be used

in the metaphor and in the subject areas where the metaphor was most likely to appear. For

example, the metaphor the mind is a machine could be used in the fields of biology,

psychology, education, or philosophy and searched under the subject headings of neuro-

psychology, cognition, mental illness, or brain. Titles under these subject headings could

contain such phrases as ‘‘mechanics of the mind,’’ ‘‘broken brain,’’ or ‘‘building your brain.’’

Keywords to search might be ‘‘operated,’’ ‘‘generated,’’ ‘‘rusty,’’ or phrases like ‘‘out of

steam’’ or ‘‘not working properly,’’ especially when used in relation to the act of thinking or

the ‘‘workings’’ of the mind or brain. When searching the online catalog or databases,

students should be able to understand the differences between the types of materials retrieved

by subject or keyword searching. A subject search would locate materials that may or may not

use the metaphor terms in the title, but might find terms that the students had not thought of in

the context of their metaphor. Keyword searches would locate materials that use the specific

term in the title or contents, but would miss other terms that might be used to express the

metaphor. Students reported in their class journals that coming up with enough terms and

concepts was often the most challenging part of the assignment. After 2 minutes, the students

were asked to brainstorm with their partner. Each group reported back to class and students

were encouraged to add additional terms or subject areas to the lists presented by other

groups. The professor and the librarian only added terms if the students were missing a major

idea or concept.

Next, the entire class was asked to come up with types of materials (books, videos,

journals, Internet sites, compact discs, newspaper articles, etc.) that the library might own that

would use the metaphors in their titles. In order to come up with types of materials, the

Fig. 1. Metaphors used in brainstorming exercise.


students had to understand the metaphor and in what contexts it would likely appear. Students

assigned love is madness would be expected to initially list novels or self-help books,

songs, and popular magazine articles. In this brainstorming session, students were focusing

on both the concepts they would be researching as well as possible locations of their

metaphor in action.

In the library exercise, students were asked to locate one book, one periodical article,

one newspaper article, and one additional source that made use of their metaphor in the

title. In class, the librarian went over search hints for each type of resource on the

worksheet and showed examples of successful searching using the time is money metaphor.

The library exercise (Appendix) demonstrated the various contexts in which this pervasive

metaphor appears. The book, newspaper, and Internet page all reference the use or

expenditure of time as a commodity, while the journal article title refers to time as having

value and worth.

The second half of the class was spent in the library working on the worksheet in pairs.

Both the professor and the librarian stayed with the class to offer suggestions or hints when

students were having problems thinking about their metaphors. Due to the amount of thinking

and reacting that was needed to successfully complete the worksheet, no pair finished the first

day. The completed worksheets were due the following week and most found they had to

spend several additional hours working on the sheet.

5. Observations

The metaphors for learning exercise was a success for the professor, the librarian, and the

students as measured by student interest and comment. Initially, the Honors students were not

enthusiastic about the project, ‘‘a review of the old get aquainted (sp) with your school library

projects,’’ stated one student. They felt that the worksheet was dumb and the assignment

would be too easy for them. However, in their follow-up free writing, they admitted that it

had been both more fun and more challenging than they first expected. One honest student

reported ‘‘at first I had some reservations about researching a metaphor, believing that it

would not only be difficult but boring. Yet even for a Sunday afternoon with many other

things happening I found that the library can be fun.’’ The project took longer than the

students initially thought and they found themselves being challenged to understand all the

aspects of their metaphor. For some students, is it was hard to apply the metaphor and find

titles that used the metaphor. One student echoed the sentiments of many, saying, ‘‘the

assignment did help me stretch my imagination. My topic didn’t fit exactly into one category,

so I had to be creative to find sources that fit.’’

The brainstorming sessions were very important. Students who did not have an array of

terms for which to search did not find good examples of their metaphors. The worksheet

actively involved the students’ cognitive skills. In order to find valid examples of their

metaphor, they had to understand the underlying principles and assumptions of the metaphor.

Basics of using the online catalog, library web page, indexes, etc. were acquired in the

context of real inquiry. One student reported ‘‘after ruining a couple of systems, I think I can


operate the computers in the library, I slowly learned every possible way to screw up each

resource program. I feel more comfortable now when looking for information.’’ Thinking up

the logical subject areas and terms to search under was harder than they thought, but they also

experienced a sense of achievement when the assignment was completed. This ability to

‘‘appreciate, if not enjoy, the inherent ambiguity and fuzziness of the process we call

information (re)searching’’ (Keefer, 1993) is one of the hallmarks of developing information

literacy skills in students. In their class journals, most students reported that they had really

learned something about using Kimbel Library and about the research process, and even

initially reluctant students admitted that they enjoyed the exercise. When it came to the Spring

semester library instruction session, the students were better prepared and much more

interested in the session.

6. Follow-up

Each year, the metaphor project has evolved. We discovered that it was very important

for the professor to spend the class period before the library session talking about the

metaphor concept and doing the song title brainstorming. The more effective the initial

class brainstorming was, the better prepared the students were for searching in the library.

Initially students were to read the entire Lakoff and Johnson book, but that changed to

reading only the first 10 chapters, a total of 56 pages. The metaphor project has expanded

beyond the Honors class and continues to evolve. In some classes, students are now

creating their own metaphors and using the exercise to find out how pervasive their ideas

already are in our culture.

7. Conclusion

Much has been written in the library literature about methods and means of teaching

students critical thinking skills and actively involving them in the learning process. This

exercise combined both and made a more interesting library instruction session for all

involved. The success of the collaborative research project in this class has encouraged the

librarians to experiment with other classes. Working with partners and in small groups

encouraged more conversation, more questions, and more learning from each other. The

result was students who were more comfortable in the library as researchers and more aware

of the meaning of research.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Sara Sanders of the English Department at Coastal Carolina

University for instigating this project and Dr. NellJean Rice of the English Department at

Coastal Carolina University for helping it evolve.


Appendix. Example completed metaphor assignment worksheet

TERM PAPER RESEARCH: A LOGICAL APPROACH

Name________________________ Date due:_______________________

Instructor:____________________________________________________

1. State your topic. Please be specific (i.e., ecological effects of the destruction of the

rain forests).

Time is money

__________________________________________________________________

2. Use the online catalog (WebPac) to locate a book on your topic. Fill in the blanks below.

Author: Plough, Alonzo L.

__________________________________________________________________

Title: Borrowed Time: Artificial Organs and the Politics of Extending Lives

__________________________________________________________________

Subject Headings: Chronic Renal Failure Medical Policy

__________________________________________________________________

Complete Call Number: RA 645 .R35 P55 1986

__________________________________________________________________

3. Locate this book on the shelf in the library. Call numbers that begin with A through the

letter E are on the 1st floor; and those beginning with F through the letter Z are on the

2nd floor.

_____ Check here if your book is on the shelf. What is the call number and title of the book

shelved just before your book?

__________________________________________________________________

Published: Philadelphia: Temple University Press Date: 1986

_________________________________ _____________________


_____ Check here if your book is not on the shelf. What is the call number and title of the

book shelved just before the space where your book should have been shelved?

__________________________________________________________________

4. Use a periodical index to locate current articles on your topic that appear in magazines or

journals. Circle the index listed below that is most suitable for your topic.

5. Search the index you circled and find an article on your topic. What term(s) did you

search?

Time and Spend

__________________________________________________________________

Title of article: Spend Quality Time With Your Driver

__________________________________________________________________

Magazine name: Golf Magazine

__________________________________________________________________

6. Does Kimbel Library own the magazine? (Check the Periodicals List or the online cata-

log (WebPac).)

If yes, where can the issue be found?

7. To locate newspaper articles, use NEWSBANK, which provides access to full-text articles

from over 400 newspapers.

Search NEWSBANK for a newspaper article on your topic:

What search term(s) did you use? Waste and Time

__________________________________________________________________

EXPANDED ACADEMIC

INDEX

GENERAL BUSINESS

FILE ASAP

ERIC GENERAL REFERENCE

CENTER

Volume: 41 Date: April 1, 1999 Pages: 217

________________ ________________ ________________

YES NO FULL TEXT

CURRENT PERIODICALS MICROFILM BOUND FULL TEXT


Name of Newspaper: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

__________________________________________________________________

Date of Article: August 7, 1995

__________________________________________________________________

Title of Article: Time miser gives we wastrels his words of wisdom

__________________________________________________________________

8. Locate one additional resource (reference books, Internet, audiovisuals, pamphlets,

government documents, etc.). Consult with one of the Reference Librarians at the Information

Desk if you need help:

Title: How to Waste Time Effectively

__________________________________________________________________

Type of Resource: web page

__________________________________________________________________

Call Number or Web Address: www.bandersnatch.com/wastime.htm

__________________________________________________________________

When this assignment is completed, bring it to the Information Desk and have the Reference

Librarian review it and sign it. Turn this assignment in to your professor by the due date.

Reference Librarian signature ____________________________________

Date __________________________

ENG101

BI9

7/98 rev.

References

Keefer, J. (1993). The hungry rats syndrome: library anxiety, information literacy, and the academic reference

process. RQ, 32, 333–339.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by (p. 11). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


Nibley, E. (1991). The use of metaphor in bibliographic instruction. RQ, 30, 343–347.

Rabinowitz, C. (1997). Gathering information: how to get there from here. College and Research Libraries News,

58, 19–20.

Sanders, D., & Sanders, J. (1984). Teaching creativity through metaphor: an integrated brain approach. New

York: Longman.


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Metaphors for learning: A cognitive exercise for students