Metaphors, mental models, and multiplicity: Understanding student perception of digital literacy

Jason Chew Kit Tham; Kenyan Degles Burnham; Daniel L. Hocutt; Nupoor Ranade; John Misak; Ann Hill Duin; Isabel Pedersen; Jessica Lynn Campbell

doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102628

Metaphors, mental models, and multiplicity: Understanding student perception of digital literacy

Jason Chew Kit Tham, Kenyan Degles Burnham, Daniel L. Hocutt, Nupoor Ranade, John Misak, Ann Hill Duin, Isabel Pedersen, Jessica Lynn Campbell

Writing Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines student perception of digital literacy from their engagement with the Fabric of Digital Life, a digital archive of emerging technologies. Through grounded theory analysis we identified the ways students make sense of an unfamiliar technology. Our results show students assign metaphors to understand a new digital platform, apply mental models transferred from previous conceptual domains onto new technologies, and express multiply-layered approaches that facilitated their digital literacy development––an indication for instructors to orient toward an expansive description of digital literacy that caters to student learning needs as well as their professional futures.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	102628
Journal	Computers and Composition
Volume	59
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102628
State	Published - Mar 1 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC) for funding this project with a Research Grant, which supported our undergraduate researchers Kenyan Burnham (Texas Tech University) and Christopher Trotter (University of Minnesota). We also appreciate the extensive technical help provided by Sharon Caldwell, Senior Archivist of the Fabric of Digital Life.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

Digital literacy
digital pedagogy
mental models
metaphors

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102628

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AU - Burnham, Kenyan Degles

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AU - Ranade, Nupoor

AU - Misak, John

AU - Duin, Ann Hill

AU - Pedersen, Isabel

AU - Campbell, Jessica Lynn

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC) for funding this project with a Research Grant, which supported our undergraduate researchers Kenyan Burnham (Texas Tech University) and Christopher Trotter (University of Minnesota). We also appreciate the extensive technical help provided by Sharon Caldwell, Senior Archivist of the Fabric of Digital Life. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

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Metaphors, mental models, and multiplicity: Understanding student perception of digital literacy

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Publisher link

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