African Educational Research Journal - Volume 9 - Issue 1 - Full Length Research Paper - Study Concept as a Metaphor from the Lenses of University Students

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen

This research aimed to examine the meanings attributed to the concept of studying based on university students’ opinions. A phenomenology design was used as a qualitative research method. Convenience sampling selected 353 senior university students from Inonu University in the 2020–2021 academic year. Data were collected through an electronic form including a research explanation and a metaphor prompt, then analyzed with content analysis. Students produced 191 metaphors across 14 thematic categories, with nearly one quarter perceiving studying as torment and torture; suggestions were offered accordingly.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Metaphor

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 9(1), pp. 227-236, March 2021 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.91.21.028 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Study concept as a metaphor from the lenses of university students Nesip Demirbilek1 and Celalettin Korkmaz2* 1 Department of Child Care and Youth Services, Genç Vocational High School, Bingöl University, Turkey. 2 Department of Educational Sciences, Education Faculty, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Turkey. Accepted 16 March, 2021 | ABSTRACT
This research aimed to examine the meanings attributed to the concept of studying in line with the opinions of university students. As one of the qualitative research methods, phenomenology design was used. Convenience sampling technique was used to determine the study group. 353 senior university students, studying at Inonu University in the 2020-2021 academic year, were included in the study. Data were obtained with a form containing an explanation about the research and metaphor that was sent to the students electronically. The content analysis technique was used in the deciphering of the data obtained in the study. Results showed that the university students produced 191 different metaphors about the concept of lesson studying. When the metaphors created by university students were categorized thematically, 14 different categories were identified. In terms of frequency, metaphor concepts are grouped under categories such as being painful, enlightening the future, being a basic need, being dependent on labor, being instructive, addictive, obtaining a product, being a task, entertaining, being the key to success, being comforting, beneficial, being continuous and valuable. It was found that almost twenty-five percent of university students perceive studying as torment and torture. At the end of the research, suggestions were made on the subject in line with the findings.
Keywords: Study, metaphor, university students, task. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. E-mail: [celalettinkorkmaz@gmail.com](celalettinkorkmaz@gmail.com). | INTRODUCTION Development and learning is a lifelong process. In this process, the person tries to realize himself/herself by recognizing his characteristics such as interest, ability, and personality. The developing perceptions of students that develop can take different paths in line with their lives. While perceiving events or concepts, conscious, unconscious, common and individual learning efforts and social conditioning can affect human perception (Yalçın Wells, 2015) . Therefore, the concept of studying is a phenomenon that leaves an important mark on students'lives and plays an active role in their success. This phenomenon is about the learning process of students. Education researchers concentrated their studies around such questions, "How can we improve learning environments? How can we make learning more permanent? How can we eliminate learning deficiencies? How can we make students' minds more active and creative thinking?" Concepts and the teaching of concepts have become an important point of education. There is a truth to understanding, conceptualizing, reasoning, and recognizing the importance of questions about the nature of language. One of these realities is the function and importance of metaphors in efforts to make sense of the universe (Kurt, 2019) . Thus, people's perceptions of the universe or phenomena can be seen concretely through metaphors. Metaphors implicitly convey information in the mind. Metaphors provide a relationship between two different concepts. The relationship between these two concepts can be provided by the fact that a concept has an aspect similar to another concept. Metaphor takes place in a figurative way, by analogy or comparison. This situation, which is also expressed as explaining the concepts in mind with a different scheme, may not always be in the form of an analogy. Therefore, a relationship is established between two concepts that are not

FAQs

What was the purpose of the study?

The study examined the meanings university students attribute to the concept of studying through their metaphor-based opinions.

How were participants selected and how was data collected?

353 senior university students were selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected via an electronic form that included a research explanation and a metaphor prompt.

What did the results show about students’ metaphors?

Students generated 191 different metaphors, grouped into 14 thematic categories, including views such as studying being painful, enlightening the future, and torment and torture for almost 25% of students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen