Some contributions of metavisualization in chemical education: A new field of research

Abstract

Metavisualization is a fast-growing field in education, specifically in science, which involves the interpretation of external visualizations (images, for example) all the time, and is explained by models built by scientists. This review covers 17 articles published between 2008 and beginning of 2014, seeking to answer the question: “What has been presented in articles about metavisualization in teaching science?” Four categories were designed to classify the nature of the articles. Primary research targets were to look whether the article is of investigative or theoretical type, if the article involves some metavisual strategies or if it highlights its importance in the learning process. Major findings include: 1) the subject is still little explored; 2) most of the articles are the investigative type, and the data is collected with students; 3) just over half of papers involve a metavisual strategy or highlights the importance of metavisualization on the learning process. It is recommended that further studies are made on the subject, including the development of metavisual strategies that may help in the science learning process.