Metacognition in and for appropriating physics knowledge: an empirical study on thermodynamics

The paper considers the data (answers to open questionnaires, audio- and video-recording of classroom discussions and individual interviews) collected during the implementation of a teaching proposal on thermodynamics in classes of scientifically-oriented secondary schools in Italy (grade 12). In a previous study framed within the Design Studies, a qualitative data analysis allowed us to work out an operational definition of appropriation. The presentation will aim at answering the following research question: what metacognitive skills and competences trigger and support appropriation? On the basis of a qualitative data analysis, it will be showed that the individual attitudes and abilities, recognisable as particularly evident in those students who appropriated thermodynamics, are: i) the ability of recognizing, in the conceptual scenario, a space for multiple possible paths for understanding; ii) the ability of moving back-and-forth from local details to global views; iii) the emotional disposition to taking care of and accountability for their learning and to venturing their guess for anticipating where the various paths for understanding can lead.