Besides knowledge: a cross-sectional study on the relations between epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, self-beliefs, and achievement in science

This study examines the contribution of learner cognitive and motivational characteristics to achievement in science at three grade levels. Specifically, the relations between domain-specific epistemic beliefs about the development and justification of scientific knowledge, achievement goals, knowledge, self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in science were simultaneously examined. Students in fifth (n = 213), eighth (n = 202), and eleventh (n = 281) grades completed questionnaires measuring the various constructs, and a domain knowledge test. Their grades in science were also collected. Results from structural equation modeling reveal that the hypothesized model fitted the observed data at the three grade levels, although not all expected paths were statistically significant. Students’ epistemic beliefs about the development of scientific knowledge had a direct effect on domain knowledge, whereas beliefs about the justification of scientific knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via achievement goals on knowledge acquisition. Mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals had a direct effect on self-efficacy. Knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via self-concept on achievement. Educational implications are discussed.     

Exploring the relations between epistemic beliefs,emotions, and learning from texts

Conflicting claims about important socio-scientific debates are proliferating in contemporary society. It is therefore important to understand the individual characteristics that predict learning from conflicting claims. We explored individuals’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing (i.e., epistemic beliefs) and their emotions as potentially interrelated sets of learner characteristics that predict learning in such contexts. Undergraduate university students (N = 282) self-reported their topic-specific epistemic beliefs and were given three conflicting texts about climate change to read. Immediately after each of the three texts, participants self-reported the emotions they experienced. Following reading and self-report, participants wrote summaries of the conflicting texts. Text-mining and human coding were applied to summaries to construct two indices of learning from conflicting texts that reflected which source’s information is privileged in memory. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that epistemic beliefs were consistent in their predictions of emotions, which in turn variously predicted different learning outcomes. In particular, a belief that knowledge is justified by inquiry predicted surprise and curiosity, which at times facilitated learning. In contrast, confusion, predicted by passive reliance on external sources, related to impaired memory of conflicting content. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed for research on the relations between epistemic beliefs, emotions, and learning about controversial topics.     

The match matters: Examining student epistemic preferences in relation to epistemic beliefs about chemistry

Student epistemic preferences have been found to be important in student learning and achievement. The present study proposed a new conceptualization of student epistemic preferences in the epistemic match model, assessed the match between student epistemic beliefs about chemistry and their epistemic preferences, and, most importantly, examined how this epistemic match may be associated with chemistry course achievement. We adopted latent class analysis and found three distinct profiles of epistemic preferences based on the dimensions of simple and certain knowledge, attainable truth, and alternative knowledge claims. Students in Latent Class 3 (Moderate Preferences) demonstrated the closest match between chemistry epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences, and had more students who obtained higher grades and fewer students who had lower grades in an introductory chemistry course compared to the other two classes. Students in Latent Classes 1 (All Preferred) and 2 (Alternative-Claim Disliked), however, demonstrated certain degrees of epistemic mismatch between chemistry epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences, and had noticeably lower achievement in the chemistry course. The study findings highlight the importance of achieving a close match between epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences for higher achievement in a subject domain.     

Justification beliefs and multiple-documents comprehension

Building on the multidimensional framework of epistemic cognition proposed by Greene et al. (Educational Psychologist 43:142–160, 2008), this study examined beliefs about justification of knowledge claims in science among 65 Norwegian 10th graders. The first research question asked whether beliefs in personal justification, justification by authority, and justification by multiple sources differed in strength among the participants. It was found that the students most strongly believed in justification by authority, followed by justification by multiple sources and personal justification. The second research question asked whether the three types of justification beliefs differentially and uniquely predicted the comprehension of multiple conflicting documents on a science issue. In a multiple regression analysis with multiple-documents comprehension indicated by essay performance as the dependent variable, both personal justification and justification by multiple sources emerged as unique predictors when topic knowledge was controlled for. Specifically, beliefs in personal opinion as a means of justifying knowledge claims in science was negatively related to multiple-documents comprehension, whereas beliefs in justification through corroboration across multiple sources of information were positively related to multiple-documents comprehension. This study provides new evidence about relationships between epistemic beliefs and new literacy competencies needed in an information society, such as integrating across multiple conflicting sources of information; relationships that may also have practical implications.     

Investigating professed and enacted epistemic beliefs about the uncertainty of scientific knowledge when students evaluate scientific controversies

Prior research on epistemic beliefs, that is, individuals’ views about knowledge and knowing, has mainly focused either on individuals’ professed beliefs (as reported in questionnaires) or on their enacted beliefs (as indicated during task processing). However, little is known about the relation between professed and enacted epistemic beliefs. The present study focused on beliefs about the uncertainty of scientific knowledge and investigated both professed and enacted beliefs in the context of evaluations of scientific controversies. Participants were N = 79 university students who first completed a questionnaire that targeted their professed uncertainty beliefs about scientific knowledge. Then, approximately 1 week later, they completed a standardized test in which they evaluated five scientific controversies. Cued retrospective verbal reports were used to measure their enacted uncertainty beliefs while taking the test. Results revealed that professed and enacted uncertainty beliefs were interrelated and that both variables predicted individuals’ performance with regard to the evaluation of scientific controversies. Furthermore, the effect of professed uncertainty beliefs on controversy-evaluation performance was partly mediated by enacted uncertainty beliefs. The findings of the present study point toward novel theoretical insights and educational implications regarding the relations between professed and enacted beliefs about the uncertainty of scientific knowledge and their role in individuals’ evaluation of scientific controversies.

     

Epistemological beliefs and epistemic strategies in self-regulated learning

How do epistemological attitudes and beliefs influence learning from text? We conceptualize epistemological attitudes and beliefs as components of metacognitive knowledge. As such, they serve an important function in regulating the use of epistemic strategies such as knowledge-based validation of information and checking arguments for internal consistency. We report results from two studies that investigated the effects epistemological attitudes and beliefs on the use of epistemic strategies in academic learning and the motivational states that mediate these effects. Study 1 (N = 289) tested a mediation model with epistemological attitudes (separate vs. connected knowing) and textual characteristics as distal predictors, and learning goals (learning factual knowledge vs. developing an own standpoint) as mediator variables. Separate knowing had large indirect effects on the use of epistemic strategies via the goal to develop an own point of view. In addition, learners adapted their learning goals and epistemic strategies depending on objective characteristics and the perceived familiarity of the texts they read. In Study 2 (N = 124), epistemological beliefs concerning the uncertainty of knowledge increased the use of epistemic strategies only when extrinsic study motivation was low. A mediated moderation model established this effect to be mediated by specific epistemic curiosity. These results illuminate the mechanisms of how epistemological attitudes and beliefs affect self-regulated learning. In contrast to other types of learning strategies, the use of epistemic strategies seems to be strongly and consistently linked to epistemological attitudes and beliefs.     

Examining the influences of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations on cognitive processing and conceptual change when learning physics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations in cognitive and metacognitive processing when learning about physics concepts through text. Specifically, we manipulated the representation of physics concepts in texts about Newtonian mechanics and explored how these texts interacted with individuals’ epistemic beliefs to facilitate or constrain learning. Results revealed that when individuals’ epistemic beliefs were consistent with the knowledge representations in their assigned texts, they performed better on various measures of learning (use of processing strategies, text recall, and changes in misconceptions) than when their epistemic beliefs were inconsistent with the knowledge representations. These results have implications for how researchers conceptualize epistemic beliefs and support contemporary views regarding the context sensitivity of individuals’ epistemic beliefs.     

Teachers' beliefs about social-emotional learning: Identifying teacher profiles and their relations with job stress and satisfaction

This study examines the extent to which teachers may be grouped based on their beliefs about social-emotional learning (SEL). SEL is aimed at promoting students' social and emotional competencies (e.g., responsible decision making, social awareness). Research suggests that in addition to being relevant to student outcomes, SEL is also relevant to teachers' experiences at work. We utilized latent profile analysis to identify profiles of teachers based on three different beliefs—comfort with SEL, commitment to improving SEL skills, and perceptions of principal and school-wide support for SEL. Findings revealed three different profiles—the SEL-thriver, SEL-striver, and SEL-advocate—that have differential levels of comfort and perceived support for SEL, but not commitment for SEL. Findings also demonstrated that the profiles were associated with differences in several socio-demographic characteristics and two outcomes—teacher stress and job satisfaction. Combined, the findings have implications for teachers as well as students and schools.     

Fostering scientific understanding and epistemic beliefs through judgments of promisingness

The evaluation of promisingness is central to knowledge building and knowledge creation but remains largely unexplored. As part of a design-based research program to support promisingness judgments, the present study implemented an intervention in a sixth grade science class, with the goal of exploring the potential of promisingness judgments to foster scientific understanding and epistemic beliefs. Aided by a Promising Ideas Tool and pedagogical supports designed for this intervention, students explored the concept of promisingness, judged the promisingness of their community ideas, and engaged in iterative cycles of idea refinement. Results indicated that students were capable of improving their understanding of promisingness and making promisingness judgments deemed sensible by domain experts. The conceptual understanding and epistemic beliefs displayed by students improved over the course of the intervention, and such improvement happened in tandem with students’ understanding of promisingness. The implications of this exploratory study and future research are discussed.     

Implicit theories,epistemic beliefs,and science motivation: A person-centered approach

The purpose of this study was to explore (a) the individual belief profiles that naturally arise among middle and high school science students (n = 1225); (b) the relationships between these profiles to science achievement and other prominent motivation variables; and (c) the demographic and developmental differences among the belief profiles. Results revealed that a four-class solution fit the data the best. These profiles were differentially related to achievement goal orientations, science self‐efficacy, and science achievement. Differences in profiles also arose as a function of minority status, grade level, and gender. Findings support and refine Schommer-Aikins's (2004) Embedded Systemic Model of epistemic beliefs. Results are discussed in relation to theory and implications for science instruction.     

The curious case of climate change: Testing a theoretical model of epistemic beliefs,epistemic emotions,and complex learning

We propose a theoretical model linking students' epistemic beliefs, epistemic emotions, learning strategies, and learning outcomes. The model was tested across two studies with 439 post-secondary students from Canada, the United States, and Germany for Study 1, and 56 students from Canada for Study 2. For Study 1, students self-reported their epistemic beliefs about climate change, read four conflicting documents about the causes and consequences of climate change, self-reported their epistemic emotions and learning strategies used to learn the content, and were given an inference verification test to measure learning. Study 2 used the same procedure but added a think aloud protocol to capture self-regulatory processes and emotions as they occurred. Path analyses revealed that epistemic beliefs served as important antecedents to the epistemic emotions students experienced during learning. Students who believed that the justification of knowledge about climate change requires critical evaluation of multiple sources experienced higher levels of enjoyment and curiosity, and lower levels of boredom when confronted with conflicting information. A belief in the complexity of this knowledge was related to lower levels of confusion, anxiety, and boredom. A belief in the uncertainty of this knowledge predicted lower levels of anxiety and frustration, and a belief in the active construction of knowledge predicted lower levels of confusion. Epistemic emotions predicted the types of learning strategies students used to learn the content and mediated relations between epistemic beliefs and learning strategies. Learning strategies predicted learning outcomes and mediated relations between epistemic emotions and learning outcomes. Implications for research on epistemic beliefs, epistemic emotions, and students' self-regulated learning are discussed.     

The role of epistemic perspectives in comprehension of multiple author viewpoints

A key challenge of fostering digital literacy is developing learners' ability to construct knowledge from information sources that present diverse viewpoints. This study investigated the relation between learners' epistemic perspectives and their comprehension of authors' viewpoints. Additionally, the study examined if epistemic perspectives and viewpoint comprehension predict information source integration and explored how epistemic perspectives moderate the impact of conflicts on viewpoint comprehension. 170 participants responded to an epistemic thinking assessment, read conflicting or converging blog-posts regarding a socio-scientific controversy, wrote arguments, and completed tasks assessing viewpoint comprehension. Absolutism and multiplism were found to be negative predictors and evaluativism a positive predictor of viewpoint comprehension. Viewpoint comprehension mediated the relation between epistemic perspectives and information source integration in written arguments. Conflicts between sources improved viewpoint comprehension only in high levels of multiplism and evaluativism. The findings advance the understanding of the relation between learners' epistemic thinking and multiple document comprehension.     

Investigating the contributions of background knowledge and reading comprehension strategies to L2 reading comprehension: an exploratory study

While a number of studies have investigated the influence of background knowledge and reading comprehension strategies on comprehension, no L2 research exists examining and comparing the unique contributions of these two variables examined together. Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the combined and individual contributions of background knowledge and reading comprehension strategies to reading comprehension. Data collected from 20 university-level English language learners were analyzed using regression analyses. The results indicated that background knowledge and reading comprehension strategies, operationalized as self-questioning, combined to account for a significant portion of variance in reading comprehension scores, with self-questioning being a stronger predictor of reading comprehension than background knowledge.     

Developing and testing a model of direct and indirect relationships between individual differences,processing, and multiple-text comprehension

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect linkages between the individual difference variables of epistemic beliefs, need for cognition, individual interest, and prior knowledge, the processing variables of effort, deeper-level strategies, and situational interest, and multiple-text comprehension. Using a path analysis approach with a sample of 279 Norwegian upper secondary school students, results indicated that students' effort and deeper-level strategies predicted their multiple-text comprehension, with the individual difference variables indirectly affecting multiple-text comprehension through their influence on effortful, adaptive multiple-text processing. In addition, students' prior knowledge about the topic of the texts seemed to affect their multiple-text comprehension directly as well as indirectly. Both theoretical and educational implications of the results are discussed.     

Internet-specific epistemic beliefs and self-regulated learning in online academic information searching

Epistemic beliefs have been considered as important components of the self-regulatory model; however, their relationships with self-regulated learning processes in the Internet context need further research. The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Internet-specific epistemic belief dimensions and self-regulated learning activities while using the Internet for academic information searching. A total of 758 university students were sampled in this study. Through factor analyses, four dimensions of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs were identified, labeled as certainty of Internet-based knowledge, simplicity of Internet-based knowledge, source of Internet-based knowledge, and justification for Internet-based knowing. Factor analyses also revealed two dimensions of self-regulated learning while using the Internet for academic searching, namely preparatory self-regulated learning (i.e., task definition as well as goal setting and planning) and enactment self-regulated learning (i.e., controlling, monitoring, and reflecting). The results of the structural relationship analysis indicated that the preparatory phase of self-regulated learning positively correlated with Internet-specific epistemic beliefs relating to justification for Internet-based knowing, and was also negatively associated with two other dimensions of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs regarding simplicity of Internet-based knowledge and source of Internet-based knowledge. In addition, preparatory self-regulated learning mediated the relationships between these three dimensions of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs and the enactment phase of self-regulated learning.     

Attributional beliefs of Singapore students: relations to self-construal,competence and achievement goals

This study investigates attributional beliefs of Singapore secondary students in their English study and how they can be predicted by self-construal, competence and achievement goals. A total of 1,496 students were administered surveys on seven attributions, independent and interdependent self-construals, previous achievement, self-efficacy, mastery approach and avoidance goals and performance approach and avoidance goals. We found that Singapore students attributed academic success mainly to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills), followed by teachers’ help, ability, parents’ help and tuition classes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that three predictors (self-construal, competence and achievement goals) explained 4.2–12.3% of the variances in students’ attributional beliefs. In particular, students with interdependent self-construal, high competence or mastery goals tended to attribute academic success to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills) and support from teachers and parents. Students with low competence, high mastery avoidance goals or high performance goals were more likely to value tuition classes, and those with high performance avoidance goals also tended to ascribe academic success to ability and parent’s help. The findings are discussed in relation to the culture of Singapore.     

Knowledge relations and epistemic infrastructures as mediators of teachers' collective autonomy

This paper examines how teachers' knowledge relations and the profession's epistemic infrastructure shape collective autonomy. Professionals' autonomy derives partially from their responsibility for a specific knowledge base. This responsibility is currently challenged by educational policies and complex knowledge landscapes. Existing research has shown how epistemic policy instruments impact teachers' autonomy. However, less attention has been paid to how professional autonomy is informed by teachers' knowledge relations, and to collective, rather than individual, aspects of teachers' autonomy. Implications include how teachers can define the role of knowledge resources in professional work, and how the profession can navigate epistemic and political landscapes.