Epistemic Beliefs and Their Relation to Multiple-Text Comprehension: A Norwegian Program of Research

Nowadays, students are required to use multiple information sources to complete tasks, both in and out of school. The beliefs that students hold about knowledge and knowing – their epistemic beliefs – have been linked to successful integration of information across multiple texts. Framed by literature on epistemic belief research from an educational psychology perspective, this article reviews a recent Norwegian program of research on students' epistemic beliefs. The research has implications for educational research and practice that are discussed.     

战后初期美国在印度支那的政策困境及其原因

战后初期,美国在战时为印度支那所设计的非殖民化之路逐渐被现实政治所吞没。1945—1954年,美国一直试图解决该地区殖民主义和民族主义之间的冲突,寻找可以替代法国殖民主义的非共产主义方案。然而,法国作为美国主要盟友在西欧的战略地位,胡志明所具有的共产主义特征以及印度支那在遏制共产主义向东南亚扩张方面所处的关键地位,使美国暂时容忍了法国殖民主义在该地区的存在。     

Research perspectives in beginning literacy. Methodological and epistemic dichotomies / Prospectivas en investigación sobre alfabetización inicial. Dicotomías metodológicas y epistemológicas

This text presents an epistemological option for beginning literacy which departs from traditional options in several respects: (1) objectivity is not assumed as a starting point but as an ending fact (as an aspiration more than a reality); (2) all research communities adopt certain paradigms as their unquestioned ‘epistemic framework’ which serve to validate methodological and theoretical approaches without discussion; (3) situating oneself at the boundaries of this ‘unquestioned scientificity’ reveals useful data worth bearing in mind in the specific field discussed here: the early stages of the cognitive approach to the object of ‘written language’. This text defends the empirical interest of Jean Piaget’s theory to incorporate a theoretical object not thematized by this researcher: written language. It debates the irrelevance of interpretations inspired by Piaget yet based on a purely applicationist vision of the theory. Constructivism is constructed by testing new hypotheses on new objects. That is the persistent message of this text, which provides data to support each claim about development.     

The case of high motivation and low achievement in science: what is the role of students’ epistemic beliefs?

The importance of motivation-related factors in shaping students’ academic achievement across a range of areas, including science, has been consistently acknowledged by the existing research literature. In an effort to improve students’ science achievement, many education systems put particular emphasis on the enhancement of intrinsic (i.e. enjoyment and interest) and instrumental motivation in the subject. However, based on the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data, many of the countries that managed to increase their motivation indices between 2006 and 2015 did not necessarily note a rise in science performance, with many still performing below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average. Interestingly, although students’ motivation increased in some of these countries (e.g. Luxembourg, Iceland and Greece), their average performance in science decreased. Using the PISA 2015 data for Greece, this study examined the case of high motivation and low achievement in science by incorporating epistemic beliefs in the discussion. The multilevel analysis confirmed the importance of 15-year-old students’ motivation for learning science in predicting their science achievement and highlighted the positive predictive power of their epistemic beliefs. Policy and practice recommendations are provided based on the study findings, stressing the key role of students’ epistemic beliefs.     

Chinese journalists' views of user-generated content producers and journalism: a case study of the boundary work of journalism

This article examines how journalists defend their boundaries and epistemic authority in the face of the challenges from user-generated content (UGC). It investigates the issue through exploring 51 Chinese journalists’ views of UGC producers and journalism. The interviews reveal that in this case study, Chinese journalists’ commitment to their social identity as ‘people of work units’ (danwei ren), i.e. their identity is defined by the employment relationship between journalists and news organisations, forms the ground of demarcating the boundaries between journalists and UGC producers. As a result, this group of Chinese journalists reinforces their conventional journalistic norms and identity as ‘organisational men/women’ and keeps old-fashioned journalism alive. In the meantime, however, they are aware of changes in the environment within which they practice, and therefore they reflect on their work and (re-)define what journalism is in order to adapt to the changes. This case study shows that the boundary work of Chinese journalists interviewed in the study and their understanding of boundaries are contextually bound. The boundary work of journalism is not only about defence but also about adaptation. It offers a perspective for understanding both continuity and change in the transformation of Chinese journalism as well as the boundaries of journalism in general.     

情态语义结构的隐喻内涵

道义意义和认识意义是两种普遍存在的情态语义,虽然它们分属不同的域,但实际上它们具有内在的联系,基于相似的动力．障碍意象图式的隐喻投射是情态意义扩展的工作机制。文章从认知的角度以情态动词,心理动词和连接词为例。分析了这两种情态意义的普遍存在性和隐喻在其意义统一性阐释中所起的作用。     

The relationships between Chinese higher education students' epistemic beliefs and their judgmental standards of searching for literature online: undergraduate versus graduate comparisons

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Chinese higher education students' epistemic beliefs and their judgmental standards of searching for literature online. Data were collected from 449 higher education students (152 college students and 297 graduate students) in Beijing via two self-reported questionnaires: one was the Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ), including four scales (Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge, and Certainty of Knowledge); the other was the Online Judgmental Standards of Searching for Literature Questionnaire (OJSSLQ), consisting of six scales (Multiple sources, Authority, Content, Quantitative Indicators, Clarity, and Ease of Access). Through exploratory factor analyses, this study confirmed the reliability and validity of the EBQ and OJSSLQ. Further analyses indicated that there were significant differences between college and graduate students for the Content and Ease of Access judgmental standards of searching for literature online whereby graduate students had higher standards for these two factors, but there were no differences for the other factors. Correlation analysis between the EBQ and OJSSLQ was conducted for the college and graduate students. An interplay between the students' epistemic beliefs and their evaluative standards of searching for literature online was found. For example, the results indicated that both college and graduate students with the epistemic belief that learning requires great efforts and processes (Learning Effort/Process) had the tendency to judge the academic information by the standards of Authority and Content (i.e. checking the authority of literature or carefully reading the content). This study also found that epistemic beliefs might increasingly play a role in the students' judgmental standards of searching for literature online as they progressed into advanced study.     

Supervising research in Māori cultural contexts: a decolonizing,relational response

We have collaborated for 25 years as indigenous Māori and non-Māori researchers undertaking research with Māori families, their schools and communities. We have endeavored to meet our responsibilities to the Māori people (indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand) and communities with whom we have researched, as well as meet the requirements and responsibilities of our academic institutions. In this paper, we reflect on the implications of these responsibilities for our work as supervisors of master’s and doctoral students (Māori and non-Māori) who seek to draw on decolonizing methodologies as they undertake research in Māori cultural contexts. We draw on the experiences and interactions we have had with four different postgraduate students whose research on improving educational outcomes for Māori students has required them to engage and participate in Māori cultural contexts.     

科学实在论和结构实在论——它们的内容、意义和问题

结构实在论是近年来科学实在论与反实在论争论的焦点之一。而为了理解结构实在论必须首先了解科学实在论。文章首先对科学实在论的论据、类型及其问题进行概要性讨论,指出它的主要论据是最佳解释推理和无奇迹论证以及因果解释推理和实验实践论证,并将科学实在论划分为科学理论实在论、理论实体实在论、实验实体实在论和结构实在论;然后对新兴起的结构实在论相关的本体论和认识论作一个总体的评论,阐明结构实在论在当前科学实在论与反实在论争论中的地位与作用,比较各种不同类型的结构实在论,特别是认识的结构实在论和本体的结构实在论的异同,阐明它们的内容、历史、意义和存在问题,并认为拒斥实体的结构实在论是片面的、不完备的,主张建构一种实体的结构实在论来修正和发展结构实在论。     

Scientific visualisations and aesthetic grounds for trust

The collaborative ‹Big Science’ approach prevalent in physics during the mid- and late-20th century is becoming more common in the life sciences. Often computationally mediated, these collaborations challenge researchers’ trust practices. Focusing on the visualisations that are often at the heart of this form of scientific practice, the paper proposes that the aesthetic aspects of these visualisations are themselves a way of securing trust. Kant’s account of aesthetic judgements in the Third Critique is drawn upon in order to show that the image-building capability of imagination, and the sensus communis, both of which are integral parts of aesthetic experience, play an important role in building and sustaining community in these forms of science. Kant’s theory shows that the aesthetic appeal of scientific visualisations is not isolated from two other dimensions of the visualisations: the cognitive-epistemic, aesthetic-stylistic and interpersonal dimensions, and that in virtue of these inter-relationships, visualisations contribute to building up the intersubjectively shared framework of agreement which is basic for trust.