Epistemic Progress: A Construct for Understanding and Evaluating Inquiry

In this essay Clinton Golding introduces a new construct and area of research — epistemic progress — and argues that it can shed new light on educational inquiry. By clearly distinguishing progress through developing better ideas (epistemic progress) from progress through developing better inquiry skills (procedural progress), teachers and students can better understand, participate in, and evaluate inquiry. In addition, epistemic progress complements other epistemic constructs, such as “knowledge,” and could provide new insights about different kinds of inquiry or research, as well as about the diverse disciplines and areas of study.