Ulrich Trautwein1, Oliver Lüdtke. 1. Center for Educational Research, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. Trautwein@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epistemological beliefs are subjective theories of the structure and acquisition of knowledge. The instruments used to measure epistemological beliefs in educational psychology (see Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001) typically consist of questionnaires tapping general, decontextualized beliefs about knowledge or knowledge acquisition in a specific field or in general. AIMS: Using specific theories as stimuli, we determine the degree of topic-specificity of certainty beliefs as well as the association between certainty beliefs and the learning environment. SAMPLE: Participants were 662 upper secondary school students (Study 1) and 211 college students (Study 2). METHOD: A global instrument and a topic-specific instrument were used to collect responses to up to 10 stimulus theories. Factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and multi-level modelling were carried out. RESULTS: Students' topic-specific certainty beliefs varied markedly across the stimulus theories. Furthermore, students in different academic environments differed more strongly on global certainty beliefs than on topic-specific certainty beliefs, and global certainty beliefs were only loosely connected to topic-specific certainty beliefs. CONCLUSION: Researchers should critically assess the validity of decontextualized global questionnaires for assessing certainty beliefs. If possible, global measures should be complemented by topic-specific measures.
BACKGROUND: Epistemological beliefs are subjective theories of the structure and acquisition of knowledge. The instruments used to measure epistemological beliefs in educational psychology (see Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001) typically consist of questionnaires tapping general, decontextualized beliefs about knowledge or knowledge acquisition in a specific field or in general. AIMS: Using specific theories as stimuli, we determine the degree of topic-specificity of certainty beliefs as well as the association between certainty beliefs and the learning environment. SAMPLE: Participants were 662 upper secondary school students (Study 1) and 211 college students (Study 2). METHOD: A global instrument and a topic-specific instrument were used to collect responses to up to 10 stimulus theories. Factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and multi-level modelling were carried out. RESULTS: Students' topic-specific certainty beliefs varied markedly across the stimulus theories. Furthermore, students in different academic environments differed more strongly on global certainty beliefs than on topic-specific certainty beliefs, and global certainty beliefs were only loosely connected to topic-specific certainty beliefs. CONCLUSION: Researchers should critically assess the validity of decontextualized global questionnaires for assessing certainty beliefs. If possible, global measures should be complemented by topic-specific measures.
Authors: Murray A Rudd; Althea F P Moore; Daniel Rochberg; Lisa Bianchi-Fossati; Marilyn A Brown; David D'Onofrio; Carrie A Furman; Jairo Garcia; Ben Jordan; Jennifer Kline; L Mark Risse; Patricia L Yager; Jessica Abbinett; Merryl Alber; Jesse E Bell; Cyrus Bhedwar; Kim M Cobb; Juliet Cohen; Matt Cox; Myriam Dormer; Nyasha Dunkley; Heather Farley; Jill Gambill; Mindy Goldstein; Garry Harris; Melissa Hopkinson; Jean-Ann James; Susan Kidd; Pam Knox; Yang Liu; Daniel C Matisoff; Michael D Meyer; Jamie D Mitchem; Katherine Moore; Aspen J Ono; Jon Philipsborn; Kerrie M Sendall; Fatemeh Shafiei; Marshall Shepherd; Julia Teebken; Ashby N Worley Journal: Environ Manage Date: 2018-05-23 Impact factor: 3.266