Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire

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Introduction

The Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire

Chang and Elliott 2004

“Four epistemological belief and two teaching and learning conception dimensions were identified from a survey study of a sample of Hong Kong teacher education students. The epistemological belief dimensions were labeled Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge and Certainty Knowledge. [..] The two teaching and learning conceptions were labelled Traditional and Constructivist Conceptions.” [1].

Questionnaire development is described in Chan and Elliott (2002). [2]

Below are sample items of the epistemological beliefs questionnaire.

Dimensions Items
Innate/Fixed Ability
  • There isn’t much you can do to make yourself smarter as your ability is fixed at birth
  • One's innate ability limits what one can learn.
Learning Effort/Process
  • If people can’t understand something right away, they should keep on trying.
  • Knowing how to learn is more important than the acquired facts.
Authority/Expert Knowledge
  • Sometimes, I don’t believe the facts in textbooks written by authorities.
  • Even advice from experts should often be questioned.
Certainty Knowledge
  • Scientists will ultimately get to the truth if they keep searching for it.
  • Scientific knowledge is certain and does not change.

Chai et al. 2006

Chai et al. (2006) adapted an instrument developed by Chan and Elliott’s (2004) [1] study. The latter was from Schommer’s larger 63-item questionnaire on various epistemological dimensions. This modified EBQ version “covers four dimensions, labelled as Innate/Fixed Ability, LearningEffort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge and Certainty of Knowledge” (Chai et al, 2006:291):

Dimensions Sample items
Innate/Fixed Ability (INFIX) ● Students who begin school with average ability remain average

● Our ability to learn is fixed at birth

Learning Effort/Process (LEP) ● Understanding course materials and thinking process are more important than acquiring knowledge/facts

● Knowing how to learn is more important than the acquired facts

Authority/Expert Knowledge (AEK) ● I still believe in what the experts say even though it differs from what I know

● I have no doubt in whatever the expert says

Certainty of Knowledge (CK) ● Scientific knowledge is certain and does not change

● If scientists try hard enough, they can find the truth to almost anything

Bibliography and references

Cited with footnotes

Bibliography

  • Chai, C. S., Khine, M. S., & Teo, T. (2006). Epistemological beliefs on teaching and learning: a survey among pre‐service teachers in Singapore. Educational Media International, 43(4), 285–298. http://doi.org/10.1080/09523980600926242
  • Chan, K. W. & Elliott, R. G. (2002) Exploratory study of Hong Kong teacher education students’ epistemolog-ical beliefs: cultural perspectives and implications on beliefs research,Contemporary Educational Psychology,27(3), 392–414.
  • Schommer, M. (1990) Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension, Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (3), 498–504
  1. 1.0 1.1 Chan, K. W. & Elliot, R. G. (2004) Relational analysis of personal epistemology and conceptions about teaching and learning, Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 817–831
  2. Chan, K., & Elliott, R. G. (2002). Exploratory Study of Hong Kong Teacher Education Students’ Epistemological Beliefs: Cultural Perspectives and Implications on Beliefs Research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27(3), 392–414. http://doi.org/10.1006/CEPS.2001.1102