Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire
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Introduction
The Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire
chai et al. 2006
Chai et al. (2006) adapted an instrument developed by Chan and Elliott’s (2004) 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
- 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.
- Chan, K. W. & Elliot, R. G. (2004) Relational analysis of personal epistemology and conceptions aboutteaching and learning, Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 817–831
- Schommer, M. (1990) Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension, Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (3), 498–504