Epistemological beliefs and approaches to learning: Their change through secondary school and their influence on academic performance

Background. In recent decades, two lines of research, phenomenographic and meta‐cognitive, have examined students' approaches and epistemological beliefs about learning. To date there has been very little research describing the change in epistemological beliefs in European secondary students, or analysing interrelationships between epistemological beliefs and approaches in order to explain their influence on academic performance. Aims. The first aim of this investigation is to analyse the change in epistemological beliefs and learning approaches in secondary students as they progress through their studies. The second aim is to examine the effects of epistemological beliefs on learning approaches, and learning approaches on academic performance. Sample. About 1,600 Spanish students, boys and girls, from several secondary schools took part in the study. They were between 12 and 20 years old and their average age was 14.79 years. Methods. Measures of epistemological beliefs (EQ: Epistemological Questionnaire), learning approaches (LPQ: Learning Process Questionnaire), and academic performance were obtained. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the dimensionality of the EQ and LPQ questionnaires. In order to achieve our two aims, different statistical techniques were used: MANOVA and ANOVA for our first aim, and structural equation modelling for our second aim. Results. Throughout secondary education epistemological beliefs undergo change, becoming more realistic and complex, and deep‐approach scores decline significantly. It was shown that, as predicted, epistemological beliefs influenced academic achievement directly, and also indirectly via students' learning approaches. Conclusions. Our findings point to two conclusions. First, epistemological beliefs and learning approaches change as pupils advance in their studies. Second, the relationship between epistemological beliefs and academic achievement is mediated by approaches to learning.     

Relationships between Separate and Connected Knowing and Approaches to Learning

This study explored whether connected and separate ways of knowing were related to deep and achieving approaches to learning in a sample of White/Caucasian and Mexican-American community college students in the Southwestern and Midwestern United States. Two hundred forty-one students (72 men and 169 women) completed the Attitudes Towards Thinking and Learning Survey (ATTLS) and the Shortened Study Process Questionnaire (SSPQ). No significant differences in separate (SK) and connected knowing (CK) were found between White and Mexican-American students. However, men scored higher than women on separate knowing (SK) and lower on connected knowing (CK). In addition, both CK and SK were significantly related to a deep approach to learning; only CK was significantly related to achieving approach.     

Students' Personality Traits and Learning Approaches

This study examined students' usage of deep and surface approaches to learning as well as the relationship between students' personality attributes and their approaches to learning. Participants were 284 undergraduate education students registered with a South African regular university (females = 195, males = 89). They completed the Revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) (Biggs, Kember, & Leung (2001) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975, 1985). Data were analysed for differences in proportion endorsing learning approach type (deep, surface) and the association between learning approach and personality attributes. The students self-reported to use predominantly deep learning strategies and lower rather than high surface strategies. The personality attributes of Extraversion and Neuroticism were unrelated to self-reported primary learning strategy.     

Teaching Effectively in Racially and Culturally Diverse Classrooms

Abstract. Issues of racial and cultural diversity and racism pose particular challenges for effective teaching and learning in diverse theological classrooms. In this essay the author outlines specific strategies to confront racism and engage racially and culturally diverse students. Through the use of a model for understanding multicultural dynamics of teaching and learning, the author helps readers consider four epistemological categories: knowing our students, knowing ourselves as instructors, knowing how we teach, and knowing what we teach.     

A New Way of Assessing Ways of Knowing: The Attitudes Toward Thinking and Learning Survey (ATTLS)

In four studies, college students (both male andfemale, predominantly white) filled out a 50-item surveyconsisting of statements illustrating“separate” (critical, detached) and“connected” (empathic) ways of knowing (Belenky, Clinchy, G oldberger,& Tarule, 1986). The instrument showed acceptableinternal reliability. Scores on the two scales wereuncorrelated, supporting the view that the twoepistemological positions are independent. Females consistentlyrated connected knowing (CK) statements higher thanseparate knowing (SK) statements, while males showed aslight, but non-significant difference favoring SK statements. When participants were dividedinto groups using a joint median split of the two ratingscores, females were disproportionately likely to beplaced in the High CK-Low SK group. CK and SK scores were unrelated to performance on avariety of cognitive tasks, but were related to somemeasures of preference, suggesting that ways of knowingmay function more as approaches or styles rather than basic abilities.     

Sharing and Confronting Propositions in Collaborative Inquiry Learning

This study investigates how collaborative knowledge construction within an inquiry learning environment can be assisted with scaffolds that aim to support students' hypothesis generation process. Sixty-six students on a university preparatory track worked collaboratively on a kinematics task. The instructional goal was to develop students' understanding of one-dimensional kinematics. All students completed a proposition test in which they indicated their individual opinions about the truth-value of specific propositions. Subsequently, students were coupled into dyads and assigned to one of three conditions: (a) a shared proposition scratchpad (expression builder), (b) a shared proposition table, and (c) a control condition. Students in the scratchpad condition were given an expression builder consisting of dropdown menus with pre-defined variables and relations. Students in the shared proposition table condition could combine individual opinions about the truth-value of a proposition into one shared proposition table that highlighted differences in opinion. Students in the control condition received no extra support related to propositions. Learning outcomes were assessed using a variety of pre- and posttests. The findings indicate that students supported with the shared proposition table showed significant gains for qualitative knowledge about relations. The number of unique propositions students discussed during the learning session was a significant predictor of learning gains. A more detailed analysis of students' interaction protocols suggests that students differed in their task perceptions, their interaction patterns, and their use of prior knowledge.     

University students' achievement goals and approaches to learning in mathematics

Background Achievement goals (AG) and students' approaches to learning (SAL) are two research perspectives on student motivation and learning in higher education that have until now been pursued quite independently. Aims This study sets out: (a) to explore the relationship between the most representative variables of SAL and AG; (b) to identify subgroups (clusters) of students with multiple AG; and (c) to examine the differences between these clusters with respect to various SAL and AG characteristics. Sample The participants were 680 male and female 1st year university students studying different subjects (e.g. mathematics, physics, economics) but all enrolled on mathematics courses (e.g. algebra, calculus). Method Participants completed a series of questionnaires that measured their conceptions of mathematics, approaches to learning, course experience, personal 2 × 2 AG, and perceived AG. Results SAL and AG variables were moderately associated and related to both the way students perceived their academic environment and the way they conceived of the nature of mathematics (i.e. the perceptual‐cognitive framework). Four clusters of students with distinctive multiple AG were identified and when the differences between clusters were analysed, we were able to attribute them to various constructs including perceptual‐cognitive framework, learning approaches, and academic performance. Conclusio This study reveals a consistent pattern of relationships between SAL and AG perspectives across different methods of analysis, supports the relevance of the 2 × 2 AG framework in a mathematics learning context and suggests that AG and SAL may be intertwined aspects of students' experience of learning mathematics at university.     

学习风格与中美大学生课堂学习行为的关系研究

中美学生存在课堂学习行为差异的现象得到了中外众多教育工作者的关注和讨论.本文作者推测,中美学生在学习风格上存在的结构取向和深度取向的差异,是导致他们表现出不同课堂行为反应的一个原因.本研究采用学习风格量表和课堂学习行为量表对281名中国大学生和206名美国大学生施测.数据分析结果表明,中美学生存在学习风格与课堂学习行为的显著差异;学习风格的结构取向与课堂学习行为呈显著负相关,深度取向与课堂学习行为呈显著正相关;结构取向的学习风格在文化组别与课堂学习行为之间存在部分中介作用,表明结构取向至少能部分地解释中美大学生之间的课堂学习行为差异.     

Retention of Implicit Sequence Learning in Persons Who Stutter and Persons With Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT. The authors investigated the retention of implicit sequence learning in 14 persons with Parkinson's disease (PPD), 14 persons who stutter (PWS), and 14 control participants. Participants completed a nonsense syllable serial reaction time task in a 120-min session. Participants named aloud 4 syllables in response to 4 visual stimuli. The syllables formed a repeating 8-item sequence not made known to participants. After 1 week, participants completed a 60-min retention session that included an explicit learning questionnaire and a sequence generation task. PPD showed retention of general learning equivalent to controls but PWS's reaction times were significantly slower on early trials of the retention test relative to other groups. Controls showed implicit learning during the initial session that was retained on the retention test. In contrast, PPD and PWS did not demonstrate significant implicit learning until the retention test suggesting intact, but delayed, learning and retention of implicit sequencing skills. All groups demonstrated similar limited explicit sequence knowledge. Performance differences between PWS and PPD relative to controls during the initial session and on early retention trials indicated possible dysfunction of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop. The etiological implications for stuttering, and clinical implications for both populations, of this dysfunction are discussed.     

Understanding the Immediacy of Other Minds

In this paper we address the epistemological debate between emerging perceptual accounts (PA) of knowing other minds and traditional theory of mind (ToM) approaches to the problem of other minds. We argue that the current formulations of the debate are conceptually misleading and empirically unfounded. Rather, the real contribution of PA is to point out a certain ‘immediacy’ that characterizes episodes of mindreading. We claim that while the intuition of immediacy should be preserved for explaining the nature and function of some cognitive processes of mindreading, the notion of immediacy should apply for describing a particular epistemic attitude and not a particular type of epistemic access. We draw on Wittgenstein's discussions of one's relation to other minds to elaborate our claims and to move the epistemological discussions beyond stalling debates between ToM and PA.     

A Comparison of University Students' Approaches to Learning Across Taiwan and Turkey

In this study, university students'approaches to studying were investigated across Turkey and Taiwan. Four hundred sixty-four Turkish university students and 546 Taiwanese university students filled out the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI). Approaches to studying was treated as a multidimensional scale with the subdimensions of Meaning Orientation, Reproducing Orientation, and Strategic Orientation. This 3-factor model was fitted across the cultures through the use of linear structural modeling and for each dimension mean differences between Turkish and Taiwanese students were evaluated. The 3-factor model gave sufficient fit regarding goodness-of-fit (GFI) and adjusted goodness-of-fit (AGFI) indexes, and moderate fit regarding the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) index within each culture and across the cultures. The means of the Turkish students were found to be significantly greater than the Taiwanese students in all the dimensions.     

The Effect of Episodic Future Thinking on Learning Intention: Focusing on English Learning Goal-Relevant Future Thinking in University Students1,2

We examined the effects of episodic future thinking related to achieving important learning goals on university students' learning intentions. Japanese university students (N = 70) participated in this experiment. Participants in the episodic future thinking condition were asked to imagine and describe events they would experience if they achieved their goals. In the semantic future thinking condition, we asked participants to describe their future selves after university graduation and rate the relevance of their future selves to their learning goals. Participants were then asked to respond to the learning intentions measures. Participants in the control condition responded to the measures of learning intentions after completing a questionnaire unrelated to future thinking. When the importance of goal attainment was high, participants in the episodic future thinking condition planned to study for significantly longer than those in the other conditions. Episodic future thinking related to achieving important learning goals strengthens learning intentions more than simple awareness of the future self and learning goals.     

免费教育师范生学习适应状况及与报考动机的关系

该研究采用《大学生学习适应量表》考察了679名免费教育师范生的学习适应状况与特点,并探讨了报考动机与学习适应之间的关系。结果表明：1）免费教育师范生学习适应处于中等偏上水平,随着入学时间的增加逐步提高,且略优于普通大学生;2）免费教育师范生在学习适应的不同适应维度上存在性别差异;3）免费师范生报考动机有两大类：自愿报考和非自愿报考,报考动机对免费教育师范生学习适应水平具有显著的预测作用。免费教育师范生的学习适应总体上表现良好,报考动机直接影响入学后的学习适应水平。     

Personality Correlates of Confidence in One's Decisions

ABSTRACT Taylor and Brown (1988) hypothesized that certain illusions, such as unrealistic optimism, are predictably associated with positive affect, social skills, and intellectual functioning. To test this hypothesis, we obtained data from 162 students who first filled out a questionnaire containing dispositional measures of affect, social skills, and approaches to problem solving; in a second session they completed three tasks requiring difficult decisions, reporting their confidence in each decision. Accuracy of judgments was found to vary considerably from task to task, but confidence ratings showed a consistent pattern of individual differences. This result lent support to Taylor and Brown's hypothesis, as did other features of the data, most notably several small but significant Pearson r s between confidence ratings and dispositional variables. Removing the effects of accuracy from these r s reduced their magnitude very little; it yielded partial r s interpretable as evidence that illusory confidence is associated with personality traits which, in this case, load saliently on factors labeled ( a ) affective, and ( b ) cognitive/social.     

Culture and the Interaction of Student Ethnicity with Reward Structure in Group Learning

This study tests the hypothesis that cultural differences in group orientation predict an interaction between the student variable—ethnicity—and a learning context variable—reward structure—on math performance after group learning. One hundred and thirty-two African-American and European-American female and male fourth and fifth grade students studied math estimation in one of three group learning contexts. The learning contexts operationalized were: intergroup competitive, interpersonally competitive, and communal-no reward. ANCOVA confirmed a predicted interaction of ethnicity with learning context on post study session performance. Although there was no difference overall, African-American and European-American students performed best in the aggregate in different contexts. Independent ratings of students' group-positive behaviors mirrored the two-way interaction between learning context and ethnicity. The findings suggest that important student variables interact with the variable elements of group learning and should be studied in greater detail. They also support Boykin's (1994) contention that the cultural context of learning is a critical mediator of children's achievement.     

大学生认识论信念、自我调节学习与学业拖延的联系:有调节的中介模型

为探讨认识论信念、自我调节学习与学业拖延不同维度之间的作用机制及年级的调节作用，采用分层抽样，对山东省两所大学的1096名一至四年级大学生进行问卷测查。结果发现，自我调节学习在认识论信念与学业拖延程度之间起完全中介作用，在认识论信念与学业拖延问题/学业拖延降低期望之间起部分中介作用。较高的认识论信念有利于培养学生的自我调节学习能力，降低学业拖延程度，较少受学业拖延问题的困扰。并且随着年级的升高，认识论信念的积极作用倾向于降低。结论：年级因素在“认识论信念→自我调节学习→学业拖延”中的调节作用机制对于教学实践具有重要意义。     

Emergence of Information Transfer by Inductive Learning

We study a simple game theoretic model of information transfer which we consider to be a baseline model for capturing strategic aspects of epistemological questions. In particular, we focus on the question whether simple learning rules lead to an efficient transfer of information. We find that reinforcement learning, which is based exclusively on payoff experiences, is inadequate to generate efficient networks of information transfer. Fictitious play, the game theoretic counterpart to Carnapian inductive logic and a more sophisticated kind of learning, suffices to produce efficiency in information transfer.     

Learning in Community for STEM Undergraduates: Connecting a Learning Sciences and a Learning Humanities Approach in Higher Education

Abstract

Previous research demonstrates that social and interpersonal factors, more than academic preparation, affect decisions by under-represented students to stay in or to leave STEM fields. Yet, much of the theorizing about STEM learning in higher education begins with conceptual and epistemological dimensions. We make the case for a new theoretical framework, a learning humanities, that begins with relationships. From this relational starting point, we locate STEM knowers as actors in relationships who become answerable for their STEM knowledge and take wise actions from this place. We then use this framework to analyze learning for STEM undergraduates involved in the STUDIO: Build Our World program, an afterschool mentoring program for low-income, immigrant, and refugee youth of color. Drawing on narrative and ethnographic analyses of data from 12 focal mentors, we found that mentors developed 3 focal practices identified by Edwards, relational expertise, common knowledge, and relational agency through their efforts to create the best possible program for youth. This built mentors’ sense of answerability and a capacity for wise action within and outside of STUDIO. We argue that this theoretical stance provides new ways to conceptualize the nature, purpose, and outcomes of STEM learning for historically non-dominant STEM undergraduates’ learning.     

The Culture Specificity of Epistemological Beliefs about Learning

The present study analyzed the nature of epistemological beliefs about learning (learning beliefs) in Korea and the United States. Learning beliefs are implicit assumptions held by learners about the source and certainty of knowledge and the ways to obtain knowledge. For the comparative analysis of both the model and the nature of learning beliefs across two countries that differ in emphasis on individualism and collectivism, two attempts were made. First, Jehng, Johnson, and Anderson's (1993) study was replicated with university students from the US (N=496) and Korea (N=487). Second, the relationship between US students' learning beliefs and the two aspects of their self-construal (independent and interdependent) was analyzed by using a scale developed by Singelis (1994) which measures cultural orientation of individualism and collectivism at the individual level. Factor analyses of the US sample confirmed the conceptual model proposed by Jehng et al. The factor structure of the Korean sample, however, showed significant variation reflecting the collectivistic values of Korea. MANCOVA indicated that the two developmental factors, age and the amount of formal education, were related with American students' beliefs, but they were not with those of Korean students. MANCOVA revealed that US students' beliefs are significantly related with the independent self-construal, but not with the interdependent self-construal. The differences between the two samples in terms of the impact of formal education and self-construal on learning beliefs will be further discussed by focusing on the cultural differences between the two countries.