Helge I. Strømsø

The relationship between epistemological beliefs, implicit theories of intelligence, and self-regulated learning among Norwegian postsecondary students

BACKGROUND More empirical work is needed to examine the dimensionality of personal epistemology and relations between those dimensions and motivational and strategic components of self-regulated learning. In particular, there is great need to investigate personal epistemology and its relation to self-regulated learning across cultures and academic contexts. Because the demarcation between personal epistemology and implicit theories of intelligence has been questioned, dimensions of personal epistemology should also be studied in relation to implicit theories of intelligence. AIMS The primary aim was to examine the dimensionality of personal epistemology and the relation between those dimensions and implicit theories of intelligence in the cultural context of Norwegian postsecondary education. A secondary aim was to examine the relative contribution of epistemological beliefs and theories of intelligence to motivational and strategic components of self-regulated learning in different academic contexts within that culture. SAMPLES The first sample included 178 business administration students in a traditional transmission-oriented instructional context; the second, 108 student teachers in an innovative pedagogical context. METHODS The dimensionality of the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire was examined through factor analyses, and the resulting dimensions were examined in relation to implicit theories of intelligence. We performed multiple regression analyses, separately for the two academic contexts, to try to predict motivational (i.e. self-efficacy beliefs, mastery goal orientation, and interest) and strategic (i.e. self-regulatory strategy use) components of self-regulated learning with epistemological beliefs and implicit theories of intelligence. RESULTS Considerable cross-cultural generalizability was found for the dimensionality of personal epistemology. Moreover, the dimensions of personal epistemology seemed to represent constructs separate from the construct of implicit theories of intelligence. Differences in the predictability of the epistemological dimensions were found for the two samples. For the student teachers, belief about knowledge construction and modification was a better predictor of self-regulated learning. For the business administration students, belief about the certainty of knowledge played a more important role in self-regulated learning. CONCLUSIONS Epistemological beliefs predict self-regulated learning among Norwegian postsecondary students and play more important roles than implicit theories of intelligence. Relations between epistemological beliefs and self-regulated learning may vary with academic context.

The Role of Epistemic Beliefs in the Comprehension of Multiple Expository Texts: Toward an Integrated Model

In present-day knowledge societies, competent reading involves the integration of information from multiple sources into a coherent, meaningful representation of a topic, issue, or situation. This article reviews research and theory concerning the comprehension of multiple textual resources, focusing especially on linkages recently established between dimensions of epistemic beliefs and multiple-text comprehension. Moreover, a proposed model incorporates epistemic beliefs into a theoretical framework for explaining multiple-text comprehension, specifying how and why different epistemic belief dimensions may be linked to the comprehension and integration of multiple texts. Also discussed is the need for further research concerning mediational mechanisms, causality, and generalizability.

Epistemological beliefs, interest, and gender as predictors of Internet-based learning activities

Abstract We examined the contribution of epistemological beliefs, individual interest, and gender to self-reports of Internet-based learning activities in a sample of 80 Norwegian student teachers in an innovative pedagogical context with special emphasis on the use of information and communication technologies. Epistemological beliefs and individual interest were measured in the autumn term of the first year of the teacher education program, and learning activities were measured in the autumn term of the second year. The results indicated that epistemological beliefs about the speed of knowledge acquisition predicted Internet-search activities, with students who believed that learning occurs quickly or not at all being less likely to realize that managing the wealth of information found on the Internet and critically evaluating Web-based resources is a difficult and often time-consuming task. In addition, students who held the naive epistemological belief that knowledge is given and stable were less likely to engage in discussion and communication about subject content on the Internet, with such Internet-based communication also predicted by students’ interest in their field of study. Epistemological beliefs predicting Internet-communication activities were also found to predict self-reported use of strategies when learning from conventional printed texts. Finally, males reported higher levels of participation in Internet-based communication activities than females, and females reported higher levels of strategy use when learning from conventional printed texts than males.

Effects of Personal Epistemology on the Understanding of Multiple Texts

We examined whether the text understanding of students holding naïve and sophisticated epistemological beliefs was differentially affected by text format, also controlling for effects of gender, word decoding, and prior knowledge on understanding. The participants were 39 Norwegian first-year teacher students, and the topic of reading was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was found that only readers holding sophisticated epistemological beliefs displayed adequate understanding when reading multiple, partly conflicting, texts about ADHD, whereas students holding naïve epistemological beliefs gained better understanding when reading a single textbook-like source with identical content. This finding, however, depended on the level of understanding being measured by the criterial task, with only the task measuring deeper situational text understanding showing an interaction between epistemological beliefs and text format. This study provides evidence that not only knowledge itself, but also personal beliefs about knowledge, may enhance or constrain deeper understanding of multiple texts.

Changes in student approaches to learning with the introduction of computer-supported problem-based learning

Objectives  To study changes in student approaches to learning following the introduction of computer‐supported, problem‐based learning.

Understanding and Integrating Multiple Science Texts: Summary Tasks are Sometimes Better Than Argument Tasks

One of the major challenges of a knowledge society is that students as well as other citizens must learn to understand and integrate information from multiple textual sources. Still, task and reader characteristics that may facilitate or constrain such intertextual processes are not well understood by researchers. In this study, we compare the effects of summary and argument essay tasks when undergraduates read seven different texts on a particular scientific topic, finding that an instruction to write summaries may lead to better understanding and integration than an instruction to write argument essays. We discuss several possible explanations for this result. We also found that beliefs about the certainty of knowledge in some instances can moderate the effect of task on comprehension performance.

Do students’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing predict their judgement of texts’ trustworthiness?

We examined whether epistemic beliefs predict students’ evaluation of documents. Undergraduates read two texts on climate change. Participants judged the trustworthiness of each text and then indicated the criteria for their rating. We found that readers who believe strongly in relying on personal interpretations rather than on authorities trusted both documents less and used the document’s content or their own opinion as criteria for judging trustworthiness. We also found that readers who believe that knowledge claims should be critically evaluated through logic and rules rated the science text as more trustworthy and used the criteria of their own opinion, author and content more than readers who believe in relying on their own experiences. These effects hold true while controlling for readers’ prior knowledge and text comprehensibility.

Content and processes in problem‐based learning: a comparison of computer‐mediated and face‐to‐face communication

Abstract  There has been an increasing interest in the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in problem-based learning. One line of research has been to introduce synchronous, or simultaneous, communication attempting to create text-based digital real-time interaction. Compared with face-to-face (F2F) communication, CMC may be a poorer medium regarding coordination of the activity. Still, we are in need for more knowledge on the possible advantages and problems regarding such digital communication processes. In the present study, we compared activities in digital and F2F problem-based learning (PBL) regarding the content of the communication, turn-taking processes and the emergence of learning issues. The results indicate that when students discussed in the digital learning environment, they focused more on technical and organizational questions, produced relatively more initiatives but less responses, and produced less elaborated and specified learning issues than when they participated in F2F meetings.

Do students' self-efficacy beliefs moderate the effects of performance goals on self-regulatory strategy use?

We examined whether perceived self-efficacy moderated the relationship between performance goals and self-regulatory strategy use in two different samples of 178 and 108 Norwegian post-secondary students. Using multiple regression with interaction terms, we found that perceived self-efficacy moderated the relation between performance-avoidance goals and reported use of self-regulatory strategies for students in a competitive, performance-oriented context. Specifically, in that context, there seemed to be a negative effect of increased performance-avoidance goal orientation for students with high self-efficacy and a positive effect of increased performance-avoidance goal orientation for students with low self-efficacy. While the nature of this moderator effect is not consistent with what has previously been suggested by researchers using a goal orientation framework, our findings point to the importance of examining self-efficacy moderator effects in different study contexts.

Establishing Trustworthiness When Students Read Multiple Documents Containing Conflicting Scientific Evidence.

Students read six documents that varied in terms of their perspectives on a scientific issue and the trustworthiness of the source features. After reading, students wrote essays, rank-ordered the documents according to perceived trustworthiness, and provided reasons for their rank-order decisions. Students put the most trust in a textbook and a public information text, primarily giving content reasons for their trustworthiness judgments. The kind of source characteristics that students drew upon when deciding what to trust and what not to trust varied across documents. Finally, their source evaluation was related to the source citations included in their essays.