Sarit Barzilai

Epistemic Thinking in Action: Evaluating and Integrating Online Sources

This study examines epistemic thinking in action in order to shed light on the relation between students’ personal epistemologies and their online learning practices. The study is based on observations of the learning behaviors of 6th-grade students (n = 38) during two online inquiry tasks. Data were collected through think-aloud protocols and retrospective epistemic interviews. The study examines how absolutist and evaluativist epistemic perspectives come into play in two key online inquiry strategies—evaluation of website trustworthiness and critical integration of multiple online sources. The study explores students’ epistemic thinking on the cognitive and metacognitive levels and examines epistemic metacognitive knowledge about both persons and strategies. The findings demonstrate that epistemic thinking plays an important role in online inquiry learning. Participants’ epistemic metacognitive knowledge regarding online learning strategies correlated with their epistemic cognition. Evaluativists significantly outperformed absolutists in the integration strategy but no significant differences were found in the evaluation strategy. Furthermore, there was evidence for considerable variability in students’ epistemic thinking. The complex role of students’ epistemic thinking in online learning is analyzed and discussed.

A review of research on metacognition in science education: current and future directions

The goal of this study is to map the current state of research in the field of metacognition in science education, to identify key trends, and to discern areas and questions for future research. We conducted a systematic analysis of 178 studies published in peer-reviewed journals in the years 2000–2012 and indexed in the ERIC database. The findings from this analysis indicate that the field of metacognition in science education is in a state of growth and expansion, and that metacognition is increasingly integrated into research addressing the core objectives of science education. In contrast to the findings of previous reviews, conceptual understanding of science was found to be one of the central aims of current metacognition research. The studies employ a wide range of instructional practices for fostering learners’ metacognition. The most prominent practice is the use of metacognitive cues and prompts in the course of instruction. Several research gaps are identified: first, the development of learners’ metacognitive knowledge is receiving less empirical attention than the development of their metacognitive skills; second, there is a lack of studies that employ controlled research designs that can provide causal evidence regarding the effectiveness of metacognitive instruction for science learning; third, there is an insufficient number of studies of metacognition among young learners in preschool and the early years of elementary school; and fourth, there are very few studies of teachers’ knowledge and professional development regarding metacognition. The implications of these research gaps are explored and suggestions for future research are raised.

Reconsidering Personal Epistemology as Metacognition: A Multifaceted Approach to the Analysis of Epistemic Thinking

One of the central unresolved conceptual issues that concerns researchers of personal epistemology is the characterization of the intersection between personal epistemology and metacognition. The contested and diverse nature of both constructs makes untangling their connections a complex yet vital task. The purpose of this article is to advance the discussion regarding this intersection by offering a theoretical approach that may serve as a basis for analyzing epistemic thinking and aligning it with current views of metacognition. Based on a synthesis of theoretical and empirical studies, we argue that epistemic thinking is a multifaceted construct with both cognitive and metacognitive aspects. Furthermore, we propose that epistemic metacognition includes several aspects such as metacognitive skills; metacognitive knowledge about persons, strategies and tasks; and metacognitive experiences. The theoretical, methodological, and instructional implications of this approach are explored.

On the Goals of Epistemic Education: Promoting Apt Epistemic Performance

Recent years have seen a surge in educational efforts to foster the development of learners’ epistemologies. Our 1st aim is to problematize some current assumptions about the goals of epistemic education and to argue that existing models of lay or expert epistemologies cannot directly translate into educational goals. Our 2nd aim is to present a fresh integrative analysis of the goals of epistemic education based on both philosophical arguments and empirical research. Synthesizing these sources, we propose that the overarching purpose of epistemic education is to promote learners’ apt epistemic performance, defined as performance that achieves valuable epistemic aims through competence. We identify 5 key aspects of epistemic performance that are important to achieving this goal: engaging in reliable cognitive processes that lead to the achievement of epistemic aims, adapting epistemic performance to diverse situations, metacognitively regulating and understanding epistemic performance, caring about and enjoying epistemic performance, and participating in epistemic performance together with others. Each of these aspects involves competent engagement with epistemic aims and value, epistemic ideals, and reliable epistemic processes. Our analysis can help educators plan and evaluate epistemic education and suggests ways in which current curricula might be better designed to promote epistemic growth.

Is information acquisition still important in the information age

How should the information age affect teaching goals and methods? One of the claims voiced by educators is that computerized information tools make systematic study and acquisition of information redundant. Put bluntly this claim states that students should no longer ‘waste’ their time learning or memorizing texts and facts that can be retrieved in a keystroke. We attempted to examine the current role of information acquisition in learning processes by interviewing 24 expert academic researchers who work regularly with computerized information tools. Analysis of the researchers’ descriptions of their learning and thinking processes revealed that, according to the majority of the researchers, computerized information tools have not reduced the importance learning and acquiring information. These exploratory findings suggest that information acquisition should still be an important part of the curriculum in the age of information.