文章基本信息

标题：Thai University Students’ Scientific Epistemic Beliefs: Relationships with Past Learning Experiences
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作者：Takayoshi Fujiwara ; Takayoshi Fujiwara ; Piti Laulathaphol 等
期刊名称：Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
印刷版ISSN：1877-0428
出版年度：2012
卷号：69
页码：187-196
DOI：10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.398
语种：English
出版社：Elsevier
摘要：AbstractThe development of students’ epistemic beliefs about science is likely to be related to their past learning experiences but this relationship is not yet fully empirically explored and thus not clearly identified. The purpose was to investigate the structure and nature of epistemic beliefs about science held by Thai university students and to explore their relationships with the students’ previous learning experiences and other demographic variables. A 39-item questionnaire specifically developed to measure biology-related beliefs, Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Biology (CLASS-Bio) (Semsar, Knight, Birol, & Smith, 2011), was administered to Thai undergraduate students (N= 388). The participants were asked to indicate how they agree or disagree with the statements on epistemic beliefs about biology and learning biology. A five-factor dimensional structure was identified for the beliefs about biology and learning biology through principal component analysis, yet the structure was complicated. One-way between-participants MANOVAs demonstrated that the epistemic beliefs were significantly different among the groups of students with different age, subject major, level of interest in biology, and level of liking of biology at those five identified factorial levels. The research findings suggested that individuals’ past learning experiences have an influence on forming and developing their epistemic beliefs about biology. In addition, confirming our intuitive views, the levels of interest and of liking toward the discipline appear to have the largest power in developing individuals’ beliefs.
关键词：Scientific epistemic beliefs;personal epistemology;university students;epistemological development