Epistemological beliefs of secondary school teachers in light of their teaching practices based on the grounded theory

The current study aimed to identify the epistemological beliefs of secondary school teachers in light of their teaching practices. The researchers applied the qualitative approach based on the method of grounded theory. Data were collected through classroom observations, interview sheets and focus groups. Having determined the credibility and reliability of the instruments, the data were thoroughly read, and analysed using the topology data model. Results indicated the participants' responses converged in the dimension of the nature and certainty of knowledge, the dimension of knowledge acquisition and in the speed of knowledge acquisition, while responses varied in the dimension of the concept of epistemological beliefs, the dimension of the sources of epistemological beliefs and the factors in their formation, and in the dimension of knowledge authority. The study highlighted the importance of integrating epistemological beliefs in teachers' qualification programmes to practise such beliefs in the classroom environment. Keywords: Epistemological Beliefs, Teaching Practices, Secondary School Teachers

Nature of Academic Programs, Epistemological Beliefs and Their Impact on Pakistani University Students’ Academic Performance

The students’ academic behaviours and academic performance differ with their epistemological beliefs. Different social-cultural and educational contexts inculcate differences in students’ epistemological beliefs. However, the impact of the nature of the academic programs on students’ epistemological beliefs is most obvious. The students of different disciplines can have different epistemological beliefs. These different epistemological beliefs differ in their impact on students’ academic performance and academic behaviour. Hence, the current study evaluated the interrelationships of various educational programs and epistemological beliefs and their importance in students’ academic performance. The volunteer university students provided data about their academic programs, epistemological beliefs, and academic performance. Researchers used the Generalized Structured Component Analysis approach to calculate the suitability of specified measurement and structural models. The impact of subjects of the soft field of study such as Behavioural Sciences, English Literature was negative on naive epistemological beliefs in knowledge structure and omniscient authority compared to subjects of the hard field of studies such as Mathematical, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences. The Business Sciences from the soft applied field of study had the least noticeable negative impact on naive epistemological beliefs compared to other subjects of pure soft and pure hard field of studies. Only, the belief in quick learning had a significant negative impact on students’ academic performance.

Sequential Impacts of University Students’ Socioeconomic Classes, Gender, Disciplines of Study and University Education Experience on their Learning Approaches

The learning approaches consist of students’ learning intentions and strategies to learn. The ramification of their different learning approaches ends in various academic achievements. Their learning approaches mediate the impacts of students’ epistemological beliefs, learning conceptions, personality, and ability to learn on their academic achievements. Apart from personal variables, differences in students’ socioeconomic background, gender, disciplines of study, duration of experience in education, teaching approaches, and teaching methods produce differences in students’ learning approaches. The cultural and social differences produce specific personal attributes in students that impact learning approaches. Therefore, this study explored the impacts of Pakistani university students’ socioeconomic background, gender, study disciplines, and university education experience on their learning approaches. The sample of this study comprised 488 university students. The sampling technique to select this sample was a convenient non-probability sampling technique. The structural equation modeling approach was used to calculate the direct and total effects of students’ socioeconomic background, gender, disciplines of study, and duration of university education experience on their learning approaches. The Pakistani university students’ socioeconomic classes, disciplines of study, and duration of university education experience have significant direct and total effects on their learning approaches. The variable gender did not cause a significant direct or total effect on Pakistani university students’ learning approaches. The study contributed knowledge regarding factors that impact university students ‘learning approaches in the context of Pakistan.

Exploring the Effect of STEM Education on the Motivations and Epistemological Beliefs Related to Science Among Talented and Gifted Students

The research is aimed to explore the effect of STEM education on the motivations and epistemological beliefs related to science among talented and gifted students. A mixed research method was employed in collecting the data of the research. The sample of the research consisted of 20 5th and 6th grade students who were diagnosed to be talented. Before the activities, the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire and the Motivation Scale for Science Learning were applied to the students. The reflective journals were asked to fill in reflective journals after each activity and individual interviews were conducted after all activities were completed. A significant difference was found between the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire and the Motivation Scale for Science Learning pre-test and post-test scores at the end of the research. With the conducted interviews and results from the journals, positive changes were observed in students’ self-confidence, motivation, and attitudes towards science lessons in training.

Online Higher Education: The Importance of Students’ Epistemological Beliefs, Well-Being, and Fun

The global pandemic has accelerated the ‘move online’ of higher education in Indonesia. This study aimed to examine the relationship between Indonesian students’ experiences of studying online, their epistemological beliefs and their beliefs about fun in learning. A mixed method approach was used to examine this relationship in a sample of 774 students. A Principal component analysis (PCA) of questionnaire responses identified associations between social constructivist beliefs about learning and the centrality of fun in learning. The PCA was considered together with a thematic analysis of an open question ‘Has the COVID-19 situation changed your feelings about online study?’ This revealed the significance of the epistemic mismatch between many students’ beliefs and the transmissive online pedagogy that they described. This mismatch is implicated as a factor in understanding the students largely negative experiences of online study and the impact on their well-being, albeit within the context of a pandemic. This is the first time that this link has been proposed. The research indicates that examining students’ epistemological beliefs can offer insights that are helpful in understanding students’ educational engagement and well-being when studying online.

Quantitative Research on Gifted Students’ Scientific Epistemological Beliefs

This study explores the scientific epistemological beliefs of gifted students. It attempts to investigate gender, age and grade level-based differences in scientific epistemological beliefs. The study group comprised 120 gifted students (67 girls, 53 boys). To determine the scientific epistemological beliefs of these students, the Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Survey was employed. The results reveal that while the average scores of fifth and sixth-grade students were close to each other, the highest mean epistemological beliefs score was at the seventh and eighth-grade levels. Thus, there is a positive change in the scientific epistemological beliefs of gifted students who receive more science education. Statistically, the results showed that the difference between the epistemological beliefs scores of the female and male students was not statistically significant.

SIMPLE VS SOPHISTICATED EPISTEMIC BELIEFS AN INITIAL STEP TO DEVELOP SEMINAR ON ELT COURSE MATERIAL

The development of appropriate teaching materials not only needs to be adjusted to the latest curriculum but also to the needs of the parties involved in learning. One of the parties involved is the learner. The needs of learners in the learning process must be known in order to develop appropriate teaching materials. This study is intended to map the needs of learners in the Seminar on ELT class as a first step to develop appropriate teaching materials by considering the different characteristics of students through the perspective of their epistemological beliefs. The participants involved in this study were 102 students who had attended the Seminar on ELT class. The result showed that majority of Seminar on ELT students (95%) are having sophisticated epistemic beliefs which we can describe them as the students that believe the knowledge is always changing or tentative, learning can be done individually by everyone, their knowledge of English did not come from authority, but through reason or logic experiences. They also believe that everyone can learn English from the beginning, no matter what age, or even their background. They agree on process-oriented learning. They also tend to have high motivation to learn English regardless of whether the motivation is extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. With this finding, we can finally understand the characteristics of the Seminar on ELT students as an initial step to develop an appropriate course material. Keywords: Epistemic Beliefs, Needs Analysis, Course Material Development, ELT

The Relationship between Secondary School Students’ Epistemological Beliefs and Critical Reading Levels

This study attempts to depict the secondary school eighth grade students’ epistemological beliefs and their critical reading in terms of several variables and to examine the relationship between them. Descriptive and relational survey models were used within the scope of the study. The population of the study consisted of the secondary school eighth grade students studying in Istanbul. The participants were selected by convenience sampling method. The study deployed personal information form, scientific epistemological belief and critical reading scales. Descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and correlation analysis were used during data analysis. The study results concluded that the eighth grade students’ epistemological beliefs and their critical reading levels were at a moderate level. While no significant difference was identified across the students’ epistemological beliefs in terms of their gender, academic achievement, socio-economic level and book reading, a significant difference was noted across their critical reading levels in terms of gender, academic achievement and book reading, but that was not the case for their socio-economic level. The results of the research have useful implications for teachers. While teachers develop students’ epistemological beliefs in the teaching environment, they will also develop their critical reading skills.