Epistemological Construct of University Students: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

This article presents the logical robustness among three systems claimed by Marzano and Kendall (2007, p. 13) in 'new taxonomy of educational objectives', on the basis of an empirical study. The study was initiated to search the cause of low pass rate and achievement score of students in Gorkha Campus. Total 50 students of bachelor level final year were taken for preliminary study from where five low and five high achiever students were selected to probe out through in-depth interview, observation their admission decision, learning strategies and leaning progress to assess the level of self-system, meatcognition, and cognition, and, thus validity of new taxonomy. The new taxonomy was the frame of information generation and analysis for this qualitative research. Since, unlike grounded theory, information generation and analysis was selective to generate themes aiming to objectives. Constrcutivsm a dominant epistemological paradaigm claims that students' level of self-efficacy and metacognition reflects their 'epistemological construct' developed and shaped by school and college environment, which is, in this study, found low. It also indicates the ill-fate of teachers college that in taking the low 'epistemological construct' students and inability of transforming them into the high as an issue of teachers education in Nepal.