Epistemic Practices Research Articles

Knowledge bloats, love builds: Paul on how we are (not) to know things

Abstract Paul's epistemology was famously mapped onto his eschatology by J. Louis Martyn, but it must be mapped also onto his ecclesiology. For Paul, knowing is bound always and indissolubly to living with others. To understand how Paul would have us know things, then, we must focus not on knowledge as such, but on epistemic practices in ecclesial communities. Whereas the Corinthians’ use of wisdom and knowledge made for fragmentation and dissolution in the body of Christ (1 Cor 1–4; 8–10), Paul would have practices with knowledge instantiate communion and care for one another, as is proper for Christ's body. Integral to theological knowing is a sense of what and whom theology is for, a sense being critically explored in recent evaluations of theological education.

Justifying authoritarian practices: epistemic governance in two opposite interventionist policies on women’s attire in Iran’s pre- and post-revolution 1979

ABSTRACT How do authoritarian actors seek to justify their interventionist gendered policies? The study bridges the authoritarian governmentality scholarship with Epistemic Governance theory to disclose epistemic politics in interventionist policymaking. It gathers textual data from political leaders and influential actors to investigate the epistemic practices around the justifications of two culture-shaping policies on Iranian women’s attire: the ‘unveiling’ policy banning all women’s head covers in the 1930s and the ‘mandatory veiling’ laws in the 1980s. Foucauldian discourse analysis as elaborated in Epistemic Governance analytic is applied to scrutinise how women’s attires were problematised in both cases and how exclusionary measures were justified. The findings reveal that in the 1930s, veiling was represented as the dangerous embodied emblem of backwardness that must be excluded in the urgent context of national progress. In contrast, unveiling, as the marker of cultural colonialism, was prohibited in the context of the necessity to protect the counter-hegemonic national values in the 1980s. These findings highlight recontextualisation practices turning women’s attire into a matter of national security that justify pastoral power for governmental interventions. The study hence warns against (in-)security politics in authoritarian governance whereby any epistemic field is depoliticised, and public opinion is conducted towards interventionist policies.

What happens to the “social” in psychosocial? Exploring epistemic practices and therapeutic culture in teacher education

This paper examines the role of the psychosocial as an influential epistemic category in the context of a globalised therapeutic culture. Drawing on empirical data from fieldwork conducted at a teacher education institution in Norway, we conceptualise the psychosocial as epistemic practice and analyse three interrelated social levels: the individual level, concerned with teachers’ performance as social caretakers; the community level, characterised by a diagnosing gaze on individual pupils; and the societal level, understood as structural threats to well-being. Our study suggests that these epistemic practices favour psychological diagnosis and individual protection over shared knowledge and broader social awareness.

Perceptions of scientific assessment effectiveness

The science-policy interface process known as ‘scientific assessment’ convenes large numbers of experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to deliberate and synthesise cross-disciplinary knowledge. Considering the increasingly frequent and widespread use of scientific assessments over the past 30 years, globally and in South Africa, it is surprising that few effectiveness evaluations have been undertaken. A case-study mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of six scientific assessment cases – two global, two regional and two national. To measure perceptions, a Generic/Procedural framework was developed, consisting of thirteen indicators based on the science-policy ‘dimensions’ of Credibility, Relevance and Legitimacy (CRELE). The cases were perceived to have performed better than average with respect to Output quality, Procedural fairness, Use in decision-making, Trustworthiness and Iterativity, and below average for Coproduction, Capacity building, Media communications, Transdisciplinarity and Financial resources. Perceptions of effectiveness varied based on participant role, age, and country income levels, revealing both pluralistic viewpoints and the subjective nature of participant-led evaluations. While Relevance is often considered the keystone dimension of CRELE, the cases performed better for indicators foundational to Credibility and Legitimacy, rather than those foundational to Relevance. Future successful scientific assessment practice will require more conscious consideration of Relevance, coupled with innovative epistemic practices in the spirit of the Pragmatic-Enlightened Model (PEM) of science-policy interaction.

Epistemic Injustice in the Medical Context: Introduction to Special Issue

ABSTRACT This special issue aims to delve deeper into the manifestations of epistemic injustice within asymmetric relationships, such as those between laypersons and experts (e.g. patients and physicians). We focus on distinguishing between warranted and unwarranted epistemic exclusions, recognizing that some epistemic harms may stem from justified exclusions, thus necessitating consideration of both just and unjust exclusions. Using examples from the medical field, including instances of misdiagnosis based on statistical correlations, we highlight the intricate nature of epistemic exclusions and their ethical implications. While some exclusions may align with established epistemic practices, others arise from unnecessary practices fueled by identity prejudice or power dynamics, thus presenting as instances of epistemic injustice. Additionally, our exploration of epistemic gaps, particularly within complex environments like medicine, illuminates the challenges individuals face in effectively conveying their experiences and accessing pertinent information. While certain forms of epistemic isolation may be warranted, others result from structural barriers hindering knowledge exchange, prompting critical reflection on the ethical dimensions of such practices.

Thomas Kuhn's Quasi‐Fideism

Abstract I argue that Kuhn's account of scientific practice is profitably understood as a kind of hinge epistemology: like our epistemic practices more generally, scientific inquiry is made possible precisely by the fact that certain things are not subject to doubt. In Kuhn's own words, ‘dogmatism’ is essential to scientific practice and one of the primary engines of its success. For this reason, I argue that Kuhn's account is a rich source for reflection on the relationship between faith and reason. At the same time, Kuhn has faced objections similar to those which have faced hinge‐epistemologists: how can disputes grounded in different, incompatible ‘dogmas’ be rationally resolved? Kuhn's response is similar to one put forward by Duncan Pritchard, but is, I argue, an improvement on it. In particular, the hinges on which deep scientific disagreement turns are for Kuhn certain shared values in light of which debate is possible. The choice among competing dogmas can, I argue, be understood on analogy with a prudential judgement of practical reasoning, i.e., an exercise of phronēsis.

Employing Digital Tools for Collaborative and Flexible Mathematical Proving

AbstractThere is a clear disconnect between the linear and deductive presentation of written proofs and the non-linear and messy process of constructing one. This disconnect poses challenges for students who do not often have opportunities, or the necessary supports, to navigate the transition between the two, quite often contributing to feelings of exclusion. It is therefore important to design learning environments with increased epistemic transparency, so that students can flexibly work on mathematical problems while learning and failing together. In this article, I present an instructional design for online collaborative proving activities for secondary school students. I discuss how the use of digital post-it notes and digital shared workspaces can create opportunities for multiple ways of participating for youth, support the navigation of different reasoning patterns, and provide space for extended across-group knowledge sharing. I share a classroom example of how this could look like in practice and discuss main implications of some of the affordances and constraints of the tools used for equitable and respectful student participation in mathematical epistemic practices.

New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability

The One Health approach often reaches classrooms through Environmental Education (EE), which aims to guide society’s response to current crises (environmental, health, economic, values). However, traditional EE teaching has focused on isolated ecological concepts and standardised solutions, ignoring the multidimensional nature of EE and failing to integrate the interdependence between environmental, animal, and human health. Moreover, teacher training often neglects didactic content knowledge, preventing students from acquiring the systemic vision needed to address eco-social problems and create sustainable solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This limits teachers’ ability to influence students’ concerns and behaviours. In this context, this study aims to reflect on the current state of the issue and propose strategies informed by Science Education research to improve EE teaching, enabling the integration of One Health dimensions through effective didactics to achieve Transformative Environmental Education (TEE). For this purpose, we begin by addressing the limitations identified in recent systematic reviews, shifting the paradigm towards a symbiosis of EE and Science Education through scientific practices. We then present practical examples showcasing successful EE initiatives that foster a deeper understanding of socio-environmental issues, encourage innovative solutions, and nurture engaged citizens from early education onwards. These proposals can support classroom practice and ongoing teacher self-development. Pedagogical strategies include tackling issues that require systemic and critical thinking by developing scientific and epistemic practices while raising awareness of Environmental Justice. Thus, this study advocates for a new vision of EE, integrating the One Health approach, which could be applied to develop new educational programs, including teacher training. This would lead to a new learning evaluation model and help identify key determinants that trigger pro-environmental behaviours.

The rules and aims of inquiry

Abstract Are norms of inquiry in tension with epistemic norms? I provide a (largely) negative answer, turning to a picture of epistemic practices as rule-governed games. The idea is that, while epistemic norms are correctness standards for the attitudes involved in epistemic games, norms of inquiry derive from the aims of those games. Attitudes that, despite being epistemically correct, are inadvisable regarding the goals of some inquiry are just like bad (but legal) moves in basketball or chess. I further consider cases in which the aims of inquiry recommend breaking epistemic norms. I compare them to strategic infractions, which are common in many coherent games. Finally, I explore the connections between rules and aims in games and in inquiry. I show that in both cases respecting the rules is constitutively required for satisfying the aims of the practice.

Storytelling dreams and life: Traveling across worlds in the Amazon of Ecuador

In response to the expansion of the mining frontier in the Ecuadorian Amazon, rural and Indigenous women are leading processes that resist mining-related violence while reconfiguring colonial power dynamics. Although women's efforts have become visible through regional grassroots organizing, public protests, marches, political manifestos, and bodily organized resistance to mining, little is written about the long-term processes, social relations, and epistemologies women use to contest power. This article illuminates “Storytelling Dreams and Life,” a Kichwa epistemology aimed at communicating and networking across colonial differences while building support networks across scales. It relies on dreams and testimonies that speak of women's relationships with the forest, including more than humans: animals, insects, and bodies of water. Women understand their bodies and livelihoods as intrinsically tied to the forest. Defense struggles are about upholding relational forest interdependences and politicizing domestic and reproductive care practices that make life possible. Women's storytelling provides us with an epistemology and a decolonial and communications methodology that requires sharing intimate accounts of mining-related violence and resistance. The sharing is emotional and vivid as it aims at bringing interlocutors as close as possible to the teller's experience. I argue women's epistemic practices enable intersubjective understandings of each other's experiences and, therefore, a way to travel into each other's worlds across bodies while furthering women's support networks across scales. Women's storytelling adds to Communitarian Feminisms and its efforts to decolonize hierarchization in organized struggles, and it adds to Body-Territory epistemology by specifying how knowledge and struggles both shaped and are shaped by forest relational worldviews.

An Artist/Researcher Model for Participatory Action Research in Transdisciplinary Learning Contexts

Participatory action research and the arts are tools to bridge power divides found in disciplinary learning where many students have traditionally been excluded (e.g., STEM). In this study, we apply an Artist/Researcher model as a way of positioning individuals within a social context, anchoring their identities around shared values and epistemic practices. Situated in four after-school projects with Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, we explore how an Artist/Researcher model that is rooted in constructionism can lead to new ways of considering how artwork itself might enhance the aims and processes of participatory action research. We find that the Artist/Researcher model supports transdisciplinary learning in ways that foreground student agency and social dialogue in community: through materials and design choices; representing self as expert, leader, and creator; co-opting activities and transforming participation; and engaging with art and science as tools for social change. This study has implications for applying constructionism to participatory action research in out-of-school settings and for designing interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary learning experiences. 

Epistemic practices in conceptions of computer science

ABSTRACT Background and context We address the question of what computer science students take the discipline to be. How students conceive the discipline can influence whether a student pursues computer science, what particular area within computer science they focus on and whether they persist in the discipline. In this paper, we examine the epistemic practices – how knowledge is created and warranted – of students and teacher as a way to understand what computer science is, as practiced by the participants. Objective The goal of this study is to provide an account for how the students and teacher make and legitimize knowledge in the classroom and computer lab. Method In this case study, we use a combination of ethnographic and multimodal methods. The data collected include audio and video recordings and researcher field notes of classroom and lab sessions. The analysis of the data considers speech, marks on the blackboard and embodied actions including gesture and gaze orientation. Findings In both of these learning environments, CS knowledge in the form of general principles and programming practice are discussed by students and the instructor. However, the way in which such knowledge is warranted in these two settings is different. In the classroom, the instructor is the authority that warrants knowledge claims, whereas in the computer lab, the computer plays a key authority role to determine “what works”. Implications This study provides insight into how instructors can design learning environments based on ways they intend knowledge to be created and warranted.

Against a global conception of mathematical hinges

Abstract Epistemologists have developed a diverse group of theories, known as hinge epistemology, about our epistemic practices that resort to and expand on Wittgenstein's concept of ‘hinges’ in On Certainty. Within hinge epistemology there is a debate over the epistemic status of hinges. Some hold that hinges are non-epistemic (neither known, justified, nor warranted), while others contend that they are epistemic. Philosophers on both sides of the debate have often connected this discussion to Wittgenstein's later views on mathematics. Others have directly questioned whether there are mathematical hinges, and if so, these would be axioms. Here, we give a hinge epistemology account for mathematical practices based on their contextual dynamics. We argue that 1) there are indeed mathematical hinges (and they are not axioms necessarily), and 2) a given mathematical entity can be used contextually as an epistemic hinge, a non-epistemic hinge, or a non-hinge. We sustain our arguments exegetically and empirically.

Making sense of state violence: understanding public inquiries as political devices

ABSTRACT Whenever a political scandal or controversy erupts, one is likely to hear a familiar demand: ‘There must be a public inquiry!’. Inquiries are institutions of last resort, instigated only when something has gone wrong or must be urgently done, where the usual mechanisms of the state are found wanting. Often the focus of inquiries has been that which the state claims as its monopoly: the use of violence. There is a long and chequered history of inquiries appointed to investigate the state’s use of violence in (post)colonial contexts, military interventions and police actions. This special issue interrogates this history, contributing to wider debates in Critical Military Studies on war and violence. Inquiries are acts of epistemic sovereignty that seek to establish authoritative interpretations of events, and this has sometimes led to a dichotomous representation of inquiries as either promising fora for democratic accountability or tools for elite interests. This special issue seeks to overcome this dichotomy through interdisciplinary dialogue and a granular examination of the political cultures and epistemic practices of inquiries into state violence. In so doing, these articles offer a nuanced analysis of the political functions of inquiries and their potential for democratic accountability and justice.

Reconceptualizing Simulations: Epistemic Objects and Epistemic Practices in Professional Education

This study explores how and why simulation training facilitates professional learning by investigating how simulators and simulations are used and conceptualized in two professional domains, nursing and maritime navigation, and offer a reconceptualization. Our aim is to move beyond past theorizing of simulators and simulations that has mainly centered on representational issues like validity, fidelity, and authenticity. Instead, we approach simulators as epistemic objects and simulations as epistemic practices. These concepts offer a lens to examine the situated and sociomaterial practices that make simulators into simulations and simulations into entry points to the epistemic culture of a profession. As a result, we pinpoint three central mechanisms for transforming the simulation experience into an event that facilitates the enrollment of students into their future profession. The first mechanism involves the instructional practice of “filling in” aspects of the work context that might be missing in the simulator. The second mechanism, sometimes labeled the “as-if” mode of simulations, manifests through the participants’ ongoing commitment to treat the simulation as-if it was a real professional encounter. The third relates to how simulation-based learning activities afford a crucial pedagogical orientation towards defining what constitutes exemplary professional practice in specific training situations.

Epistemic practices: A unified account of epistemic and zetetic normativity

Epistemic practices: A unified account of epistemic and zetetic normativity

Methodological Rigor in Laboratory Education Research

Despite the growing number of published studies on student learning in the laboratory, there is a critical need to improve methodological rigor. Resonating with discussions on research methods, this paper outlines the importance of theory-informed research questions, the minimization of researcher and participant biases, and the use of triangulation and iteration in data collection to establish rigor. An illustrative case is presented within the context of a large interdisciplinary research project aimed at improving laboratory learning at the university level. The project incorporates two research avenues: one focusing on student and faculty perspectives, and the other on a comprehensive assessment of multidimensional learning in the laboratory. The project employs a mixed methods paradigm and is grounded in a conceptual framework that conceptualizes laboratory work as epistemic practice, requiring a holistic analysis of student learning. The article concludes by discussing the results and implications of the project’s findings, which are synthesized to highlight aspects of establishing methodological rigor. The overarching goal is to develop a comprehensive assessment instrument that captures the complexity and richness of the laboratory learning environment. The findings from this research are expected to contribute to the advancement of laboratory education research by providing a model for methodological rigor that can be applied across various scientific and interdisciplinary contexts.

Getting to post-post-truth

This piece ponders how teachers might best approach the issue of truth in the classroom, now that traditional models of truth-transmission have been problematised by what social epistemologist Steven Fuller calls ‘second-order awareness’—the apparent social construction of any given ‘truth-game’. Drawing on Charles Peirce’s original theorisation of the ‘community of inquiry’ at the birth of pragmatist philosophy, I argue that, as educators our best response to the recent ‘post-truth’ phenomenon is to pay less attention to our theories, in which we show up to truth-sceptics as experts, and more attention to our own epistemic practices, in which we show up to truth-sceptics as fellow persons. In any real-world encounter between persons, genuine listening and learning can offer practical proof that truth is not dead, notwithstanding the dire theoretical generalisations of sceptics, nihilists and relativists. I conclude by reflecting on some ways I’ve implemented these insights in developing a new first-year undergraduate Critical Thinking unit at my own university.

Connecting affordances of physical and virtual laboratory modes to engineering epistemic practices

Connecting affordances of physical and virtual laboratory modes to engineering epistemic practices

Epistemic Goals and Practices in Biology Curriculum—the Philippines and Japan

AbstractDespite cultural differences, the Philippines–Japan partnership is developing an intentional teaching curriculum with parallel standards. However, disparities among their respective educational systems have prompted inequalities. As education plays a critical role in collaboration, we explored the Epistemic Goals (EGs) and Epistemic Practices (EPs) in the biology curriculum, with the research question: How do the epistemic goals and practices of the biology curriculum transmit knowledge and skills in the Philippines and Japan? Using an ethnographic design, we conducted two iterative explorations of EGs and EPs. First, we examined the curriculum policy to determine its EGs. Using the A-B-C-D protocol, we employed discourse analysis to evaluate knowledge and skills in the biology grade-level standards. Second, we examined the articulation of goals in classroom teaching practices. We conducted classroom immersion and observed classes to determine EPs and supported our observations through interviews, synthesizing the data using inductive content analysis. Our findings revealed that the Philippines’ EGs were to transmit factual knowledge enhanced by basic science skills, and their EPs were audio-visual materials, gamified instructions, guided inquiry, posing questions, and learning-by-doing. In comparison, Japan’s EGs were to provide a solid foundation of theoretical and metacognitive knowledge, integrated science skills, and positive attitudes. Its EPs involved cultivating lasting learning, observation, investigation, experimentation, collaborative discussion, and reflective thinking. Our study makes a meaningful contribution by shedding light on crucial ideologies and cultural identities embedded in Biology curricula and teaching traditions.