Epistemological Understanding Research Articles

New Municipalism and the Challenges of Design: Context, Instruments and Implementation

AbstractThis contribution adds a design approach to our understanding of emancipatory epistemologies within new municipalism. So far, the extant research has rarely discussed its specific opportunities and limitations, regarding their context‐bound formulation and real‐world implementation as a policy process. In contrast, the following article situates their emancipatory potential within the place‐specific ways in which multiple stakeholders define problems, set objectives, choose instruments and convert them into actions, intersecting with significant capacity constraints of the municipal scale. The case of participatory budgeting in Vienna illustrates our approach and theoretical reflection. It shows how and to what extent the design of the relational process influences new municipalism in practice and its outcome with respect to agenda‐setting, formulation and implementation. It concludes by highlighting the contribution of a design approach to the production of emancipatory knowledge and practices in democratic transformation and its analytical value added for comparative research on new municipalism.

Aspek Epistemologi Inovasi dalam Manajemen Pendidikan Islam

This study examines the epistemological aspects of management innovation in the context of Islamic education. In an era of rapid technological development, Islamic educational institutions face challenges to remain relevant and effective. Innovation in educational management is key to facing this change. However, such innovation needs to be based on a strong epistemological understanding to ensure that the changes made are in line with the values ​​and goals of Islamic education. This study uses a qualitative approach with a literature study method. The results show that the epistemological dimension plays an important role in shaping and directing Islamic educational management innovation. A deep understanding of the sources of knowledge, the process of acquiring knowledge, and the validity of knowledge in the context of Islam is the foundation for developing effective innovation strategies that are in accordance with Islamic principles. This study also offers recommendations for integrating Islamic epistemological perspectives into modern educational management practices.

Online language teaching in times of change: a CALL to action for language teachers and educators

Abstract Change, whether slowly developing over decades or rapid change caused by worldwide crises, affects education and educators profoundly. This article argues for a change in language teacher education embracing the changing world of online communication, and emphasising the epistemological awareness language teachers need to bring to the online classroom. Based on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research and best practice examples from across the world, the paper outlines past changes, contextualises online language teaching in the wider area of online communication and describes progress in practice, theory and epistemological understanding of online teaching. It culminates in a series of evidence-based suggestions for future training and education of language teachers that will integrate adequate pedagogy and an enhanced epistemological understanding.

Measuring Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Teaching Inquiry-Based Science and the Nature of Scientific Inquiry

AbstractInquiry-based science teaching (IBST) is a key goal of science education reforms worldwide. Recent research highlights the importance of infusing inquiry teaching with knowledge about the nature of scientific inquiry, and not just focusing on procedural skills to do inquiry. However, such an endeavour requires teachers to have high levels of self-efficacy. Given the lack of valid and reliable measurement instruments for Spanish-speaking teachers, the present study adapted and validated Aydeniz et al. Science and Education, 30(1), 103–120, (2021) Inquiry-Based Science Teaching Efficacy Scale (IBSTES, Science & Education, 30:103–120). Confirmatory factor analysis on data from 428 pre-service teachers in kindergarten and elementary school revealed a two-factor structure, which is consistent with the conceptual framework of IBST. The two factors measured self-efficacy beliefs regarding (1) helping students improve their understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry and (2) helping students develop procedural skills for conducting scientific inquiry. Both factors demonstrated very high reliability (> 0.90), as assessed by Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. This latent structure was invariant across genders, suggesting that the instrument can be used with both male and female prospective teachers, allowing for gender comparisons. This study is the first of its kind to validate in Spanish a self-efficacy scale for IBST that specifically tackles the epistemological understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry. The Spanish IBSTES provides a valuable tool for researchers and practitioners to assess and support teacher self-efficacy, which is essential for the success of educational reforms.

Equality DanceSport doing transgender inclusivity in the United Kingdom: Cultural cisgenderism and transgender experiences

In this article, cultural cisgenderism is adopted to investigate Equality DanceSport, a sporting context emerging out of an LGBT+ community. 1 The study questions the extent to which Equality DanceSport enforces regulations and practices which promote trans-inclusivity. Drawing on a constructivist grounded theory approach, I conducted autoethnography and 35 semi-structured interviews with LGBT+ dancers representing diverse genders and sexualities. I examined the discourses shaping the recent revision of Equality DanceSport competition rules in the United Kingdom and the experiences of transgender dancers in the competitive arena. Findings suggest that despite challenging some cis and heteronormative practices in mainstream DanceSport spaces, essentialist notions of sex and gender continue to feed into the shaping of Equality DanceSport's competition rules. These notions are hinged on debates around fairness and inclusivity and inform the constitution of a binary sex category in the competition rules. Transgender dancers face several challenges within the binary sex system, tending to cope through identity compromise. Such a strategy contributes to transgender erasure and invisibility. Overall, this paper provides a critical understanding of trans-inclusivity in an LGBT+ sporting space in the United Kingdom. It highlights the complexity of achieving inclusivity and calls for a critical interrogation which does not conflate LGB with the T when investigating the inclusivity of LGBT+ sporting contexts. The paper concludes with a proposal for radical regulatory and policy changes that question the epistemological understandings of sex and gender and celebrate other values in competitive sports which de-emphasise the focus on winning.

Inquiry and argumentation skill development work in conjunction

The argument and inquiry families of scientific thinking skills overlap. Yet they rarely are investigated together, with researchers instead focusing on one or the other. Here we hypothesize that inclusion of an additional intervention focused on inquiry will enhance the outcome of an established intervention known to be successful in developing argument skills, compared to the argument intervention alone. An Argument only (A) and an Argument and Inquiry (A&I) group of young adolescents participated in one or the other of these intensive intervention groups for four hours daily over a two-week period. Both groups made progress in argument skills as expected, but the A&I group showed greater gains in use of evidence to support claims, stronger forms of counterargument, and integrative however arguments that connect opposing claims to one another. The A&I group showed a particular advantage in reconciling contrasting claims, an epistemological understanding that lies at the core of scientific thinking. These findings suggest the value of conceptualizing argument skill development in a broader framework that includes an investigative component as well as the skill of coordinating claims and evidence that is fundamental to argument.

Heinz von Foerster's operational epistemology: orientation for insight into complexity

PurposeBased on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, I hypothesize how Heinz von Foerster's theory can be an orientation model for the epistemological problem of complexity. I have chosen this study to demonstrate complexity as an epistemological problem. This is because the question of how order arises - the core problem of complexity - is an epistemological question for which Heinz von Foerster developed an epistemology of self-organization. I do not present new research because HvF already had the complex organization of systems in mind. Rather, I build a critical approach to complexity on the research and work on operational epistemology in HvF.Design/methodology/approachThis article aims to provide an orientation for a philosophical and epistemological understanding of complexity through a reading of Heinz von Foerster's operational theory. The article attempts to establish complexity as an epistemological phenomenon through the following method: (1) a conceptual description of the science of complexity based on the turn to thermodynamic time, (2) a genealogy of complexity going back to the systemic method, and (3) Heinz von Foerster's cybernetic approach to self-organization.FindingsBased on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, the conclusion is drawn that complexity as a description is based on language games.Research limitations/implicationsThe results present complexity not as an object of science, but as a description that stands for the understanding of complex description.Social implicationsThe hypothesis that complexity is a question of description or observation, i.e. of description for what language serves, has enormous social implications, in that the description of complexes and the recognition of their orders (patterns) cannot be left to algorithmic governmentality, but must be carried out by a social agency.Originality/valueHvF's operational epistemology can serve as an epistemological model for critical complexity theory.

Shaping the Future of Destinations: New Clues to Smart Tourism Research from a Neuroscience Methods Approach

In the context of the technological era, the smart tourism construct serves as a bridge between human and the artificial worlds, combining social sciences and neurosciences. This study aims to explore smart tourism through neuroscientific methods in order to shape the future of tourism destinations, using a hybrid methodology combining bibliometric techniques and content analysis. The findings reveal the integration of diverse scientific domains, highlighting a transdisciplinary approach. They offer clear evidence that neuroscientific methods in smart tourism integrate multiple areas of scientific knowledge, surpassing disciplinary boundaries. “Destination” stands out alongside “emotion”, “visual attention” and eye tracking (ET). The collaboration network reveals the emergence of a new school, called neurotourism in the 21st century, formed mainly by actors and organizations from the Global North, evoking the need to include the Global South in the research scenario. The predominant methods include ET, heart rate (HR), and electroencephalography (EEG), suggesting triangulation with traditional methods for robust results. Virtual reality emerges as the primary immersive technology, promising insights when integrated with neurosciences. This study’s practical and theoretical contributions guide smart tourism strategies and enhance destination experiences through neuroscientific methods, addressing a gap in the scientific literature while advancing ontological and epistemological understanding.

The Epistemology of Malay Qur’anic Exegesis: A Study of Muhammad Said Umar’s Nur Al-Ihsan

This article examines the epistemological structure of Tafsir Nur Al-Ihsan by Muhammad Said bin Umar. The epistemology of tafsir is an academic discipline aimed at uncovering fundamental questions about the theory of knowledge in the interpretation of the Qur’an, particularly how the truth of a tafsir is verified based on epistemic norms. Tafsir Nurul Ihsan is a significant work of exegesis from the Malay world, yet to date, there has been no serious, incisive, and comprehensive research on the epistemology of Muhammad Said bin Umar’s exegesis work. Thus, this research aims to make a vital contribution by addressing this gap and providing a deeper understanding of tafsir epistemology. By exploring the epistemology of a tafsir, it can grasp its fundamental thought structure. This article employs a historical-philosophical approach. The findings of this research reveal that Muhammad Said bin Umar sourced references for his tafsir from earlier works such as Tafsir Al-Qur'an Al-Adzim, Jami' al-Bayan fi Ta'wil ayi al-Qur'an by Al-Thabari, Anwar Al-Tanzil wa Asrar Al-Ta’wil, Madarik Al-Tanzil wa Haqaiq Al-Ta’wil, and Tafsir al-Jalalain. Additionally, the Sufistic aspect is also elaborated by Muhammad Said in interpreting the verses of the Qur'an. Furthermore, the use of the Malay-Jawi script in his tafsir book signifies the affirmation of Malay cultural identity, indicating that Malay-language tafsirs hold the same authority as those in Arabic.

Automated content analysis as a tool to compare content in sexual selection research with examples of sexual selection in evolutionary biology textbooks: implications for teaching the nature of science

Background We used college-level evolution textbooks to examine the presentation of sexual selection research—a field with ongoing debates related to sex, sexuality and gender identity. Many classic sexual selection concepts have been criticized for androcentrism and other forms of gender-sex bias, specifically for de-emphasizing the female role in reproductive behaviors and over-reliance on gender-sex binaries. These classic concepts are fundamentally captured in the idea that animal reproductive-related behaviors can be grouped in sex roles (e.g. competitive males and selective females). Recently developed alternative concepts provide a more nuanced understanding of the flexibility of sexual and reproductive-related behaviors, stemming in part from growing attention to a broader range of female behavior. To assess whether students are receiving content reflecting these insights, we measured the congruence between textbook content and the scientific literature, using insects as a case study because of the importance of this group in the development of sexual selection theory, its prevalence in current sexual selection research, and the number of insect examples included in textbooks. We first coded textbook content for sexual selection concepts. We used automated content analysis to analyze a database of citations, keywords and abstracts in sexual selection research published between 1990 and 2014, inclusive of the period covered by the textbooks.ResultsThe textbooks and research literatures prioritized the same taxa (e.g., fruit flies) and sex roles as embodied in classic sexual selection theory. Both the research literature and some textbooks acknowledge androcentrism and other forms of gender-sex bias in classic sexual selection paradigms, especially competitive male and selective female sex roles. Yet, while the research literature included alternative models, textbooks neglected these alternatives, even when researchers had studied both classic and alternative views in the same insect.Conclusions We recommend using this kind of analysis of textbook content to engage students in a conversation around the social factors that impact knowledge construction, a key part of the epistemological understanding they need for a robust grasp of the Nature of Science and of evolutionary theory.

The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence

AbstractThe introduction of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT has raised many challenging questions about the nature of teaching, learning, and assessment in every subject area, including science. Unlike other disciplines, natural science is unique because the ontological and epistemological understanding of nature is fundamentally rooted in our interaction with material objects in the physical world. GenAI, powered by statistical probability arising from a massive corpus of text, is devoid of any connection to the physical world. The use of GenAI thus raises concerns about our connection to reality and its effect on science education. This paper emphasizes the importance of materiality (or material reality) in shaping scientific knowledge and argues for its recognition in the era of GenAI. Drawing on the perspectives of new materialism and science studies, the paper highlights how materiality forms an indispensable aspect of human knowledge and meaning-making, particularly in the discipline of science. It further explains how materiality is central to the epistemic authority of science and cautions the outputs generated by GenAI that lack contextualization to a material reality. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for research and teaching that recognize the role of materiality in the context of GenAI, specifically in practical work, scientific argumentation, and learning with GenAI. As we navigate a future dominated by GenAI, understanding how the epistemic authority of science arises from our connection to the physical world will become a crucial consideration in science education.

Phases of Going Digital: A Framework for Assessing Newsroom Digitalisation Process

The success stories of digitalised newsrooms mostly depict outstanding news organisations with abundant resources. However, newsrooms with limited resources (e.g., local newspapers, media organisations of tiny media systems, especially in non-Western regions and new democracies) also undergo digitalisation. This study delves into the newsroom digitalisation processes, spotlighting the indicators characterising different phases of digitalisation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with Estonian online journalists. The interviews were conducted in five waves between 2012 and 2023. Our results show that the transformation from legacy to the digital newsroom is a complex structure of factors, manifesting indicators that become evident in certain phases of digitalisation. These indicators include technological, production-related, human capital, and audience perception domains. If some indicators do not exhibit complete transformation, the newsroom may be unable to move into the next phase. This study contributes to the conceptual understanding of digital journalism epistemology by presenting a framework of newsroom digitalisation phases.

Students’ Inconsistency when Solving a Geometry Problem in Three-Dimensional Context

There is an issue regarding students' consistency in completing geometry assignments, as indicated by several research findings and assessments. Diagnosing how students integrate concepts in the conceptual design and understanding the reasons behind their inconsistency in completing assignments are the main focuses of this case study. This research was conducted with 58 high school students in Tanjungpandan, Indonesia. The data were obtained from students' answers to problems of the three initial levels of geometry thinking and retrospective reports about their answers. The data were analyzed based on three phases: the concept-eliciting and integrating phase, the relationship-eliciting phase, and the relationship-integrating phase. The study revealed that students' performance in geometry analysis aligned with the epistemological concept issue. Visual objects garnered the most attention from students, leading to their analysis techniques being primarily object-oriented. Some stages of property analysis were skipped, causing students to make claims about objects of thought when they should have been establishing relationships between properties to classify shapes through rigorous geometry analysis. Numerical computation remains an essential aspect of geometry analysis. The conceptual design has not yet reached the abstraction stage, resulting in experiments to solve problems not always yielding the correct solutions. In education, this highlights the need for a deep understanding of concept epistemology, efficient concept integration, and the cultivation of abstract thinking skills.

Dance for Liberation: A Case Study for Addressing Han through a Traditional Korean Dance-Based Psychotherapy Approach

Dance and feminism share the epistemological understanding of the body as a site for agency, potential for change, and knowledge creation. This clinical case illustrates how a joint, indigenous dance and what are referred to as complementary and alternative medicine in the United States can enact a decolonizing psychotherapy framework for co-creating a space to access and embody cultural knowledge. Gimoo, a practice founded on traditional Korean dance and traditional Korean medicine, attends to an intergenerational trauma and resilience response, han, in a Korean immigrant woman to the United States. An indigenous dance that is inherently cultural can be a resource to empower a person to be an agent of their own liberation through support and solidarity, even in a virtual setting, and to expand Western notions of what healing might entail.

Conceituações e encenações de precariedade e interculturalidade em escolas multiculturais e políticas educacionais no Chile

ABSTRACT There is an increasing demand to address interculturality in schools due to increasing global mobility at an institutional and practical levels. However, issues of identity and language commodification seem to hinder these processes in communities that have been historically and precariously minoritized such as indigenous and immigrant children. Hence, this embedded mixed-methods study analyses how interculturality is conceptualized, implemented, and experienced 1) in the National Policy for Foreign Students (2018-2022) (PNM); and 2) by six EFL teachers working in vulnerable multicultural educational contexts in Chile. First, the PNM document is analyzed following a corpus-assisted approach to critical discourse analysis. Then, the interviews were analyzed following a grounded approach to thematic coding. Results show a clear dichotomy between ontological and epistemological understanding of interculturality in which schools attempt to promote the critical coexistence of various cultures among their students and communities despite the precariousness they face and the lack of an intersectional understating of interculturality in the PNM.

"Being Holistic Is a Lot to Ask": A Qualitative, Cross-National Exploration of Occupational Therapists' Perceptions and Experiences of Holistic Practice.

Being holistic is often used by occupational therapists to describe their practice and philosophy worldwide. This study explores the perspectives of 33 occupational therapists, working in 13 different countries, on their understanding of holistic epistemology and practice and how they seek to incorporate holism in their work. On the basis of a qualitative study design, individual interviews were conducted with the participants by 18 Norwegian undergraduate occupational therapy students, supported by their supervisors. The authors subsequently analyzed the transcribed data, using a thematic analysis approach. Three principal themes emerged: (1) holism as a broad and narrow concept, (2) being holistic spans from treating body parts to teaching marginalized children, and (3) being holistic is a lot to ask. When talking about holism and holistic practice, participants described their holistic practices in various ways, and their accounts reflected different understandings and cultural contexts. Participants characterized a holistic approach as one emphasizing the importance of occupations and activities and helping patients regain independence in their everyday lives. However, they also highlighted the specific challenges they faced, including cultural factors and inadequate resources. Significantly, participants from both Western and non-Western contexts emphasized the importance of holistic practice, suggesting that a dichotomous understanding of Eastern versus Western philosophical approaches does not necessarily make sense in occupational therapy interventions. Therapists' degree of commitment to client-centered practice appears of greater relevance. With its international perspective, our study sheds light on important areas of contemporary occupational therapy practice, including the difficulties occupational therapists face when seeking to cover "everything" in an effort to be more holistic.

Analisis Landasan Epistemologis dalam Pengembangan Kurikulum Pendidikan Agama Islam di Sekolah Menengah Pertama

This study aims to investigate the role and influence of epistemological foundations in the development of the Islamic Religious Education (PAI) curriculum in junior high schools (SMP). The background of this research is based on the importance of the Islamic epistemological foundations in determining the validity and boundaries of knowledge within Islamic teachings, which is crucial to ensure the consistency and relevance of the PAI curriculum with the needs of students. This research employs a qualitative approach with a case study design involving document analysis and in-depth interviews as data collection techniques. The findings indicate that an understanding of the Islamic epistemological foundations influences the selection of learning materials, the development of teaching methods, and the integration of Islamic values in the PAI curriculum in SMP. The study also reveals challenges in the curriculum implementation, including differing interpretations of Islamic teachings, limited resources, and varying understandings of Islamic epistemology among teachers. The research concludes that a deep understanding of the Islamic epistemological foundations is a critical aspect in developing the PAI curriculum in SMP and requires collaborative efforts between educators, policymakers, and the Islamic community to overcome these challenges and ensure the effectiveness of Islamic religious education in schools. The implications of this study highlight the need for enhanced training and resources for teachers to strengthen the implementation of a curriculum based on the principles of Islamic epistemology.

We Need to Talk About Knowledge! Rethinking Management and Evidence-Based Practice in Welfare

New Public Management (NPM) and Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) are two fundamental concepts within welfare professions. Both NPM and EBP are central to many debates within welfare, and often criticised as posing simplified or positivist approaches to management and knowledge utilization. Epistemologically, both are manifestations of modernity, with its emphases on standardization, control, simple causality and measurability. These epistemological similarities have not been explored as potential doorways for making modifications to NPM and EBP. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to new ways of thinking and doing management and EBP of complex welfare issues by increasing the epistemological understanding of these concepts. NPM and EBP are taken here as subjects for joint conceptual analysis. The paper is guided by the following question: What is an appropriate epistemology for professionals involved in EBP and managing? Literature on NPM and EBP are analyzed together with theoretical insights from scholarship on formalization and heterogeneity of expertise, and analyzed in light of empirical examples taken from a case of a subregional social sustainability/public health initiative. Drawing on the development of post-NPM and more complex versions of EBP, the paper ends by introducing the notion post-EBP, and concludes by outlining some implications of this concept for the working professions.

Kris i högre utbildning?

This article uses examples from the media debate on higher education in Sweden, as well as from a research project on independence in higher education, to discuss the significance of class and social background in relation to higher education. The article takes as its starting point how higher education in the media debate tends to be described as being in a severe crisis, and how the roots of the perceived problems in higher education are described to lie in deficits or incompetence of the individual students, but also within higher education itself. The discussion of what role class and social background may play in this, relates these examples to the assignment given to Swedish higher education institutions to promote widening participation and to the claims within the field of academic literacies that academic writing is not only a question of writing skills as such, but also a question of epistemological understandings, meaning making, and students’ background, identity and self-perception.

Pengaruh Perkembangan Filsafat Ilmu terhadap Ilmu Pengetahuan Kontemporer

Abstract
 Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dampak yang signifikan dari This research aims to analyze the significant impact of the development of the philosophy of science on contemporary science. Philosophy of science has long been a conceptual basis for understanding scientific epistemology, methodology and ethics. In this context, this research traces the evolution of the philosophy of science from classical thought to the modern era and how these views shape and influence the science we have today. The research method used involves analysis of historical and philosophical literature, highlighting the thoughts of influential philosophers of science such as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, and other important figures. This research also considers developments in the philosophy of science, such as positivism, postmodernism, and feminist thought, as well as the ways in which these views have influenced research methodology, epistemological understanding, and contemporary scientific practice. The results of this research reveal that the philosophy of science has played an important role in the formation of scientific paradigms, the development of scientific theories, as well as in the development of more reflective and ethical research practices. The impact of the philosophy of science is also reflected in the research ethics controversies and fundamental questions about the nature of science that continue to be debated in scientific society today. This research provides a deeper understanding of the close relationship between philosophy of science and contemporary science, and underlines the importance of philosophical awareness in developing better and more responsible knowledge. These findings may provide a foundation for further developments in deep philosophical thinking about science and future scientific research.
 Keywords: philosophy of science, science, contemporary