Certainty Of Knowledge Research Articles

Toward Epistemological Development Across the Curriculum: The Effect of Embedded Epistemic Instruction

Abstract: The present study investigated enhancing undergraduates' epistemological beliefs by integrating epistemological insights into a regular university course using an immersion framework. It was conducted with second-year students in the Department of English Language and Cultures in an Algerian university. The 48-student group received a two-semester study skills course designed with built-in notions about the nature, construction, sources, and certainty of knowledge, along with the original course content. A 19-subject group received a traditional study skills course. Both samples' epistemological beliefs were measured using Baxter Magolda's epistemological reflection model before and after the treatment. A qualitative analysis of the data indicated a significantly greater increase in the sophistication of the treatment group's epistemological beliefs when compared to the control group. These results highlight the considerable potential that a curriculum design informed by personal epistemology research has to offer to all educational endeavors and, hence, to overall epistemological complexity in society. Recommendations are made for policymakers, instructional designers, and teachers.

O metodach badawczych w publicznym prawie gospodarczym

The article reflects on the issue of the research method in public economic law. In the first part, the concept of science is explained, which can be understood as a process consisting in the systematised pursuit of knowledge of the truth for idealistic or utilitarian purposes. The starting point is K. Jaspers’ definition, according to which the concept of science contains three elements: methodical cognition (1), certainty of knowledge (2), universal validity (3). Each of the elements indicated is then considered. Methodical cognition is to be distinguished from thought. The former is cognition of reality presupposing an awareness of the research method and its limitations. The latter is driven by intuition. The use of the method should be strongly linked to the research objective. The author then refers to the second defining element: certainty in the science of law. In his view, certainty is sought in answers to questions about the content of the law in force. Secondly, certainty is sought in the criteria evaluating the law and the results of this evaluation. The third element, i.e. universal validity, is related to the generally accepted methods of interpretation and the fundaments of law lying in human rights and the human dignity that is their source. The second part of the paper focuses on defining the research objective and the adequacy of the method, referring to the dogmatic, historical and comparative methods that should aim at determination the law in force and its evaluation. In the third part of the article, a proposal for a research method in public economic law is presented, which consists of three elements: presenting the context of the research objective, applying the dogmatic method, and evaluating the law in force. In the last part, attention is drawn to the need for uprightness of life, and therefore ethos, as a condition for the ability to recognize what is just.

Certainty of Knowledge and Performance of Physics among Secondary School Students in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

Certainty of Knowledge and Performance of Physics among Secondary School Students in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

Certainty of Knowledge and Performance of Physics among Secondary School Students in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Certainty of Knowledge and Performance of Physics among Secondary School Students in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Crisis alert: (Dis)information selection and sharing in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract High levels of threat and uncertainty characterize the onset of societal crises. Here, people are exposed to conflicting information in the media, including disinformation. Because individuals often base their news selection on pre-existing attitudes, the present study aims to examine selective exposure effects in the face of a crisis, and identify right-wing ideological, trust-, and science-related beliefs that might influence the selection and sharing of disinformation. A representative survey of German internet users (N = 1101) at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak showed a confirmation bias in crisis-related news selection and sharing. It revealed right-wing authoritarianism and political mistrust as significant predictors of disinformation selection. The influence of social dominance orientation, mistrust in politics, and perceived certainty of knowledge were significant for sharing disinformation. The present results extend previous knowledge about people’s (dis)information behavior in times of crisis, and shed light on groups particularly vulnerable to disinformation.

Values education: From the perspective of Marxist ontology

ABSTRACT With the prevalence of values and the advent of the idea of rationalist education, the values characteristic of distinct subjectivity and affectiveness face many theoretical and practical problems when taught within the framework of modern education, which seeks certainty of knowledge. The challenges that values education encounters in today’s world urgently demand that we return to the origins of human spiritual life. We must be informed by the Marxist disclosure of the intrinsic value of human existence, and grasp the intrinsic isomorphism between values education and human existence within the web of original and historical dialectic relations by relying on a complementary understanding of values and the essence of education: real men possess a logic of existence that endows value independence and consciousness of edification, and on the basis of the nature of the value of human existence, values education obtains a solid foundation both in the sense of fact and of value. Human existence thus displays the value content of self-selection, self-edification, and self-improvement peculiar to it due to its mutual dependence on and fulfillment of values education.

Representationalism, skepticism and phenomenal realism

The irreducibility thesis of phenomenal consciousness can only succeed against the sceptical attack and avoid solipsism iff it can coherently establish the transition from subjective certainty to the objectivity of knowledge. The sceptical attack on the relationship between the phenomenal qualitative character of experience about the subjects own mental fact and the awareness of the qualitative properties of the phenomenal object can be avoided through establishing the immediacy of experience. The phenomenal realist become successful in establishing the subjective certainty about the knowledge of phenomenal consciousness, however, has been failed in establishing objective certainty of knowledge, which leads to several epistemological problems (i.e., scepticism about the independent existence of external world, knowledge about the external reality and the existence of other mind; popularly known as the harder problem of consciousness) in philosophy of mind. In this paper, my objective is to reveal the undesirable consequences of representationalism. Representationalism is not an ideal option for responding to the sceptical attack against the other minds and the reality of the external world. It always leaves an open question for us about the relation between the representation of the object of experience and consciousness. Representationalistic theories of experience violates the principles of phenomenality by rejecting the immediacy of experience and has been committing the pragmatic contradiction by reducing the phenomenal properties to representational properties. The categorization of knowledge about phenomenality as inferential knowledge by representationalist leave no room for foundational knowledge about phenomenality.

The Pattern of Epistemological Belief in Design among Engineering Students

This study was geared toward identifying the pattern of epistemological belief in design among engineering students enrolled in one of the research universities in Malaysia. To this end, data collection was carried out by employing an adapted instrument of a Likert-type questionnaire with five scales consisting of 68 items. Then, 120 engineering students from several engineering disciplines, such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering, were selected from the overall population of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to determine their epistemological beliefs on design. According to the literature, six dimensions of beliefs were commonly perceived. The students were to describe their beliefs about design knowledge and the nature of knowing and learning design, including the source of knowledge, the certainty of knowledge, structure of knowledge, speed of knowledge acquisition, innate ability of personal and general knowledge, and real-world applicability of knowledge. The study's findings revealed that the epistemological beliefs of engineering students in each dimension yielded a difference across varying engineering majors.

İngilizce yabancı dil öğretmenlerinin yansıtma seviyeleri ve epistemolojik inanışları

The most important change in the recent years is the adopting of “learner-centred education” philosophy in teaching programmes. When the roots of this method are examined, it is seen that there are certain areas of study affecting the constructivism approach. One of the most effective ones among these interdisciplinary areas is the area of epistemology studies. The epistemological beliefs play an important role in the individual’s psychological, sociological, philosophical and behavioural development. The aim of the present paper is to measure pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs in relation to their reflection levels. Epistemological beliefs are important aspects of teachers’ thinking processes as they indicate beliefs about sources of information. In order to measure pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs, the epistemological beliefs survey, developed by Chan and Eliott (2004), was used. This survey conceptualizes epistemological beliefs under four dimensions; namely innate/fixed ability, learning effort/process, authority/expert knowledge and certainty knowledge. For measuring pre-service EFL teachers’ reflection levels, Reflection Levels Questionnaire, developed by Larrivee (2008), was used. This tool has four sub-dimensions, which are pre-reflection, surface reflection, pedagogic reflection, and critical reflection. The participants are 133 pre-service EFL teachers enrolled in an English Language and Literature department. The results of the study indicate that pre-service EFL teachers have moderate levels of epistemological beliefs and reflections levels. In addition, there are significant differences in epistemological beliefs and reflection levels in terms of grade level of the participants.

Biological plausibility in environmental health systematic reviews: a GRADE concept paper.

"Biological plausibility" is a concept frequently referred to in environmental and public health when researchers are evaluating how confident they are in the results and inferences of a study or evidence review. Biological plausibility is not, however, a domain of one of the most widely-used approaches for assessing the certainty of evidence (CoE) which underpins the findings of a systematic review, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) CoE Framework. Whether the omission of biological plausibility is a potential limitation of the GRADE CoE Framework is a topic that is regularly discussed, especially in the context of environmental health systematic reviews. We analyse how the concept of "biological plausibility", as applied in the context of assessing certainty of the evidence that supports the findings of a systematic review, is accommodated under the processes of systematic review and the existing GRADE domains. We argue that "biological plausibility" is a concept which primarily comes into play when direct evidence about the effects of an exposure on a population of concern (usually humans) is absent, at high risk of bias, is inconsistent, or limited in other ways. In such circumstances, researchers look toward evidence from other study designs in order to draw conclusions. In this respect, we can consider experimental animal and in vitro evidence as "surrogates" for the target populations, exposures, comparators and outcomes of actual interest. Through discussion of 10 examples of experimental surrogates, we propose that the concept of biological plausibility consists of two principal aspects: a "generalisability aspect" and a "mechanistic aspect". The "generalisability aspect" concerns the validity of inferences from experimental models to human scenarios, and asks the same question as does the assessment of external validity or indirectness in systematic reviews. The "mechanistic aspect" concerns certainty in knowledge of biological mechanisms and would inform judgements of indirectness under GRADE, and thus the overall CoE. While both aspects are accommodated under the indirectness domain of the GRADE CoE Framework, further research is needed to determine how to use knowledge of biological mechanisms in the assessment of indirectness of the evidence in systematic reviews.

Biological plausibility in environmental health systematic reviews: a GRADE concept paper

Background“Biological plausibility” is a concept frequently referred to in environmental and public health when researchers are evaluating how confident they are in the results and inferences of a study or evidence review. Biological plausibility is not, however, a domain of one of the most widely used approaches for assessing the certainty of evidence (CoE) which underpins the findings of a systematic review, the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) CoE Framework. ObjectivesWhether the omission of biological plausibility is a potential limitation of the GRADE CoE Framework is a topic that is regularly discussed, especially in the context of environmental health systematic reviews. Study Design and SettingWe analyze how the concept of “biological plausibility,” as applied in the context of assessing certainty of the evidence that supports the findings of a systematic review, is accommodated under the processes of systematic review and the existing GRADE domains. ResultsWe argue that “biological plausibility” is a concept which primarily comes into play when direct evidence about the effects of an exposure on a population of concern (usually humans) is absent, at high risk of bias, inconsistent, or limited in other ways. In such circumstances, researchers look toward evidence from other study designs to draw conclusions. In this respect, we can consider experimental animal and in vitro evidence as “surrogates” for the target populations, exposures, comparators, and outcomes of actual interest. Through discussion of 10 examples of experimental surrogates, we propose that the concept of biological plausibility consists of two principal aspects: a “generalizability aspect” and a “mechanistic aspect.” ConclusionsThe “generalizability aspect” concerns the validity of inferences from experimental models to human scenarios, and asks the same question as does the assessment of external validity or indirectness in systematic reviews. The “mechanistic aspect” concerns certainty in knowledge of biological mechanisms and would inform judgments of indirectness under GRADE, and thus the overall CoE. Although both aspects are accommodated under the indirectness domain of the GRADE CoE Framework, further research is needed to determine how to use knowledge of biological mechanisms in the assessment of indirectness of the evidence in systematic reviews.

Investigation of pre-service physical education teachers epistemological and pedagogical beliefs

The aim of this study was to examine pre-service physical education teachers’ epistemological and pedagogical beliefs and to reveal the relationship between those beliefs. The participants in the study were 333 pre-service teachers studying in physical education and sports teaching departments. The epistemological beliefs questionnaire, and teaching and learning conceptions questionnaire were used as the data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis were applied. It was determined that the pre-service physical education teachers’ mean scores for learning process-doubting authority/expert knowledge, learning effort and constructivist conception were high, while their scores for innate/fixed ability, certainty of knowledge and traditional conception were moderate. According to the path analysis results, it was revealed that their innate/fixed ability and certainty of knowledge beliefs positively predicted the traditional conception, while their learning process-doubting authority/expert knowledge and learning effort beliefs positively predicted the constructivist conception. As a result of the research, it was determined that generally, the pre-service physical education teachers believed in the importance of effort and process in learning, and that they adopted a constructivist conception. Furthermore, it was revealed that epistemological beliefs are an important variable in predicting pedagogical beliefs.

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

Teachers’ epistemic beliefs and reported practices in two cultural contexts

ABSTRACT Teachers’ epistemic beliefs may have consequences for their pedagogical work. We used previously developed scales to assess epistemic beliefs that teachers hold about learning, knowledge and knowing, and how they report putting such ideas into practice. The scales consisted of self-reported Likert-type statements considering collaborative knowledge building, valuing metacognition, certainty of knowledge, and a surface approach to learning. The participants were 127 subject-matter teachers from Finland and 97 teachers from Taiwan. Based on previous research, we constructed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model for the Finnish sample and replicated this with the Taiwanese sample. We confirmed two factors: 1) reflective-collaborative theory (consisting of collaborative knowledge building and valuing metacognition scales) and 2) knowledge transmission theory (consisting of certainty of knowledge and simple learning scales) in both samples. In conclusion, essential and corresponding aspects of teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their reported practices were found. However, the results showed some cross-cultural variance. It is important to look at teachers’ epistemic beliefs because they may have consequences for teachers’ pedagogical work. These beliefs are a part of epistemic cognition which in this context consists of epistemic beliefs (beliefs about knowledge and learning) and how teachers report to put them into practice (e.g.). The aim of this study is to identify and assess teachers’ core epistemic beliefs and how such beliefs are associated with their practical ideas on pedagogy in two diverse cultural contexts. We used previously developed scales to assess beliefs that teachers hold about learning, knowledge and knowing, and how they report putting such ideas into practice. The scales consisted of self-reported Likert-type statements considering collaborative knowledge building, valuing metacognition, emphasising certainty of knowledge, and a surface approach to learning. The participants were 127 subject-matter teachers from Finland and 97 teachers from Taiwan. Based on previous research, we constructed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model for the Finnish sample and replicated this with the Taiwanese sample. We confirmed two factors: 1) reflective-collaborative theory (consisting of collaborative knowledge building and valuing metacognition scales) and 2) knowledge transmission theory (consisting of certainty of knowledge and simple learning scales) in both samples. In conclusion, essential and corresponding aspects of teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their reported practices were found. However, the results showed some cross-cultural variance.

The Cartesian evil demon and the impossibility of the monstrous lie

In this paper, I address the issue of whether the evil demon could have caused the idea of God. In order to determine the capabilities of the evil demon, I perform a thought experiment in which I reaffirm the conclusion that an imperfect being could have never caused an idea of perfection and infinitude, i.e., the idea of God. The article is divided into five sections and a conclusion. While the first section is introductory, the second looks at the problem of God and knowledge certainty. Elucidating how reality is gradual according to Descartes, in the third section I address the distinction between objective, formal and eminent reality. In turn, in the fourth section, I argue that if the objective reality of God exists, that is, an idea of perfection, the imperfect evil demon could have never caused it. The last section examines the reverse argument of the fourth section, viz, whether God could have caused the existence of evil and imperfection. Keywords: God, evil demon, imperfection.

High-School Students’ Topic-Specific Epistemic Beliefs about Climate Change: An Assessment-Related Study

This study belongs to assessment-related research and aimed to investigate Finnish high-school students’ (n = 211) topic-specific epistemic beliefs about climate change and whether the Norwegian topic-specific epistemic beliefs questionnaire (TSEBQ) was also valid among Finnish respondents. Thus, research data were not only derived from the TSEBQ but also from topic knowledge tests and students’ views on their favorite school subjects and interest in science subjects. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the statistical model, originally based on 49 questions, was congruent with the Norwegian four-factor model (Certification, Source, Justification and Simplicity). However, according to the reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the performance of the Simplicity factor was unclear. In CFA, the three-factor structure (without Simplicity) was supported. The effects of topic knowledge, topic interest and gender on the TSEBQ factors were examined by using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA). The TSEBQ was shown to be a reliable tool for measuring the topic-specific epistemic beliefs of Finnish students. More specifically, the results support the claim that topic-specific epistemic beliefs can be educationally and culturally bound. HRA showed that students’ topic knowledge in chemistry and biology was related to certainty of knowledge and justification for knowing. Moreover, female students performed significantly better in topic knowledge and more often planned to pursue a science career in the future.

An Investigation of the Relation between Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Epistemological Cognition and Teaching Approaches

This study was undertaken to investigate the relation between pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their approaches to teaching. The participants are 105 pre-service EFL teachers, selected based on a random sampling method. To measure pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs, The Epistemological Beliefs Survey, developed by Chan and Eliott (2004), was used. This survey conceptualizes epistemological beliefs under four dimensions; namely “innate/fixed ability, learning effort/process, authority/expert knowledge, and certainty knowledge.” To measure, pre-service EFL teachers’ approaches to teaching, the Approaches to Teaching Inventory, developed by Trigwell, Prosser, and Ginns (2005), was utilized. This tool has three major subdimensions; “transmission-based, student-teacher interaction, and student focus.” Descriptive and correlational statistical analyses were used. The results indicated that pre-service EFL teachers moderately agree with the sub-dimensions of epistemological beliefs and the most important sub-dimension that predict teaching approaches is the effort dimension of epistemological beliefs.

An Investigation of Epistemological Beliefs of Physics Teachers According to Different Variables

Epistemological beliefs adopted by individuals determine their knowledge, learning and teaching orientations. For this reason, the purpose of this research is to study physics teachers’ belief levels, as well as the questions about what effect gender, professional experience, and educational background variables have on these levels. Causal-comparative model was used to study these variables. Participants were 205 physics teachers consisting of 106 women and 99 men who work in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. All of the data was collected with the Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Scale developed by Conley, Pintrich, Vekiri & Harrison (2004). This scale was adapted into Turkish by Özkan (2008). The data was analyzed using parametric tests. Ultimately, findings indicated that physics teachers had sophisticated epistemological beliefs. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between female and male teachers in terms of beliefs. Educational background variable was found not to have any effect on epistemological beliefs of physics teachers. In regards to professional experience variable, teachers with less experience had more sophisticated epistemological beliefs about the source of knowledge, certainty of knowledge and justification of knowledge.

Exploring the Relationship among the Brain Knowledge, Certainty of Knowledge, Learning pathway, and Growth Mindset in Korean Undergraduates

본 연구는 국내 대학생의 뇌과학 지식 수준과 지식에 대한 확신성을 조사하고, 특히 잘못된 뇌과학정보의 주된 학습 경로에 따라 지식의 정확도와 확신성이 어떻게 달라지는지 밝히고자 하였다. 또한, 성장신념과 뇌과학 지식 수준의 관계를 살펴보았다. 대학생 312명을 대상으로 설문을 시행하였고, 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 많은 대학생이 잘못된 뇌과학 지식을 갖고 있었으며 이에 대해 높은 확신성을 보였다. 특히 뇌신경계신화 중 오답률이 가장 높았던 것은 VAK 학습유형 원리였다(91.3%). 둘째, 학생들은 뇌과학 정보를 주로 방송 및 인터넷을 통해 학습하였으며 잘못된 뇌과학지식의 주요 학습 경로는 방송 및 인터넷, 책, 주변 사람들 순으로 나타났다. 셋째, 뇌과학 지식 수준이 성장신념을 예측하지는 못했지만, 신경계신화 수준은 노력에 관한 믿음을 예측했다. 본 연구결과는 학습자가 정확한 뇌과학 지식을 얻을 수 있도록 학습자들에게 올바른 학습 경로를 제시하고 체계적인 교육을 제공해야 할 필요가 있음을 시사한다.With a sample of 312 undergraduate students, the present study aimed to identify the level of brain knowledge, the major learning pathway, the certainty of knowledge, and how the certainty of inaccurate knowledge varied as a function of students’ learning pathway. In addition, we examined the relationship between the level of brain knowledge and the growth mindset (i.e., the belief that intelligence is malleable). Results showed that, first, many students demonstrated inaccurate understanding about the brain and high level of certainty toward their false beliefs about the brain. Among the neuromyth items, the VAK learning style myth showed the highest rate of incorrect answers (i.e., 91.3%). Second, students reported they acquired brain knowledge mainly from TV and the internet, books, and the people around them. Inaccurate knowledge about the brain was also obtained mainly from TV and the internet, books, and the surrounding people. Third, the level of brain knowledge did not predict students’ growth mindset, but the level of neuromyths significantly predicted students’ effort beliefs. Our findings suggest that students should acquire their brain knowledge via credible learning pathways so that they can obtain accurate knowledge about the brain.

Using Concept Cartoons to Identify the Epistemological Beliefs of Middle School Students

Epistemological beliefs, including the source of knowledge, the certainty of knowledge, the organization of knowledge, the control of learning, and the speed of learning, are important to identify since these beliefs impact students' learning processes and how they attribute meaning to life. Concept cartoons, that students find genuine and credible, are found to be effective assessment tools in revealing these beliefs. The present study aims to identify and compare 5th and 8th grade middle school students' epistemological beliefs utilizing concept cartoons. The study participants were 5th (N=38) and 8th grade (N=47) students enrolled in three different middle schools in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize. In order to reveal the students' opinions, one concept cartoon for each dimension of epistemological belief was utilized. A scoring rubric was employed to analyze the student responses to the concept cartoons. According to the results of the t-tests on students' scores, the 5th and 8th grade students' epistemological beliefs in the dimensions of organization of knowledge, source of knowledge, and certainty of knowledge are similar. In contrast, 8th grade students' epistemological beliefs related to the speed of learning and the control of learning were found to be significantly higher than those of 5th-grade students. Among the mean values of the students' epistemological beliefs, source of knowledge beliefs were found to be the lowest.Keywords Concept Cartoons, Epistemological Beliefs, Middle School Students