Epistemological Development and Assessment of Personal Beliefs about Knowledge and Knowing: Validation Study of the Epistemological Positioning Scale for PhD Students

Authors

  • Cláudia Figueiredo CIDTFF “ University of Aveiro.
  • Maria do Rosário Pinheiro Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra.
  • Isabel Huet CIDTFF “ University of Aveiro and Kingston University.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-8614_49-1_5

Keywords:

personal epistemology, epistemological beliefs, scale development, psychometric analysis

Abstract

Being nowadays a vast scientific domain, the epistemological development theories or personal epistemology are facing numerous challenges regarding the conceptual systematization of their constructs and methodological strategies. This work aims at contributing to the discussion of such issue, by making
a proposal for quantitative assessment of the epistemological development, accessed by the beliefs regarding knowledge and knowing. In this study the Epistemological Position Scale (EPE) has been developed and applied to a sample of 429 PhD Students of Portuguese Universities that were in different stages of their studies. The dimensionality analyses performed revealed factorial structures theoretically interpretable, using two alternative forms of item analysis. In the final version, EPE is composed of 25 items within a four factor solution (35.5% of
total variance explained), named as follows: (1) epistemological sophistication; (2) epistemological naivety; (3) unchanging knowledge; and (4) learning quickly.

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Published

2015-12-11

How to Cite

Figueiredo, C., Pinheiro, M. do R., & Huet, I. (2015). Epistemological Development and Assessment of Personal Beliefs about Knowledge and Knowing: Validation Study of the Epistemological Positioning Scale for PhD Students. Revista Portuguesa De Pedagogia, 1(1), 105–130. https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-8614_49-1_5

Issue

Nº 49-1 (2015)

Section

Articles

License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows sharing the work with recognition of authorship and initial publication in Antropologia Portuguesa journal.