Epistemological belief from the student's perspective: A descriptive analysis

Abstract

Epistemological beliefs regulate students' cognitive processing strategies, learning orientation and their conceptions of learning. It is suggested that the epistemological beliefs influence students' achievement orientation, academic motivation and academic achievements. This paper draws from a PhD experimental work on student's epistemological beliefs in Pakistan. It aims to explore what and how the students view the epistemological beliefs from the perspective of learning at school. Twenty four students participated in the study. They have been divided into four focus groups which consist of six participants for each group. They have been interviewed for their views on epistemological beliefs in learning after the intervention programme. Their comments were recorded for analysis. Two basic themes for exploration were the source of knowledge and the certainty of knowledge. The data was then analysed by using applied thematic analysis to explore the student's understanding and views on epistemological beliefs. The findings showed that the student's epistemological beliefs are regarded as naïve beliefs. The source of knowledge is also found to be contributed by various sources such as experimentation, omniscient authority, reasoning or meditation, discussion and collaboration, and will power or hard work. At this point it is noted that the certainty of knowledge was regarded as tentative, uncertain and changing. The study has highlighted the role of learning context in Pakistan to help students develop and retain desirable learning behaviors by changing students' epistemological beliefs.