Physics students' epistemologies and views about knowing and learning

Abstract

Classrooms are complex environments in which curriculum, students, and teachers interact. In recent years a number of studies have investigated the effect of teachers' epistemologies on the classroom environment, yet little is known about students' epistemologies and how these interact with those of teachers. The purpose of this study was to document students' epistemologies and their concurrent views about knowing and learning. Using a written essay, short‐answer responses to statements, a preferred classroom environment inventory, and interviews, students' views on scientific knowledge and their own knowing and learning were collected from 42 students in three sections of an introductory physics course. Our rather broad, qualitative inquiry provides a dynamic view of students' understanding of knowing and learning in high school physics. Our analyses reveal a spectrum of epistemological commitments commensurable with positions from objectivism to relativism, most of them with experientialist coloring. Even within individuals, these commitments could be at once commensurable and incommensurable with the same epistemological position. We also find rather significant inter‐ and intra‐individual differences with respect to the consequences of a specific epistemological stance to learning, the learning strategies employed, and the learning environment preferred. Students' views on knowing and learning in physics are presented in the form of an emergent theory. The findings are discussed in terms of their application to classroom environments.

Teaching and learning in the science classroom: The interplay between teachers' epistemological moves and students' practical epistemology

“…A number of studies have been reporting that teachers in science education often hold a positivistic view of science (Brickhouse, 1990;Driver et al, 2000;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Yerrick et al, 1998). Teachers' views of science can of course have important implications for their teaching and for students' learning of science.…”

“…One can doubt that these sorts of general questions and thoughts are at the heart of students' and teachers' thinking and acting in the science classroom. Previous studies have shown that neither teachers nor students hold a unified epistemological position (Roth & Lucas, 1997;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Ryder, Leach, & Driver, 1999). Epistemological beliefs or standpoints of teachers and students seem to be connected to specific sociocultural situations rather than something that is decontextualized and universal (Wickman, 2004).…”

“…Investigations show that students' understanding of the epistemological nature of science can influence how they relate to knowledge presented for them, interpret what the teacher says, and understand the result of laboratory work (e.g., Leach et al, 2000;Meyling, 1997;Roth & Lucas, 1997;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Ryder et al, 1999;Tsai, 1999;Yerrick, Pedersen, & Arnason, 1998). Furthermore, research shows that epistemological commitments of teachers influence their teaching practice and that many teachers' practice can be connected to a positivistic/ objectivistic view of science (e.g., Brickhouse, 1990;Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Yerrick et al 1998). Also, it has been emphasized the importance of not only examining the epistemological beliefs that teachers hold, but also how students perceive and conceptualize learning (Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994).…”

“…Furthermore, research shows that epistemological commitments of teachers influence their teaching practice and that many teachers' practice can be connected to a positivistic/ objectivistic view of science (e.g., Brickhouse, 1990;Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Yerrick et al 1998). Also, it has been emphasized the importance of not only examining the epistemological beliefs that teachers hold, but also how students perceive and conceptualize learning (Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994). Taken together, these studies more or less directly suggest that there is a connection between the epistemological dimension in teaching, the epistemology that students use in their meaning making process and the learning of science subject matter.…”

Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry

“…Sandoval and Morrison interviewed a sample of high school students before and after a month-long intervention and found both that individual students' responses to different questions reflected different epistemological levels, and that student responses were not stable across interviews (or predictable). There are other studies showing that students often hold inconsistent views of the nature of science that show up in different contexts (Hammer, 1994;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1994;Solomon, Duveen, & Scott, 1994). There is also indirect evidence for fragmented epistemological beliefs from those studies that have been unable to assign large portions of students to a single epistemological "type" (Carey et al, 1989;Khishfe & Abd-El-Khalick, 2002;Linn & Songer, 1993).…”