Translation and validation of the Epistemic Belief Inventory with Turkish pre-service teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to translate the original version of the Epistemic Belief Inventory developed by Schraw, Bendixen, and Dunkle (2002) for preservice teachers in a Turkish context and validate its construct. Studies on the epistemological beliefs of Turkish students have been heretofore limited in number and have been largely conducted using adapted versions of the Schommer (1990) instrument. First, the original questionnaire was translated from English to Turkish and then was scrutinized by experts in language, content, measurement, and evaluation. Then, the revised questionnaire was administered to 166 Turkish pre-service teachers. The results of exploratory factor analyses suggested 3 epistemological belief dimensions -quick learning, innate ability, and certain knowledge. The results of the study further revealed support for multidimensional theories of epistemological beliefs among pre-service teachers. In order to verify the results of the present study, further examination of pre-service teachers' epistemological belief systems is necessary.

Predicting Turkish Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Orientations to Teaching Science with Epistemological Beliefs, Learning Conceptions, and Learning Approaches in Science

“…In this study, Cronbach's alpha reliability estimates for the OA, CK, IA, and QL epistemological belief dimensions were .39, .48, .67, and .57, respectively. Although these reliability estimates were less than optimal, they were typical of reliability estimates reported in psychometric studies of epistemological beliefs (Bath & Smith, 2009;Cam et al, 2012;Schommer, 1990;Schraw et al, 2002;Topcu, 2011;Yilmaz-Tuzun & Topcu, 2008).…”

“…Turkish version of the EBI (Cam, Topcu, Sulun, Guven, & Arabacioglu, 2012) was used in this study to assess preservice elementary teachers' epistemological beliefs. The original 28-item EBI (Schraw et al, 2002) measured the five epistemological beliefs dimensions first hypothesized by Schommer (1990): Omniscient Authority, Certain Knowledge, Simple Knowledge, Innate Ability, and Quick Learning.…”

“…The original 28-item EBI (Schraw et al, 2002) measured the five epistemological beliefs dimensions first hypothesized by Schommer (1990): Omniscient Authority, Certain Knowledge, Simple Knowledge, Innate Ability, and Quick Learning. Cam et al (2012) adapted the 28-item EBI (Schraw et al, 2002) in Turkish context by reducing the number of dimensions and items. The adapted 15-item Turkish EBI taps four dimensions in the original EBI developed by Schraw et al (2002).…”

Validation of the Chinese Version of the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

“…Moreover, there has been a growing body of research on epistemic beliefs using the EBI in other cultural contexts. For example, the EBI has been translated and adapted for the use in Korea (Jeong, 2003), China (Chan et al, 2011), Germany (Paechter et al, 2013), and Turkey (Cam, Topcu, Sulun, Guven, & Arabacioglu, 2012).…”

Three-factor structure for Epistemic Belief Inventory: A cross-validation study

“…For example, in the EQ, it has been replicated four of the five dimensions (knowledge structure and stability, control and speed of learning) for Norwegian students [24], but it has been reported only two dimensions (single learning and structure of knowledge) in Filipino preservice teachers [25]. With the EBI something similar happens: it has been found the dimensions of true knowledge, innate ability and quick learning in Korean students, [26], but in Turkish education students the dimensions of rapid learning, innate ability and certain knowledge were described [27]. It has been found the proposed five factors in a sample of Singaporean teachers, but the items that comprise each factor in their sample are different than those originally proposed [28]; while, on Chinese undergraduates, the proposed five factors structure achieved good indicators of adjustment, but retaining only 25 items, after unsuccessfully trying two other models [29].…”