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

Abstract

The Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI), as a theory-based and empirically validated instrument, was originally developed and widely used in the North American context. Through a strict translation procedure the authors translated the EBI into Chinese, and then administered it to 451 students in 7 universities in mainland China. The construct validity of scores on the Chinese version of the EBI (EBI-C) was examined with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results confirmed the original 5 factors: Simple Knowledge (SK), Certain Knowledge (CK), Innate Ability (IA), Omniscient Authority (OA), and Quick Learning (QL). Yet the overall model fit was unsatisfactory, ? 2 (449) = 1167.32, GFI= .85, and RMSEA = .06. After two model respecifications with interpretable solutions, the overall model fit was substantially improved with ?2 (265) = 510.81, GFI= .92, RMSEA = .04. The EBI-C can be used in China and other Chinese-speaking regions and communities. Cross-cultural research in the area of epistemic beliefs becomes more feasible because of the presence of the parallel instrument

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

“…A content analysis of these three items reveals that this makes sense, since none of the three are related to the actual source or origin of knowledge, but with disposition toward authority: "People should always obey the law",” When someone in authority tells me what to do, I usually do it" and "People should not question authority”. So, probably this group of items that constitute the second factor, rather than reflecting epistemic beliefs, relates to beliefs about the relationship with authority in general and a certain moral disposition toward obedience, as have been suggested [ 29 ]. Thus, the factor three appears the one that is properly epistemic, including items of two of the original epistemic dimensions, structure of knowledge and stability of knowledge.…”

“…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 ].…”

Epistemic and Mathematical Beliefs of Exemplary Statistics Teachers

“…Additionally, the 28-item length and its relative popularity in the literature when compared with other epistemological belief instruments made the EBI an attractive instrument for use among other sources of data. An older, 32-item version of the EBI (Bendixen, Schraw, & Dunkle, 1998;Schraw, Dunkle, & Bendixen, 1995) also appears in the literature (e.g., Bendixen & Hartley, 2003;Mokhtari, 2014;Teo, 2013;Wang, Zhang, Zhang, & Hou, 2013;Welch & Ray, 2012) but was not chosen because the 28-item version was developed by refining the 32-item version and some of the additional four items implicitly position the respondent as a student which was not considered appropriate for this population of teachers. The widespread use of both 28 and 32-item versions of the EBI complicates the reporting of properties for these instruments, in part because they have the same name (see Appendix for details).…”

Creencias epistemológicas de estudiantes de pedagogía: validación del cuestionario y análisis de diferencias

“…En tiempos recientes, varios investigadores han mostrado especial interés para estudiar las creencias o teorías que las personas sostienen acerca del conocimiento y el aprendizaje, lo cual les ha permitido reconocer cómo estas creencias epistemológicas o epistemologías personales se relacionan directa o indirectamente con el aprendizaje académico (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002;Wang, Zhang, Zhang & Hou, 2013). El contenido de las creencias epistemológicas es sobre dos aspectos fundamentales: la naturaleza del conocimiento y el proceso de adquisición del conocimiento (Hofer, 2004;Pecharromán & Pozo, 2010).…”