We examined whether the text understanding of students holding naive and sophisticated epistemological beliefs was differentially affected by text format, also controlling for effects of gender, word decoding, and prior knowledge on understanding. The participants were 39 Norwegian first-year teacher students, and the topic of reading was…

Historians and philosophers of science have recognized the importance of controversies in the progress of science. The objective of this study was to facilitate in-service chemistry teachers' understanding of conceptual change based on alternative philosophical interpretations (controversies). Selected controversies formed part of the chemistry…

The findings of epistemological beliefs studies in North America, Hong Kong and Taiwan were compared and interpreted in terms of the different cultural contexts and methodologies used in the research studies. Based on cross culture analysis a hypothesis for the structure of epistemological beliefs was proposed. Implications were also drawn for…

We examined the relative contribution of epistemological beliefs and implicit theories of intelligence to the adoption of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals, respectively, in a sample of 80 Norwegian student teachers in an innovative, cooperative instructional context with little emphasis on grades and performance…

In research literature, two study orientations have been identified: meaning orientation and reproducing orientation. Few studies have examined how study orientations and conceptions of knowledge (epistemologies) interrelate. Further, longitudinal studies of the development of orientations and of conceptions of knowledge in relation to academic…

This research examined the relationship between types of perfectionists and differences in post-adolescent intellectual development. University students completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001) and the Scale of Adult Intellectual Development (Newman & Martin, 1999). The results revealed significant…

Educational development for research supervisors is still a recent phenomenon. Early optional sessions on research supervision have now been replaced, particularly in the UK, continental Europe, and Australasia, by comprehensive and, in some cases, mandatory programs. Yet some of these programs focus solely on the administrative roles and…

Drawing on Gregory Cajete's (1994, p. 55) explanation of "Pathway" (Path denoting structure, Way implying a process), a research framework was developed exploring Aboriginal women's perceptions and experiences of health and health services. Developing the research methodology was like laying out the Path, as a well thought out structure or the…

This qualitative research study explored the experiences of students who had attended a co operative (co-op) education program, with a focus on what makes the experience meaningful to them. Utilizing a basic interpretive research design, students who graduated from a co-op program were interviewed using an open-ended interview protocol. Both male…

The article is concerned with the research approaches and nature of methodologies and epistemologies used by practitioner-researchers in a range of occupational areas. The authors use the experiences of candidates on a generic Doctorate in Professional Studies who undertake a module on research and development for professional practice. They also…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the ways in which postgraduate study in vocational fields supports the development of advanced competences amongst mid-career professionals. Design/methodology/approach: The extensive written communications between health and safety professionals taking a postgraduate course in health and safety…

Students' perspectives, levels of epistemological understanding, and critical thinking dispositions related to the use of case studies in an educational psychology course. This is the second part of a research project investigating students' perspectives and critical thinking dispositions related to case study pedagogy in an educational psychology…

This article describes an investigation into mathematics for teaching in current teacher education practice in South Africa. The study focuses on formal evaluative events across mathematics teacher education courses in a range of institutions. Its theoretical orientation is informed by Bernstein's educational code theory and the analytic frame…

College educators share a common goal: to guide college students as they develop mature ways of making informed judgments. Moving away from uncritical acceptance of knowledge to critically constructing one's own perspective, however, is more complex than learning a skill set. The evolution from viewing knowledge as certain and possessed by…

This study investigated the application of the social-cognitive career theory (SCCT) (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to the math interest and choice intentions of non-traditional African-American college student population. The associations between the social-cognitive constructs were examined to identify their relation to math interest and choice…