This paper builds on a case study on e-learning in Sri Lanka with focus on students underlying beliefs about how one learns. E-learning programs are most often set up with the assumption that students should think, act and learn independently and with underlying values of constructivism and learner-centred learning. For students used to…

In this paper I consider the case of one student, Todd Alexander, through analyzing the transcripts of his interviews between him and his teacher (Wolff-Michael Roth). I examine the role that emotions play in the development of the interpretive repertoires that Todd employed as he talked about his scientific and his religious beliefs. I identify…

Studies of students' educational outcomes tend to be based on rather simple input-output models. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that more informed theoretical perspectives are appropriate to analyses of quantitative data on professional learning processes. It is suggested that "connection to knowledge" and "wanting structure" are…

Background: Epistemological beliefs are subjective theories of the structure and acquisition of knowledge. The instruments used to measure epistemological beliefs in educational psychology (see Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001) typically consist of questionnaires tapping general, decontextualized beliefs about knowledge or knowledge acquisition in a…

Researchers (Jehng, Johnson & Anderson, 1993; Paulsen & Wells, 1998) have suggested that it is possible to divide disciplines into categories such as "applied" vs "pure". They believe that significant differences exist between the epistemological beliefs of students studying "applied" disciplines to those studying "pure" disciplines. This study…

This study reports on the development of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) multimedia courseware on oral presentations, and its integration into self-study learning and elective courses for students with different English proficiencies, as one solution to problems in ESP courses in Taiwan. The courseware design is based on Mayer's multimedia…

This article presents results from a longitudinal study following a cohort of medical students. Semistructured interviews are conducted every year, in which the students tell about their experiences learning medicine, their daily life, and their social activities in relation to university. The aim of the study is to analyze how medical students…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the structural relationships between scientific epistemological views (SEVs) and information commitments (ICs) of high school students in Taiwan. Data were collected from 486 Taiwanese high school students via two self-reporting instruments: one was the SEV questionnaire, including five scales for…

This study discusses preservice elementary science teachers' (PSTs) epistemological beliefs and the relationships among their epistemological beliefs, epistemological world views, and self-efficacy beliefs. Four hundred and twenty-nine PSTs who were enrolled in five large universities completed the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ), the…

Two studies, a cross-sectional (173 first-year and 215 final-year participants) and a longitudinal (81 participants), examined whether two aspects of the learning experience of student teachers (epistemological beliefs and learning approaches), and the interrelations between them changed as a result of their tertiary education. Between the first…

Students' views about science were correlated with their approaches to lab practice. Three distinct cases are discussed in detail: empiricist-oriented, rationalist-oriented, and constructivist-oriented students. A coherent epistemological theory was constructed for each case, by considering the different degrees of certainty and confidence each…

Physical activity participation rates in the United States have been in steady decline for the last 25 years, so much so that 60% of youth ages 9-13 years get no physical activity outside of school. This state of inactivity indicates that promoting participation in physical activity at a young age is of importance. For the present study, a…

This study is an investigation of the epistemological beliefs and study habits of students undertaking first-year courses in Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry. In particular, we were interested in the relationship between students' epistemological beliefs about learning and knowledge, approaches to learning, and achievement. The study adopted…

Introduction: The work of reflective thinking (Mezirow, 1991, 1998) and epistemological beliefs (Schommer, 1990, 1993; Schommer-Aikins, Duell & Hutter, 2005) is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in students' academic learning. Furthermore, students' approaches to their learning are also considered as contributing factors…

Historically, teacher education in special education has focused on identifying characteristics of various disabilities and promoting best practices for intervention and remediation. This article introduces a disability studies approach to teacher education in special education. Disability studies is an interdisciplinary area of study that…