Abstract:
Research has linked personal epistemology (individuals’ assumptions about knowledge and knowing) to the development of argumentation, problem-solving and academic achievement (Feucht & Bendixen 2010). The field of personal epistemology emerged from studies in the USA (Belenky et al. 1986; Perry 1970) that used phenomenologically inspired interviews, conducted mostly in tertiary education settings, to explore and map patterns of implicit assumptions about knowledge and knowing and associated meaning-making by individuals. Subsequently, Schommer-Aikins 2004, proposed that a series of discrete epistemological beliefs could be investigated via survey instruments. However, what was common to many studies was the focus on students in tertiary education. Consequently, tertiary preparation students are not well represented in the literature. My presentation will report on a study that investigated personal epistemology amongst a cohort of tertiary preparation students who were enrolled in Certificate IV in Health Science Foundations (HSF) in 2009 in Australia. The situated nature of the study means that it has significance for the scholarship of personal epistemology and for tertiary preparation courses which provide an alternative pathway into tertiary education to that based on a student’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).The research involved the development of a conceptual framework informed by Hofer & Pintrich 1997, to analyse 76 naturalistic texts produced by HSF students in 2009 in response to open-ended essay topics. The texts were analysed to identify the epistemological assumptions that could be inferred from them and the patterns that they formed. Eight phenomenologically inspired semi-structured interviews were also conducted with former HSF students. The study found that six epistemological lenses (patterns) could be inferred from the data using the conceptual framework. It compared these lenses to epistemological positions identified in earlier research and argued that the findings demonstrate the efficacy of the conceptual framework as a tool of analysis. The study also highlighted the role of lived experience in the emergence of personal epistemology thereby complementing earlier research which has often reported on the role of education in epistemological development. The presentation will conclude by considering the implications of the study for future scholarship and tertiary preparation courses. Belenky, MF, Clinchy, BM, Goldberger, NR & Tarule, JM 1986, Women's ways of knowing: the development of self, voice and mind, Basic Books, New York.Hofer, BK & Pintrich, PR 1997, 'The development of epistemological theories: beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning', Review of Educational Research, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 88-140. Perry, WG 1970, Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: a scheme, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Orlando, Florida.Schommer-Aikins, M 2004, 'Explaining the epistemological belief system: introducing the embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach', Educational Psychologist, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 19-29.