Epistemological Beliefs, Information-Search Strategies and Criteria for the Validation of Web Information

Authors

  • Rubén Darío Martínez Vidal Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
  • Yolanda Haydeé Montero Mauro Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
  • María Eugenia Pedrosa Borrini Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata

Keywords:

Computers uses in education, Internet, secondary education, evaluation criteria, epistemology.

Abstract

This work describes an exploratory study of 286 junior high school students in Mar del Plata, Argentina, regarding the themes: a) places and frequency of access to the Internet; b) strategies used by students in searching the Internet for relevant information; c) the way in which they validate and make sense of the data obtained; and d) students’ epistemological beliefs. Results indicated that: a) participants were more willing to use ready-made search strategies and superficial approaches for the validation of information; b) different frequencies of Internet access revealed no impact on the search strategies; c) students showed an intermediate epistemological development; d) various interrelationships were found between epistemological beliefs, Internet-search strategies, and criteria for validating web information; and e) girls showed epistemological beliefs slightly more sophisticated than those of boys.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abrami, P. C. y Bernard, R. M. (2006). Research on distance education: In defense of field experiments. Distance Education, 27 (1), 5-26.

Baxter Magolda, M. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: gender-related patterns in students’ intellectual development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Lou, Y., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L. et al. (2004). How does distance education compare to classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Review of Educational Research, 74 (3), 379-439.

Braten, I. y Stromso, H. I. (2006). Epistemological beliefs, interest, and gender as predictors of Internet-based learning activities. Computers in Human Behavior, 22 (6), 1027-1042.

Dahl, T., Bals, M. y Turi, A. (2005). Are students’ beliefs about knowledge and learning associated with their reported use of learning strategies? British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 257-273.

Desjarlais, M. y Willoughby, T. (2007). Supporting learners with low domain knowledge when using the Internet. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 37 (1), 1-17.

Donoso, V. y Roe, K. (2006). Are they really learning online? The impact of the Internet on chilean adolescents’ learning experiences. En E. Pearson y P. Bohman (Eds.), Proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2006 (pp. 1679-1686). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.

Ellison, N. y Wu, Y. (2008). Blogging in the classroom: A preliminary exploration of students attitudes and impact on comprehension. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 17 (1), 99-122.

Fichtner, B. (1999). Activity theory as methodology: The epistemological revolution of the computer and the problem of its societal appropriation. En M. Hedegaard y J. Lompscher (Eds.), Learning Activity and Development (pp. 71-92). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

Fusilier, M., Durlabhji, S. y Cucchi, A. (2008). An investigation of the integrated model of user technology acceptance: Internet user samples in four countries. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 38 (2), 155-182.

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., y Black, W. C. (1999). Análisis multivariante (5ta. ed.). Madrid: Prentice Hall Iberia.

Hammer, D. y Elby, A. (2002). On the form of a personal epistemology. En B.K. Hofer y P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 169-190). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hofer, B. K. (2002). Personal epistemology as a psychological and educational construct: An introduction. En B. K. Hofer y P. R. Pintrich (Eds.) Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 3-14). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hofer, B. (2004). Epistemological understanding as a metacognitive process: thinking aloud during online searching. Educational Psychologist, 39 (1), 43-55.

Hofer, B. K. y Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relations to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67 (1), 88-140.

Jehng, J. J., Johnson, S. y Anderson, R. C. (1993). Schooling and students’ epistemological beliefs about learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 18, 23-35.

Kiili, C., Laurinen, L. y Marttunen, M. (2008). Student evaluating Internet sources: from versatile evaluators to uncritical readers. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 39 (1), 75-95.

King, P. y Kitchener, K. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lin, H. y Kesley, K. D. (2009). Building a networked environment in wikis: The evolving phases of collaborative learning in wikibook project. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 40 (2), 145-169.

Nachmias, R., Mioduser, D. y Shemla, A. (2000). Internet usage by students in an Israeli high school. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 22 (1), 55-73.

Paulsen, M. B. y Feldman, K. A. (1999). Student motivation and epistemological beliefs. En M. Theall (Ed.), Motivation from within: Approaches for encouraging faculty and students to Excel (pp. 17-26). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Perry, W. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. Nueva York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Future challenges and directions for theory and research on personal epistemology. En B. K. Hofer y P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 389-414). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Schoenfeld, A. H. (1985). Mathematical problem solving. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Schommer, M. (1990) Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (3), 498-504.

Schommer, M. (1994). An emerging conceptualization of epistemological beliefs and their role in learning. En R. Garner y P. Alexander (Eds.), Beliefs about text and instruction with text (pp. 25-40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Schommer, M. (2002). An evolving teoretical framework for an epistemological belief system. En B. Hofer y P. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing, (pp. 103-118). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Schommer-Aikins, M. (2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: introducing the embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist, 39 (1), 19-29.

Schommer-Aikins, M., Duell, O. K. y Hutte, R. (2005). Epistemological beliefs, mathematical problem-solving beliefs, and academic performance of middle school students. The Elementary School Journal, 105 (3), 289-304.

Schrader, P., Lawless, K. y Mayall, H. (2008). The model of domain learning as a framework for understanding Internet navegation. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 17 (2), 235-258.

Schraw, G., Bendixen, L., y Dunkle, M. (2002). Development and evaluation of the epistemic belief inventory (EBI). En B. Hofer y P. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 261-275). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Stahl, E., Pieschl, S. y Bromme, R. (2006). Task complexity, epistemological beliefs and metacognitive calibration: An exploratory study. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 35 (4), 319-338.

Valkenburg, P. M. y Peter, J. (2007). Online communication and adolescent well-being: Testing the stimulation versus the displacement hypothesis. Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication, 12 (4), 1-12.

Van Dijk, T. A. (1999). Ideología: Una aproximación multidisciplinaria. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Whitmire, E. (2003). Epistemological beliefs and the information-seeking behavior of undergraduates. Library &Information Science Research, 25, 127-142.

Whitmire, E. (2004). The relationship between undergraduates’ epistemological beliefs, reflective judgment, and their information-seeking behavior. Information Processing and Management, 40, 97-111.

Wolfradt, U. y Doll, J. (2001). Motives of adolescents to use the Internet as a function of personality traits, personal and social factors. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 24 (1), 13-27.

Wu, Y. T. y Tsai, C. C. (2007). Developing an information commitment survey for assessing students’ web information searching strategies and evaluative standards for web materials. Educational Technology & Society, 10 (2), 120-132.

Wu, Y. T. y Tsai, C. C. (2005). Information commitments: Evaluative standards and information searching strategies in web-based learning environments. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21, 374-385.

Yadav, A. y Koehler, M. (2007). The role of epistemological beliefs in preservice teachers´ intepretation of video cases of early- grade literacy instruction. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15 (3), 335-361.

Downloads

Article abstract page views: 1019

Published

2010-05-01