Influence of resource and content on epistemic beliefs about general pedagogical knowledge. Research data of an experimental study.

Merk, Samuel; Schneider, Jürgen; Syring, Marcus; Bohl, Thorsten

Influence of resource and content on epistemic beliefs about general pedagogical knowledge. Research data of an experimental study.

Educational Psychology

Authors(s) / Creator(s)

Merk, Samuel
Schneider, Jürgen
Syring, Marcus
Bohl, Thorsten

Abstract

In educational psychology epistemic beliefs are a popular research topic. The present study analyzes effects of source and context on theory-specific epistemic beliefs of graduate students about pedagogical knowledge. Graduate students in teacher education are presented with texts describing six research topics from the field of pedagogical knowledge equally with regard to contents, but different with regard to sources and context (with vs without scholarly context). To each of these research topics several covariates as well as epistemic beliefs were investigated resulting in a split-plot design.
The construct of Theory specific relativism showed factorial invariance for all theories. If the source of knowledge is „expert advice“ Theory specific relativism shows smaller arithmetic means, whereby it shows higher values for theories from humanities.
The construct of Theory practice relation showed factorial invariance for all theories, too. Theory practice relation can be predicted by epistemic beliefs and study interest with moderate effect sizes after controlling for source and context.

Persistent Identifier

https://doi.org/10.5160/psychdata.bltn15ep11

Year of Publication

2016

Funding

Exploration funds (Platform 4) of the Excellence Initiative, University of Tübingen

How to cite

Merk, S., Schneider, J., Syring, M. & Bohl, T. (2016). Influence of resource and content on epistemic beliefs about general pedagogical knowledge. Research data of an experimental study. (Version 1.0.0) [Data and Documentation]. Trier: Research Data Center at ZPID. https://doi.org/10.5160/psychdata.bltn15ep11

Study Description

Research Questions/Hypotheses:

Humanities-rational research subjects are judged more relativistically.
Pedagogical knowledge coming from expert or scientific source is judged less relativistically than lay knowledge.
Pedagogical knowledge presented embedded in school context is judged more relativistically.

Research Design:

Experimental Design, Mixed Design; repeated measurements

Measurement Instruments/Apparatus:

To examine the source and context sensitivity of epistemological beliefs, “six texts with identical content on topics related to the companion course in education were varied in source and context”(Merk et al., 2016). The texts were created using a multi-step process described in Merk et al (2016). The variation of the source was three-stage (“experience report” vs “expert advice” vs “scientific study”), and the variation of the context was two-stage (“without school context” vs “with school context”). This resulted in a 2×3 design with six-level within factor (Merk et al., 2016).
In existing courses (group size approximately 30), student teachers were introduced to the survey by a trained test administrator for approximately 7 min using a test administration manual. They were then randomly assigned a test booklet that had one of the 2×3 experimental conditions. This was followed by the processing of the test booklets, which took approximately 60 min.
Items used to elicit epistemological beliefs included the Connotative Aspects of Epistemological Beliefs (CAEB), Theory Specific Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (TSEBQ), and the Questionnaire to Assess the Developmental Level of Epistemological Beliefs (FREE).

Data Collection Method:

Data collection in the presence of an experimenter

Group Administration
Paper and Pencil

Population:

Graduate students in teacher education

Survey Time Period:

Sample:

Convenience Sample

Gender Distribution:

66,9 % female subjects (n=216)
32,5 % male subjects (n=105)
0,6 % missing value (n=2)

Age Distribution: 18 – 62 years

Spatial Coverage (Country/Region/City): Germany/Baden-Württemberg/Tübingen

Subject Recruitment:

Announcement by lecturers.

Sample Size:

323 individuals

Return/Drop Out:

bltn15ep11_readme.txt

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