The Investigation of the Epistemological Beliefs of University Students According to Gender, Grade, Fields of Study, Academic Success and Their Learning Styles
Author: Tumkaya, Songul
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Epistemology,Beliefs,College Students,Cognitive Style,Student Characteristics,Student Attitudes,Gender Differences,Academic Achievement,Intellectual Disciplines,Questionnaires,Data Analysis,Predictor Variables

The aim of this study is to investigate the epistemological beliefs of university students according to their genders, classes, fields of Study, academic success and learning styles. This study was carried out with 246 females and 242 males, in total 488 university students. The data was collected through Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ), Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI) and Personal Information Form. According to the findings, the epistemological beliefs do not differ depending on the gender of the students. According to the grade levels, it was found out that two beliefs, one of which is that &quot;Learning depends on the effort&quot; and the other one is that &quot;There is one unchanging truth&quot;, differ. However; the belief concerning that &quot;learning depends on ability&quot; does not differ. It was seen that the common interaction between the gender and the grade level did not differ significantly in the sub-dimensions of the beliefs concerning that &quot;learning depends on effort&quot; and of the beliefs concerning that &quot;learning depends on ability&quot;; whereas it differs meaningfully in the sub-dimension of the beliefs that &quot;There is one unchanging truth&quot;. Results showed that the males in the second grade believed that there is more than one unchanging truth. It was realized that the epistemological beliefs of the students differ according to their fields of study; however, they do not differ according to the common effect of the academic success and the field of Study. It was understood that the students from the field of social sciences in the sub-dimension of the belief concerning that &quot;learning depends on effort&quot;; the students from the field of health in the sub-dimension of the belief concerning that &quot;learning depends on ability&quot;; the students from the field of science-techniques were more developed/mature in the sub-dimension of the belief concerning that &quot;There is one unchanging truth&quot;. It was determined that a great majority of university students have &quot;Assimilating&quot; and &quot;Converging&quot; learning styles. It was seen that there is not a meaningful difference in the sub-dimension of the beliefs concerning that &quot;learning depends on effort&quot; in terms of different learning styles. On the other hand, it was realized that there is a meaningful difference in the sub-dimensions of the beliefs concerning that &quot;learning depends on ability&quot; and of the beliefs that &quot;There is one unchanging truth&quot; in favour of the students who have &quot;Diverging&quot; learning styles. It was suggested for the further studies to investigate the epistemological beliefs of the university instructors and the personal characteristics (locus of control, learned helplessness) of the students.