The influence of disciplinary expertise on epistemic beliefs in chemistry
Abstract
This research investigates peoples' epistemic beliefs about science in general and chemistry in particular at varying levels of chemistry expertise. Ninety-one volunteers from five groups, ranging from professors to high-school students, served as participants. The goal of this research is to further our knowledge of what students at different levels of expertise believe about the nature of science, how those beliefs develop through apprenticeship in different communities of science, and how those beliefs influence scientific practice. A comparison of epistemic beliefs among the groups enables conjectures to be made about the course of epistemic development in chemistry and its relationship to general beliefs about the nature of science. The results of quantitative and chi-square analyses suggest that advanced epistemic heuristics for understanding problems and anomalies in science develop in conjunction with increased laboratory experience. Practically, this research helps detail the student's developing epistemic beliefs and this understanding can aid in the design of science curricula that facilitate students' understanding of the general and domain-specific heuristics that guide different scientific disciplines such as chemistry.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Samarapungavan, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Science education|Educational theory
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