Domain Specific and General Epistemological Beliefs. Their Effects on Mathematics

In order to understand how epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowledge and learning) influence mathematical problem solving, over 700 college students completed a domain general and a domain specific (mathematical problem-solving) beliefs questionnaire. In addition, they completed two mathemati...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Schommer-Aikins, Marlene, Duell, Orpha K.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/44445
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10201/44445
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Epistemological beliefs
Mathematical performance
Knowledge and learning
Problem solving
Creencias epistemológicas
Rendimiento matemático
Resolución de problemas
Conocimiento
Aprendizaje
Descripción
Sumario:In order to understand how epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowledge and learning) influence mathematical problem solving, over 700 college students completed a domain general and a domain specific (mathematical problem-solving) beliefs questionnaire. In addition, they completed two mathematical tasks, one that assessed cognitive depth and the other problem solving. Mathematical and general epistemological belief factors emerged from a single exploratory factor analysis. Furthermore, students with high mathematical background showed consistency between domain general and domain specific epistemological beliefs, whereas, students with less mathematical background were significantly different between the two levels of belief specificity. Comparisons among path analyses revealed indirect effects of general epistemological beliefs and direct effects of domain specific epistemological beliefs on mathematical performance.