Original article | International Journal of Progressive Education 2017, Vol. 13(3) 112-128
An Examination of the Epistemological Views and Learning Styles of Pre-Service Teachers
Gökhan Güneş, Kaan Batı & Mehmet Katrancı
pp. 112 - 128 | Manu. Number: ijpe.2017.031
Published online: October 08, 2017 | Number of Views: 412 | Number of Download: 947
Abstract
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates human knowledge, in particular its source, nature, limitations, system, and accuracy. The most critical issues in epistemology are considered to be belief in the nature of knowledge and belief in the nature of knowing. Since epistemology involves the structuring processes of knowledge, it assumed to be associated with individual differences, which are influential in determining an individual’s ability to organize their thoughts and behaviors as well as personal choices. In addition, the most typical reflections of individual differences are observed in learning styles. Therefore, in this research, we aimed to examine the relationship between the epistemological views and learning styles of pre-service teachers. The study was based on a quantitative design and the epistemological views of the pre-service teachers were determined using the Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Scale developed by Elder (2002) and adapted to Turkish by Acat, Tüken and Karadağ (2010). In addition, the index of learning styles developed by Felder and Soloman (1996) and adapted to Turkish by Samanci and Keskin (2007) was used to identify the participants’ learning styles. A total of 698 pre-service teachers from two state universities in Turkey constituted the sample of the research. According to the overall results, the pre-service teachers adopted philosophical skepticism and were inclined towards an active/sensing/visual/sequential learning style. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship was found between the participants' learning styles and their epistemological views.
Keywords: Pre-service teachers, epistemological views, learning styles
| How to Cite this Article? |
|---|
|
APA 6th edition Harvard Chicago 16th edition |
| References |
|---|
|
Anderson, R. (1984). Some reflections on the acquisition of knowledge. Educational Researcher, 13(9), 5-10. Arnup, J. L., Murrihy, C., Roodenburg, J., & McLean, L. A. (2013). Cognitive style and gender differences in children’s mathematics achievement. Educational Studies, 39(3), 355-368. doi: 10.1080/03055698.2013.767184. Bochenski, J. M. (2009). Felsefe düşünmenin yolları (1st Ed.). Ankara: BilgeSu. Brownlee, J., Purdie, N., & Boulton-Lewis, G. (2001). Changing epistemological beliefs in pre-service teacher education students. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(2), 247-268. Brunsell, E. & Marcks, J. (2005). Identifying a baseline for teachers’ astronomy content knowledge. Astronomy Education Review, 2(3), 38-46. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2007). Veri analizi el kitabı (8. Baskı). Ankara: PegemA Yayıncılık. Chai, C. S., Khine, M. S., & Teo, T. (2006). Epistemological beliefs on teaching and learning: A survey among pre‐service teachers in Singapore. Educational Media International, 43(4), 285-298. Cheng, M. M. H., Chan, K-W., Tang, S. Y. F., & Cheng, A. Y. N. (2009). Pre-service teacher education students' epistemological beliefs and their conceptions of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(2), 319-327. Clark, C. (1988). Asking the rights questions about teacher preparation: Contributions of research on teacher thinking. Educational Researcher, 17, 5-12. Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. De Bello, T. C. (1990). Comparison of eleven major learning styles models: Variables, appropriate populations, validity of instrumentation and the research behind them. Journal of Reading, Writing, and Learning Disabilities International, 6, 203-222. Dunn, R., & Dunn, K. (1992). Teaching elementary students through their individual learning styles: Practical approaches for grades 3-6. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Dunn, R. (1986). Learning styles: Link between individual differences and effective instruction. North Carolina Educational Leadership, 2(1), 4 - 22. Dunn, R., Griggs, S. A., Olson, J. & Beasley, M. (1995). A meta-analytic validation of the Dunn and Dunn model learning-style performances. The Journal of Educational Research, 88(6), 353-363. Elder, A. D. (2002). Characterizing fifth grade students’ epistemological beliefs in science. In P. R. Pintrich (Eds). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 347–364). Mahwah, NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Felder, R. M. (1996). Matters of style. ASEE Prism, 6(4), 23. http://www2.eesc.usp.br/aprende/images/arquivos/Matters_of_Style.pdf. Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding students’ differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72. Felder, R. M., & Silverman, L. (1988). Learning and teaching styles in engineering education. Engineering Education, 78(7), 674-681. Felder, R. M., & Soloman, B. A. (1994). Index of learning styles. http://www.ncsu.edu/felder- public/ILSpage.html. Felkel, B., & Gosky, R. M. (2012). A study of reliability and validity of the Felder-Soloman index of learning styles for business students. Electronic Proceedings of the Twenty-fourth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics Orlando, Florida, 22-25 March 2012 (pp. C004). Fleming, N. D. (2001). Teaching and learning styles: VARK strategies. New Zealand: Christchurch. Giedd, J. N., Snell, J. W., Lange, N., Rajapakse, J. C., Casey, B. C., Kozuch, P. L., Vaituzis, A. C, Vauss, Y. C., Hamburger, S. D., Kaysen, D., & Rapoport, J. L. (1996). Quantitative imagnetic resonance imaging of human brain development: Ages 4-18. Cerebral Cortex, 6, 551-560. Grasha, A. F. (1996). Teaching with style. Pittsburgh, PA: Alliance. Gregorc, A. F. (1979). Learning/teaching styles: Their nature and effects. NASSP Monograph, (October/November), 19–26. Hawk, T. F., & Shah, A. J. (2007). Using learning styles instruments to enhance student learning. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 5(1), 1-19, Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4609.2007.00125.x/pdf. Healy, J. M. (2004). Your child's growing mind: Brain development and learning from birth to adolescence. New York: Broadway Books. Hofer, B. (2001). Personal epistemology research: Implications for learning and teaching. Journal of Educational Psychology Review, 13, 353-383. Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. (2002). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88-140. Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2014). Nicel, nitel ve karma araştırmalarda örnekleme. In S. B. Demir (Ed.), Eğitim araştırmaları, nicel, nitel ve karma yaklaşımlar, Eğiten Kitap: Ankara. Jonassen, D. H., & Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Handbook of individual differences, learning and instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kale, N. (2009). Felsefiyat (1. Baskı). Ankara: Pegem Akademi. Keefe, J. W. (1979). Learning style: an overview. In J. W. Keefe (Ed.), Student learning styles: Diagnosing and prescribing programs. Reston, Va: National Association of Secondary School Principals. King, P., & Kitchener, K. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kolb, D. A. (1976). Learning style inventory. Boston, MA: Hay Group, Hay Resource Direct. Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 93–212. Köklü, N., Büyüköztürk, Ş. & Çokluk-Bökeoğlu, Ö. (2006). Sosyal bilimler için istatistik. Ankara: Pegem Akademi. Leite, W. L., Svinicki, M., & Shi, Y. (2010). Attempted validation of the scores of the VARK: Learning styles inventory with multitrait–multimethod confirmatory factor analysis models. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 70(2), 323-339. Litzinger, T. A., Lee, S. H., Wise, J. C., & Felder, R. M. (2005). A study of the reliability and validity of the Felder-Soloman index of learning styles. In American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. Livesay, G. A., Dee, K. C., Nauman, E. A., & Hites , L. S. (2002). Engineering student learning styles: a statistical analysis using Felder’s index of learning styles. In Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Montreal, Quebec. Miller, R. G. (1969). Simultaneous statistical inference. New York: McGraw-Hill. Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(1), 8–14. Passer, M. W., & Smith, R. E. (2008). The science of mind and behavior (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. Perry, W. G. (1999). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. San Francisco: Josey-Bass. Perry, W. G. (1981). Cognitive and ethical growth: The making of meaning. In A. W. Chickering & Assoc. (Eds). The modern American college (pp. 76–116). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ravindran, B., Greene, B. A. & DeBacker, T. K. (2005). The role of achievement goals and epistemological beliefs in the prediction of pre-service teacher’s cognitive engagement and application learning. Journal of Educational Research, 98(4), 222-233. Reiss, A. L., Abrams, M. T., Singer, H. S., Ross, J. L., & Denckla, M. B. (1996). Brain development, gender and IQ in children: A volumetric imaging study. Brain,119, 1763- 1774. Samancı, N. K. & Keskin, M., Ö. (2007). Felder ve Soloman öğrenme stili indeksi: Türkçeye uyarlanması ve geçerlik-güvenirlik çalışması. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 8(2), 37-54. Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 498–504. Schraw, G. (2001). Current themes and future directions in epistemological research: A commentary. Educational Psychology Review, 13(4), 451-464. Slaats A., Lodewijks, H. G. L. C., & Van der Sanden, J. M. M. (1999). Learning styles in secondary vocational education: Disciplinary differences. Learning and Instruction, 9, 475-492. Sönmez, V. (2010). Bilim felsefesi. Ankara: Anı Yayıncılık. Sözer, Ö. (2009). Felsefenin abc’si (4. Baskı). İstanbul: Say Yayınları. Tekin, H. (1993). Eğitimde ölçme ve değerlendirme. Ankara: Yargı Yayınevi. Topdemir, H. G. (2011). Felsefe (2nd Ed). Ankara: Pegem Akademi. Van Zwanenberg, N., Wilkinson, L. J., and Anderson, A. (2000). Felder and Silverman’s index of learning styles and Honey and Mumford’s learning styles questionnaire: How do they compare and do they predict academic performance? Educational Psychology, 20(3), 365-380. Wilson, J. A. R., Robeck, M. C., & Michael, W. B. (1974). Psychological foundations of learning and teaching (2nd Ed). McGraw Hill, New York. Zywno, M. S. (2003). A contribution of validation of score meaning for Felder-Soloman’s index of learning styles. In Annual Conference of the American Society Engineering Education, Washington, DC. |
