Conceptualizing and Capturing Dynamic Interactions Between Epistemic Beliefs and Self-Regulated Learning Using Computer-Based Learning Environments

• In Event: Conceptual and Methodological Issues and Advances in Research on Epistemic Beliefs

Abstract

Introduction
There has been a dramatic increase in the use of computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) in academic settings (Nuckles & Bromme, 2002). Unfortunately, while students can be quite adept at using computers for gaming and socializing, they often struggle to use CBLEs, like the Internet, to complete academic tasks (Nasah, DaCosta, Kinsell, & Seok, 2010). Research has shown that students’ difficulty using CBLEs can be traced to their lack of self-regulated learning (SRL; Winne & Hadwin, 2008) skills as well as their often maladaptive beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing in academic domains (i.e., epistemic beliefs; Bromme, Pieschl, & Stahl, 2010; Greene, Azevedo, & Torney-Purta, 2008; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Mason, Boldrin, & Ariasi, 2010; Muis, 2008).
Conceptual integrations of SRL and epistemic beliefs models (Muis, 2007) point to a number of gaps in the scholarly literature. Empirical research is lacking, however, regarding how SRL and epistemic beliefs interact when students learn with CBLEs. One potential reason for this paucity of research may be the field’s overreliance upon self-report instruments as a means of capturing and measuring SRL and epistemic beliefs (DeBacker et al., 2008; Winne & Perry, 2000). These instruments cannot account for the dynamic nature of SRL and epistemic beliefs as they wax and wane over time.
Objectives
In this paper, we address a prominent gap in the literature by presenting an integrated model of SRL and epistemic beliefs that allows for students’ processing to be captured and modeled as a dynamic series of events. This model describes how epistemic beliefs influence every phase of SRL processing (Winne & Hadwin, 2008). Another major contribution of our paper is the connection drawn between online, micro-level SRL processing measures (Greene & Azevedo, 2009), such as think-aloud protocols (Ericsson & Simon, 1993; Greene, Robertson, & Costa, 2011), and the relations posited in SRL and epistemic belief models.
Significance
We show how researchers can capture objective data about students’ specific activities and aggregate these data into measures of macro-level processing that allow for investigations into relations among constructs in SRL and epistemic belief models that previously could only be studied using psychometrically unstable self-report data. We also demonstrate how SRL and epistemic beliefs processing can activate and deactivate various cognitive and metacognitive processes based upon context. CBLEs present a number of unique affordances for capturing SRL and epistemic belief processing as a dynamic series of events, and we describe a number of directions for future research using these technologies. We also describe a number of ways that SRL and epistemic belief research can inform the design of powerful CBLEs that foster learning in all students. We believe that our model and methods can be used to provide the kinds of translational research and qualitative advances necessary to fully leverage the power of CBLEs for learning.

Authors

• Jeffrey A. Greene, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Krista R. Muis, McGill University

• Stephanie Pieschl, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster