Development and Validation of a Scenario-Based Assessment of Epistemic Thinking

• In Event: Epistemic Beliefs and Learning and Reasoning About Texts

Abstract

This paper reports the development and validation of a new measure of epistemic thinking based on the conceptualization of epistemic development proposed by Kuhn and her colleagues (Kuhn, Cheney, & Weinstock, 2000). The measure is intended to provide an efficient and reliable written assessment of learners’ epistemic perspectives in multiple contexts. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis results confirm the expected structure of three main epistemic perspectives (absolutism, multiplism, and evaluativism). Furthermore, the results suggest that the epistemic perspectives may include as lower-order factors the epistemic dimensions of certainty and justification. The proposed measure will create new possibilities for investigating the development, dimensionality, and contextual variability of epistemic thinking, and for examining the relation between epistemic thinking and multiple cognitive tasks.

Authors

• Sarit Barzilai, University of Haifa

• Michael P. Weinstock, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev