Knowledge and Belief Change in Academic Development

• In Event: The Model of Domain Learning: Understanding the Development of Expertise

Abstract

Objectives

This chapter examines the construct of knowledge in relation to individuals’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing and learning. Specifically, we delve into what it means to know something compared to believing it and how changes in knowledge and beliefs are critical to the process of academic development depicted in the Model of Domain Learning (MDL; Alexander, 1997). We base this analysis on literatures from philosophy and psychology as framed by the Characteristics of the Learner and Argument Integration Model or CLAIM (Murphy, 2007; Murphy & Alexander, 2013), which represents a systemic process of knowledge and belief change. The CLAIM is linked to the stages of the MDL, as well as to research on epistemic beliefs and conceptual change. We concluded by exploring pedagogical practice shown to promote changes in students’ knowledge and beliefs.

Theoretical Framework

The CLAIM framework explains how individuals develop from an initial state of simply believing that and knowing of, to a level of explanatory power, where they are cognizant of what they both believe about and know about. Finally, at the level of examined understanding, there is a convergence of knowledge and beliefs, where individuals not only know that, based on evidence, but also hold a strong belief in the knowledge (Murphy & Alexander, 2013). The CLAIM affords insight into the mechanisms entailed in the process of academic development captured in the MDL by articulating the interplay of knowledge and beliefs at the stages of academic development.

Modes of Inquiry and Results

Based on empirical evidence, we contend that learners’ epistemological stances must be complemented by epistemic competence—the ability to recognize and utilize the standards of evidence and justification warranted in a particular situation for a specific problem or task (Murphy & Alexander, 2016). By the interface of CLAIM and the MDL, we contend that misconceptions are inevitabilities for learners of all stages of academic development. However, the nature and frequency of those misconceptions differ by stages (Alexander, 1998), reflecting the interplay of knowledge, strategic processing, and interest at that stage and learners’ corresponding level of knowing and believing (Murphy, 2007).
We conclude by introducing three specific orientations toward teaching that align with the tenets of CLAIM and MDL and that explicitly aim to instigate changes in learners’ knowledge and beliefs: persuasive pedagogy, relational reasoning, and quality talk

Scholarly Significance and Future Directions

This chapter contributes insight into how knowledge and beliefs play key roles in learning and academic development. These contributions are achieved by superimposing a model of knowledge and belief change, CLAIM, over the stages of academic development core to the MDL. Directions for future research include empirical investigations of the effects of pedagogical approaches that facilitate changes in knowledge and beliefs.

Authors

• Yuting Sun, University of Maryland - College Park

• Patricia A. Alexander, University of Maryland - College Park

• Pricilla Karen Murphy, The Pennsylvania State University