The intent of this study was to explore the variance of epistemological development in pre-ministry undergraduates across different institutional contexts, using the Perry Scheme as a theoretical lens. Semi-structured interviews were employed in order to elicit information from participants that revealed their personal perspectives regarding their approaches to acquiring, maintaining, and implementing knowledge. Students from three institutional contexts were included in this study: secular university, confessional Christian liberal arts university, and Bible college. A review of the precedent literature for this research presented foundational biblical-theological and theoretical sources that defined and elucidated the context of this study. The biblical-theological analysis first identified the nature of human knowledge and development within the context of the redemptive-historical metanarrative. Then, two prominent biblical themes that relate specifically to epistemological development were treated: the knowledge of God and biblical wisdom. A thorough review of the Perry Scheme was then provided, including theoretical and philosophical underpinnings, the model itself, and major extensions and elaborations of Perry's model. A final section introduced the "principle of inverse consistency" as a paradigm for interacting with Perry and other developmental theories, from a biblical worldview. The qualitative research design consisted of five steps. First, the researcher contacted and enlisted students and obtained a Dissertation Study Participation Form from each participant. Second, a customized interview protocol was designed according to the Perry Interview Protocol, in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Intellectual Development (CSID). Third, a pilot study was undertaken. Fourth, one interview was conducted with each participant, and the interviews were transcribed and submitted to the CSID for scoring. Fifth, in addition to the scoring analysis performed by the CSID, the researcher designed and implemented an independent content analysis procedure, including a structured analytical framework of epistemological priorities and competencies. Finally, the scored data and content analysis results were evaluated together, and interpreted by the researcher to yield findings and implications. Overall, this research observed that epistemological positioning was generally consistent among pre-ministry students from differing institutional contexts. The CSID's stated majority rating for typical college graduates was reflected in each sample grouping-a point of transition between Positions 3 and 4, defined in the Perry Scheme as mid to late "Multiplicity." By certain measures, however, scores among context groups were distinguishable. For example, average scores for secular university students reflected a point very near, but slightly above Position 3, while average ratings among Bible college and liberal arts university students reflected a point essentially midway between Positions 3 and 4. Also, when a filter was applied that eliminated the results of the oldest and youngest sample participants, the liberal arts university grouping reflected a distinguishably higher epistemological position than other groupings. Evaluation of the research interview data according to the researcher's structured framework of epistemological priorities and competencies yielded findings that were consistent overall with the variations of levels of epistemological positioning as reported by the CSID. In addition, numerous prominent themes emerged from analysis of interviewees' articulations that were identified as bearing relevance to participants' epistemological maturation. Finally, the impact of effects of differing social-academic cultures on pre-ministry undergraduates' epistemological perspectives and maturation were examined. Evaluation of these themes and environmental conditions served to highlight numerous conformities as well as significant distinctions among pre-ministry students from differing institutional contexts.

College students rarely engage model-based epistemological reasoning about scientific data and evidence. The purpose of this study was to (1) investigate how scaffolding treatments influenced college students' epistemological reasoning about how data are used as evidence, (2) describe students' epistemological reasoning practice over the course of the study, (3) learn more about relationships among students' domain knowledge, epistemological beliefs about scientific knowledge, and epistemological reasoning, and (4) investigate how scaffolding for epistemological reasoning influences knowledge gain. Participants in this study consisted of three-hundred fifteen undergraduate students; all were juniors and seniors and all students were enrolled in one of two introductory genetics laboratory courses. Study participants included non-majors (Experiment 1, N =143) and majors (Experiment 2, N = 172). A partially mixed-methods sequential research design was used in this study; qualitative and quantitative phases were mixed during data analysis. A distributed scaffolding system was used in this study. All participants from each laboratory section were randomly assigned to one of three treatments; no scaffolds, domain-general scaffolds, or domain specific scaffolds. Study variables included domain knowledge, epistemological beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge, and epistemological reasoning, scaffolding treatment was the manipulated variable. Findings were: (1) Chi square analysis indicated no statistically significant differences in epistemological reasoning by scaffolding treatment; model-based reasoning was not observed in students' explanations; (2) Spearman rho indicated no change in epistemological reasoning over the course of the study, however, statistical significance was not reached, however, a repeated measures ANOVA with Greenhouse-Geisser correction indicated a statistically significant within subjects change in epistemological reasoning, implications are discussed; (3) statistically significant bivariate correlations were found and (4) ANCOVA indicated pretest domain knowledge was a statistically significant covariate for posttest domain knowledge and a statistically significant main effect for scaffolding treatment was reached by Experiment 1 participants but not by Experiment 2 participants. Implications for instructional design and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effects of prediction/discussion-based learning cycle (HPD-LC), conceptual change text (CCT), and traditional instructions (TI) on 8th grade students&rsquo / understanding of genetics concepts and on their perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. This study was carried out during 2006-2007 fall semester at a public elementary school in Ankara. A total of eighty-one 8th grade students from three intact classes were involved in the quantitative part of this study. Students in the first and second experimental groups instructed with HPD-LC and CCT, respectively. The students in control group received TI. In the qualitative part, pre- and post-instructional interviews held with six students were interpreted by using a multidimensional interpretive framework of conceptual change. In this study the Genetics Concept Test was administered as pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test in order to examine the effects of instructional strategies on students&rsquo / genetics understanding and retention. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire was administered as pre-test and post-test to examine the effects of instructional strategies on students&rsquo / motivation and use of learning strategies. The results of mixed between-within subjects ANOVA revealed that students in both experimental groups understood the genetics concepts and retained their knowledge significantly better than students in control group. One-way MANOVA results revealed that HPD-LC students used elaboration strategies significantly more than CCT students. Interview analysis by considering ontological, epistemological, and social/affective perspectives of conceptual change indicated that some students from each group underwent conceptual change concerning the genetics concepts.

The aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship among preservice science teachers&rsquo / informal reasoning regarding nuclear power plant construction, epistemological beliefs and metacognitive awareness. Throughout 2010-2011 fall and spring semesters, a total of 674 pre-service science teachers participated in the study. Data were collected through Schommer&rsquo / s Epistemological Questionnaire, Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and Open-ended Questionnaire Assessing Informal Reasoning regarding Nuclear Power Usage. MANOVA, correlational analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted. The analyses revealed that the differences between pre-service science teachers&rsquo / epistemological beliefs within the two decision making groups were not statistically significant. Besides, results of the bivariate correlation revealed that there were statistically significant correlation between pre-service science teachers&rsquo / total argument construction and all the dimensions of SEQ except omniscient authority. Also, there was a significant correlation between pre-service science teachers&rsquo / certain knowledge dimension of SEQ and their counterargument construction. Moreover, the differences between pre-service science teachers&rsquo / metacognitive awareness within the two decision making groups were not statistically significant. Results of the bivariate correlation revealed that there was a significant correlation between preservice science teachers&rsquo / metacognitive awareness and informal reasoning outcomes. Finally, stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that pre-service science teachers&rsquo / information management strategy was the only significant predictor for their rebuttal construction. Declarative knowledge was the best predictor of preservice science teachers&rsquo / counterargument construction while the second best predictor was certain knowledge for their counterargument construction. Finally declarative knowledge was the only significant predictor for the amount of preservice science teachers&rsquo / reasoning modes.

Children’s beliefs about mathematics involve epistemological beliefs about the subject, its nature and how it works, as well as beliefs about who can and cannot do mathematics. While children’s beliefs about mathematics have been linked to their achievement in mathematics, there is little research that explores beliefs about mathematics in the New Zealand context. A general concern is that students do less well than they could at mathematics; hence many people give up on and disengage from mathematics. This study explores children’s and their teachers’ beliefs about mathematics and is set against a backdrop of prevailing achievement discourses, both in New Zealand and abroad, that define people’s perceived abilities as usually based on ethnicity and gender. It also considers the multiple worlds of the child, the worlds of mathematics beliefs and of doing school mathematics, the child’s relationships with these worlds and with others who inhabit them. The study combines complementary theories and methods to examine espoused and enacted mathematics beliefs by adopting a predominantly sociocultural perspective and including a combination of constructivist and pragmatic theories as well as multiple methods of accessing and analysing beliefs. In order to develop a picture of mathematics beliefs, I collected data from a number of sources: mathematics beliefs questionnaires from 823 children at 17 schools, drawings from 180 children at two focus schools, video recordings of multiple mathematics lessons in two focus classrooms and observations. The following year, I revisited, observed and interviewed nine focus children and their teachers. I applied multiple analysis ‘frames’ to the data: factor analysis, adapted visual frameworks, metaphors and themes. By combining a variety of methods and applying a number of different analysis perspectives, this study exposed a rich and complex landscape of beliefs about mathematics. In particular, the children’s drawings communicated mathematics beliefs by using metaphors such as ‘maths as problem solving’, ‘maths as useful’, ‘maths as life’, and ‘maths as brain burn inducing’. The children and teachers exhibited a range of beliefs about the world of mathematics and who belongs to this world by positioning certain people as good at mathematics, not good at mathematics, or in certain cases, both positions depending on the context. In terms of assigned mathematics identities, both children and teachers refer to the ‘Asian as good at maths’ discourse but do not position Māori and Pasifika as weak; gender was not viewed as important. On the other hand, the children’s responses were influenced by their ethnicities, gender, socioeconomic status and mathematics achievement levels. The implications for primary school mathematics relate to the powerful influence of how mathematics is done, taught and learnt within the dominant context of the Numeracy Projects which governs ability groupings, the dance of the mathematics class, the ascendency of strategy over algorithm, and the notion that there are multiple ways to solve problems. In particular, the implications of inequality inherent in mathematics ability grouping warrants addressing.

I have chosen to conduct an intuitive inquiry into the relationship between a pedagogical focus on epistemological stretching and transformative sustainability learning. The study contributes to theoretical and practical knowledge of teaching and learning about and within the realm of transformative sustainability learning, and contributes to a deepened understanding of epistemological stretching as a pedagogical orientation. Specifically, I have investigated the implications of epistemological stretching as a focal point for teaching and learning for students in ENVS 811: Multiple Ways of Knowing in Environmental Decision Making, a graduate level course in the School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS) at the University of Saskatchewan. Using the 5 cycles of Intuitive Inquiry, this research records and interprets accounts of eight students who participated in ENVS 811. The course is oriented around critical examination of human-nature relations with an emphasis on epistemology. The goal for this research is to investigate the ways in which a focus on epistemological stretching can enable three things: (1) prepare students to engage in interdisciplinary and sustainability knowledge creation; (2) help alleviate the epistemic incongruence in resource co-management arrangements; and (3) bring multiple ways of knowing to bear on complex environmental issues. This research is focused on answering three questions: 1. In what ways can a focus on epistemology help enable perspective transformation implicit in a transformative learning experience? 2. In what ways can educating for epistemological stretching result in new ways of thinking, valuing, doing? 3. In what ways can epistemological stretching help students engage in more effective and ethically appropriate ways with Indigenous peoples and their knowledges? This research concludes that epistemological stretching can contribute to transformative sustainability pedagogy in meaningful ways and develops 5 lenses for describing the conceptual spaces in which learning occurs: acknowledgement and deconstruction of power, relationship reconceptualization, change in perspective and action, worldview bridging, and validation of previously held views.

This dissertation examines the problems of translation within the language ideological context of multilingual Singapore. On the basis of textual and paratextual data from published literary translations and with reference to the language power relation between the English language and the Chinese language in contemporary Singapore, the study raises questions about the relationship between literary translation and language ideology in Singapore. These questions are concerned with textual problems in translating heterolingual texts, interpretive problems facing the target readers of translated Chinese-language texts that deal with the Chinese identity crisis and the ideological functions that translation plays in the making of multilingual literary anthologies. In delineating the general character of cross-cultural communication in Singapore, the study combines various theoretical perspectives and employs both textual and contextual approaches of inquiry. The dissertation consists of three main parts. The first part discusses the textual problems involved in the translation of heterolingual Chinese literature thematically concerned with the ideological tension between English and Chinese in Singapore. Drawing on the theory of the metonymics of translation as well as code-switching theories, the identity function of heterolingualism in Chinese literary texts is first established as creating a metonymic link between the linguistic tension in the literary texts and the ideological tension between English and Chinese in Singapore society. It is then proposed that when a heterolingual text using Chinese as its matrix language code-switches into English as part of its textual strategy, the translation of this text into the English language necessarily creates a crisis of representation in which the English language paradoxically projects itself as the cultural “Other”. The second part of the dissertation examines the interpretive problems of Singapore Chinese literature in English translation based on the theory of the ethics of translation. Specifically, when a target text (TT) reader is construed as the cultural “Other” in a source text (ST), an interpretive paradox arises when the TT reader attempts to understand himself/herself as a cultural “Other” in his/her own language in order to achieve a positive ethics of translation. The TT reader faces an epistemological dilemma: he/she either betrays his/her own identity in favour of the identity function of the ST, thus setting on an ironic process of self-Othering, or adheres to his/her identity and betrays that of the ST, thus contradicting the intended objective of allowing the predominantly English-speaking Chinese community in Singapore to understand the cultural predicament of their Chinese-speaking counterparts. In the third part of the study, I explore the role of translation in the construction of language ideology in Singapore and the way in which this role has changed since the mid-1980s. Based on an analysis of the use of translation in the making of multilingual literary anthologies published between 1985 and 2008, it is found that the power relation between the English language and the mother tongue languages in Singapore has shifted over the past two decades. Central to this shift is translation, the discursive instrument in multilingual publications. While earlier anthologies adopt a “one-to-one” translation model, in which literary works written in the mother tongue languages are translated into English but not vice versa, more recent anthologies adopt a “many-to-many” translation model, in which various languages translate into one another. This shift leads to a subtle change in the relationship between English and the mother tongue languages, from an asymmetric one in favour of English as the language of power, to a balanced one that gives an equal “voice” to the mother tongue languages. The analysis shows that translation is the locus of complex language ideological struggles, and that it plays the conflicting roles of reinforcing the hegemony of the English language and of resisting such hegemony in Singapore. This study has three implications for translation studies. Firstly, it supports the case for the combination of textual and contextual approaches in the investigation of translation phenomena. Secondly, it suggests that translation practice in Singapore is a potentially paradoxical act whose efficacy is not unproblematic. Finally, the study enables translators and language policy makers in Singapore to become more aware of the ideological implication of translation in multilingual discourses, and to tap into the discursive power of translation in creating a truly balanced multilingual nation.

This thesis is broadly about the structure of propositional knowledge and the ways in which an individual knower can have such knowledge. More specifically, it is about the epistemology of factive psychological attitudes and the view that knowing is a purely mental state. I take such a view as being not so much a theory of knowledge, but rather an accounting of how we know, or the ways in which we know. In arguing for this view I offer a different interpretation of certain epistemic conditions, like seeing and remembering and try to show how understanding the metaphysics of mental states and events clarifies the relation between such conditions and the factive psychological attitudes implicit in them. Part one of the thesis is occupied with a discussion about a form of externalism popular in contemporary philosophy of mind, content externalism and a form of externalism popularized by Timothy Williamson which I refer to in the thesis as attitude externalism. I argue that content externalism in the style of Tyler Burge, arguably one of its most prominent advocates, faces a rather serious dilemma when it comes to the role that mental states and specific mental events are meant to play in psychological explanation. The view endorsed by Timothy Williamson, which says that some psychological attitudes, factive attitudes like ‘seeing that’, can be thought of as broad prime conditions is offered as a way in which the content externalist can avoid this dilemma and retain a causal-psychological explanatory thesis about mental states and events. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the epistemology of factive psychological attitudes and I focus carefully on two paradigmatic cases – seeing and remembering. I dedicate a chapter to each and offer a series of arguments to the effect that seeing and remembering though they may be thought of as ways of having propositional knowledge, it is not necessary that they entail knowing nor that they be stative to do so. In this sense, there is a strong and important divergence in the dialectic of the thesis from the view offered by Timothy Williamson, on which many points in this thesis there is agreement. I conclude the thesis with a discussion on what I take to be a fundamental epistemological principle, which I call the multiformity principle. The argument there is that when a subject knows that p, there is always a specific way in which that subject knows. I further take this principle to reveal the fact that propositional knowledge is an intrinsically disjunctive phenomenon.

Resumo: Na descrição hierárquica do conhecimento biológico, o ser vivo é considerado como ponto central nas relações engendradas pelos seguintes níveis: ambiente externo (ecológico/evolutivo), organismo e ambiente interno (genético/ molecular). O organismo compreendido como nível focal da discussão biológica pode ressaltar a autonomia da Biologia em relação às outras áreas do conhecimento científico. No contexto do ensino, assume-se que as discussões epistemológicas do conhecimento biológico podem promover uma compreensão mais integrada dos fenômenos biológicos. Assim, organizou-se um grupo de pesquisa com graduandos de um curso de Ciências Biológicas para discutir conceitos centrais do conhecimento biológico, entre eles, o conceito de organismo. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: 1) Elaborar uma caracterização do conceito de organismo, partindo de uma abordagem hierárquica, integrando as discussões advindas da Filosofia da Biologia contemporânea referentes aos conceitos de auto-organização, autonomia agencial, propriedades emergentes e níveis hierárquicos; 2) Analisar como o conceito de organismo se impõe frente às explicações de vida presentes na literatura contemporânea da Filosofia da Biologia; 3) Utilizar a discussão teórica relativa ao conceito de organismo como fundamentação de um grupo de "Pesquisas em Epistemologia da Biologia", verificando as contribuições desse aporte teórico para a formação de alunos de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas na área de Epistemologia da Biologia e Ensino de Ciências; 4) Analisar as discussões e produções escritas ocorridas no desenvolvimento do grupo de "Pesquisas em Epistemologia da Biologia" que abordaram o conceito de organismo, com a finalidade de verificar se uma abordagem hierárquica tendo o organismo como nível focal contribui para uma visão integrada do conhecimento biológico pelos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In the hierarchical of biological knowledge, the living being could be considered as central point in the relations produced by three levels: external environment (ecological/evolution), organism and environment intern (genetic/molecular). The comprehension of the organism as a focal level in the biological debate can underline the autonomy of Biology among the other areas of the scientific knowledge. In the education context it is assumed that the epistemological discussions of the biological knowledge can promote an integrated understanding of the biological phenomena. Thus, a research group consisting of Biological Sciences undergraduates was organized to debate central concepts of the biological knowledge in which the discussions of the organism concept are included. This research aimed to: 1) develop a characterization of the concept of organism from a hierarchical approach by integrating the resulting discussions from contemporary philosophy of biology that are related to the concepts of self-organization, autonomy agents, emergent properties and hierarchical levels; 2) to analyze how the concept of organism is placed in front of the explications of life in the contemporary literature of philosophy of biology; 3) to use the theoretical discussion on the concept of organism as fundamentation for a group of "Studies in Epistemology of Biology," noting the help of this theoretical contribution to the Biological Sciences students training in the Biology and Epistemology in Science Teaching; 4) to analyze discussions and written productions that occurred in the development of the 'Research in Epistemology of Biology's group which addressed the concept the organism in order to verify if a hierarchical approach in which the organism is the focal level contributes to an integrated view of biological knowledge for biology students. On the basis of the theoretical referential... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira / Coorientador: Charbel Niño El-Hani / Banca: Fernando Bastos / Banca: Maurício de Carvalho Ramos / Banca: Luzia Marta Bellini / Banca: Marcelo Carbone Carneiro / Doutor

Este estudo propôs-se a entender alguns traços relacionados à formação da identidade de professores de Ciências e Biologia e, com isso, contribuir com as pesquisas sobre identidade docente. Nossa hipótese inicial era de que esses desenvolveriam características provenientes de dois estatutos epistemológicos diferenciados: o que compreende as Ciências Biológicas e o que compreende as Ciências Humanas e as Ciências Educacionais. Ao lançar mão de características provenientes destes dois modos de construção de conhecimento, estes professores teriam um diferencial identitário importante. As construções teóricas utilizadas na argumentação e na análise dos dados foram elaboradas à luz de referenciais teóricos de perspectiva sociológica e epistemológica. A perspectiva sociológica diz respeito ao entendimento que temos sobre a formação de identidades profissionais, no que se refere às relações sociais estabelecidas na dinâmica escolar, e, também, aos saberes da profissão docente. A perspectiva epistemológica foi utilizada para compreendermos como as Ciências Biológicas entendem seu objeto de pesquisa e como constroem conhecimentos a partir deste entendimento. Dessa forma, articulamos três construções teóricas: o conceito sociológico de identidade, proposto por Claude Dubar (2005); os saberes docentes, formulados por Maurice Tardif (2007); e a teoria epistemológica e noção de perfil epistemológico de Gaston Bachelard (1979a, 1979b, 1996). A investigação foi desenvolvida com base numa abordagem qualitativa, por meio de questionário e, em função do número amostral, revelou-se um estudo de caso. Participaram do estudo professores de Ciências e Biologia, atuantes na rede pública estadual de ensino de Porto Alegre, formados na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, nos últimos dez anos. Nossos dados apontam que a identidade docente destes professores está relacionada ao perfil empírico-positivista. No entanto, características do mesmo perfil podem ser percebidas em docentes graduados em outras áreas disciplinares, que se referem a outros modos de produção de conhecimento e, portanto, outro estatuto epistemológico. Também podemos inferir que a conformação do Curso de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul prepara o estudante para atuar tanto como pesquisador como professor. Assim, a identificação profissional constitui-se em relação à profissão que mais apresenta status diante do olhar do outro: a de pesquisador. / This study aimed to understand some peculiarities according to the identity formation of science and biology teachers, and intend to contribute with the research on teacher identity. Our hypothesis was that these traits develop from two different epistemological status, which includes, by one side, the Biological Sciences and, by the other side, which embraces the Humanities and Educational Sciences. By resorting to features from these two ways of constructing knowledge, these teachers have an important differential identity. The theoretical constructs used our study as argument and data analysis were prepared in the light of theoretical and epistemological sociological perspective. The sociological perspective deals with the understanding that we have on the formation of professional identities related to social relations in school routine, and also to the knowledge of the teaching profession. The epistemological perspective was used to understand how the biological sciences view their research object and how they build knowledge. Thus, we articulated three theoretical constructs: the sociological concept of identity proposed by Claude Dubar (2005), the teacher knowledge, formulated by Maurice Tardif (2007), and the notion of epistemological theory and epistemological profile of Gaston Bachelard (1979a, 1979b, 1996). The research was based on a qualitative approach, then according to sample size, proved to be a case study. The sample was composed by science and biology teachers who work in public schools in Porto Alegre, and graduated at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in the last ten years. Our data indicate that the teacher identity of the participants is related with the positivist-empirical profile. However, features of the profile can also be perceived in teaching graduates in other disciplines, which refer to other modes of knowledge production and, therefore, another epistemological status. We can also infer that the conformation of the Degree in Biological Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul prepares students to act both as a researcher and teacher. Thus, the identification work ends up happening with the profession that has more status in the eyes of the other: as a researcher.