faculty of science, engineering & technology. knowledge genesis developing information literacy...
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Fac
ulty
of S
cien
ce, E
ngin
eerin
g &
Tec
hnol
ogy
Knowledge Genesis
Developing Information Literacy
for Improved Learning Outcomes
Doug ColbeckFac
ulty
of S
cien
ce, E
ngin
eerin
g &
Tec
hnol
ogy
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
My Research is a phenomenographic study focused on the ontological development and subsequent utilization of epistemological knowledge engaging personal literacy development
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Personal Epistemology
• Influences many aspects of learning
• Multidimensional in its development
• A progression of more sophisticated beliefs
Given their importance in student learning, the development of epistemological beliefs has been recognised as an important goal of teaching
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
The instrument used in this study (EBS)
• Developed from existing studies
• Participant comprehension
• Australian lexus
The Epistemological Beliefs Sampler (EBS) was specifically designed to gather ratings from participants based on their personal epistemological beliefs
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
The four domains being;
• Computing
• Information Systems
• Nursing, and
• Health
Age Groups
GenderSurvey TotalsM F
< 20 106 140 246
20 – 24 29 43 72
25 – 29 12 15 27
30 – 39 13 37 50
40 – 49 3 28 31
50 + 3 6 9
Totals 166 269 435
Participant demographicsFour broad content domains participated in this study
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Data Collection
The EBS was designed to be distributed during the first fifteen minutes of the first lecture of semester one to new undergraduates at UTAS
• Prior to any teaching – to ensure minimal bias
• During the introductory element of the course – to minimise disruption
• Timed to only use a minimal amount of time – ensured acceptance by lecturing staff and participating students
Distributed to approximately 515 students with a return of 435 completed surveys (84.4%)!
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Data Analysis
The data was naïve response recoded and a series of multivariate factor analysis applied
• Confirmatory analysis conducted
• Results compared to existing studies
• Experimental analysis conducted
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Component Number
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Scree Plot
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Results - Confirmatory Factor Analysis – 1
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
• .757
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
• Significance = .000
Cronbach’s Alpha = .634
34 statements - 10 factors
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Component Number
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0.5
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Scree Plot
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Results - Confirmatory Factor Analysis – 2
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
• .757
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
• Significance = .000
Cronbach’s alpha = .634
10 factors - 4 themes (61.083%)
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Component Number
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Scree Plot
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Results - Experimental Factor Analysis – 1
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
• .768
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
• Significance = .000
Cronbach’s alpha = .744
34 statements - 11 factors (53.5%)
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Component Number
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
Eig
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va
lue
Scree Plot
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Results - Experimental Factor Analysis – 2
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
• .674
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
• Significance = .000
Cronbach’s alpha = 0.641
11 Factors - 4 themes (56.75%)
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Findings• The beliefs observed indicate immature dualistic thinking
• There is a firm belief in an innate ability
• An obvious need to maintain a guiding or directing authority
• Not been correctly taught how to learn and improve their personal literacy skills
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Conclusions
The progression from simple to more complex epistemological beliefs is not uniform amongst students in higher education
Each individual student will possess different beliefs on entering university and will develop in a different way from their peers
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
The future
Although existing research has begun to investigate the relationship between learning environments and epistemological beliefs, little is yet understood about the process of epistemological development
The current research literature concludes that encouraging students in being active and independent learners can support their epistemological development, but that further research is clearly needed
Doug Colbeck
office +61 3 6324 3211
mobile 0448 343850
email [email protected]
websitehttp://www.comp.utas.edu.au/users/dcolbeck/Index.htm
Fac
ulty
of S
cien
ce, E
ngin
eerin
g &
Tec
hnol
ogy
Questions?
Colbeck FamilyCoat-of-Arms