1,721,002 research outputs found
Conoscenze e credenze sono percepite come due costrutti differenti. Criteri epistemologici di distinzione in studenti di diverso livello scolare
No full textLa ricerca ha avuto lo scopo di indagare la percezione della differenza concettuale tra "conoscenze" e "credenze", individuando, in particolare, eventuali differenze di genere e livello scolare nei criteri epistemologici utilizzati dai partecipanti per distinguere i due costrutti nonché nell'evidenziarne le possibili relazioni. A tale scopo sono stati coinvolti 226 studenti di due diversi livelli scolari: terza media e quinta superiore. Le analisi qualitative e quantitative hanno messo in evidenza la capacità, anche tra i più giovani, di distinguere i due costrutti, di verbalizzare tale distinzione e di giustificare la relazione percepita tra conoscenze e credenze. In accordo con le ipotesi, sono emerse delle differenze significative nei criteri epistemologici utilizzati per differenziare i due costrutti in relazione al livello scolare dei partecipanti. Dallo studio emerge l'importanza educativa di considerare sia le conoscenze che le credenze portate dagli studenti all'interno di ciascuna situazione di apprendimento
Distinguishing between knowledge and beliefs. Students epistemic criteria for differentiating.
No full text"I believe that he/she is telling the truth", "I know about the solar system": what epistemic criteria do students use to distinguish between knowledge and beliefs? If knowing and believing are conceptually distinguishable, do students of different grade levels use the same criteria to differentiate the two constructs? How do students understand the relationship between the two constructs? This study involved 219 students (116 girls and 103 boys); 114 were in 8th grade and 105 in 13th grade. Students had to (a) choose which of 5 graphic representations outlined better the relationship between the two constructs and to justify their choice; (b) rate a list of factual/validated, non-factual/non-validated and ambiguous statements as either knowledge or belief, and indicate for each statement their degree of truthfulness, acceptance and on which sources their views were based. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were performed. The data showed how students distinguish knowledge from belief conceptually and justify their understanding of the relationship between the two constructs. Although most students assigned a higher epistemic status to knowledge, school grade significantly differentiated the epistemic criteria used to distinguish the two constructs. The study indicates the educational importance of considering the notions of knowledge and belief that students bring into the learning situation
Epistemic beliefs in action: Spontaneous reflections about knowledge and knowing during online information searching and their influence on learning
No full textIn the present study it was investigated whether high school students are spontaneously able to reflect epistemologically during online searching for information about a controversial topic. In addition, we examined whether activating epistemic beliefs is related to individual characteristics, such as prior knowledge of the topic and argumentative reasoning skill; also whether learning from the Web is influenced by epistemic beliefs in action and the ability to detect fallacies in arguments. The participants (N 1⁄4 64) were students of Grade 13, who were asked
to think aloud during navigation. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Findings reveal that most participants spontaneously activated beliefs about all four dimensions identified in the literature, that is, about the simplicity/complexity, certainty/uncertainty, justification, and source of knowledge, at different levels of sophistication. Most epistemic reflections were about the source of knowledge. Two patterns of contextualized epistemic beliefs emerged and significantly influenced learning from the Web, which was also affected by participants’ ability to
identify argumentative fallacies
On warm conceptual change: The interplay of text, epistemological beliefs, and topic interest.
No full textThe aim of this study was to go further than considering only cognitive factors to extend the understanding of the complex, dynamic underlying knowledge revision processes. Fifth graders were assigned to 2 reading conditions. Participants in 1 condition read a refutational text about light, whereas participants in the other read a traditional text. Within each reading condition, students had more or less advanced beliefs about scientific knowledge (complex and evolving vs. simple and certain), as well as high or low topic interest. Overall findings from pretest to immediate and delayed posttests showed that knowledge revision was affected by several interactions among the variables examined. Students who attained the highest scores at both the immediate and delayed posttests were those who had read the refutational text and had high topic interest, as well as more advanced beliefs about scientific knowledge. In particular, the refutational text was more powerful in prompting a restructuring of alternative conceptions about 2 of the 3 light phenomena examined. In addition, students preferred the innovative text to the traditional textbook text
Open-source Technologies for Embedded Control Systems: from Robotics to Home/Building Automation
No full textThe paper describes the integration of different
open-source technologies into an embedded control system for
low-cost robotics and automation applications. Particular care
is given to networking aspects and scalability of technical
solutions with respect to computational requirements, complexity
of robotics/automation tasks and geographic distribution. The
objective of the contribution is to analyse benefits and drawbacks
of such technologies and provide guidelines for practitioners of
embedded systems design and control engineers
Epistemic metacognition in context: evaluating and learning online information.
No full textThis study examined epistemic metacognition as a reflective activity about knowledge and knowing in the context of online information searching on the Web, and whether it was related to prior knowledge on the topic, study approach, and domain-specific beliefs about science. In addition, we investigated whether Internet-based learning was influenced by epistemic metacognition and the individual differences examined. Seventy 8th grade students were interviewed retrospectively after searching for online information about the scientifically controversial topic of dinosaur extinction. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Findings showed that participants expressed reflections about the simplicity/complexity, certainty/uncertainty, source, and justification of knowledge at different levels of sophistication, according to three patterns of epistemic metacognition. Prior knowledge was not related to epistemic metacognition in the search context, while study approach and epistemic beliefs about science were associated significantly, although modestly, with aspects of online knowledge evaluation. Moreover, findings revealed that Internet-based learning was influenced by overall science-related epistemic beliefs. Learning from Internet sources was also affected by study approach and epistemic reflections about the justification of online knowledge, as well as by the interaction between beliefs about the justification of scientific knowledge and beliefs about the justification of the knowledge accessed concerning the topic
Epistemological understanding in different judgment domains: Relationships with gender, grade level, and curriculum
No full textThis article reports a theoretically based study on the model of development of epistemological understanding proposed by Kuhn (2000) [Kuhn, D. (2000). Theory of mind, metacognition, and
reasoning: A life-span perspective. In P. Mitchell & K. J. Riggs (Eds.), Children’s reasoning and the mind (pp. 301–326). Hove, UK: Psychology Press], which includes three levels of thinking about knowledge and knowing: absolutist, multiplist, and evaluativist. The study involved 881 Italian elementary (5th
grade), middle (8th grade) and high school students (11th and 13th grades). The latter attended two different branches of high school, one following a scientific, and the other a technical–commercial curriculum. Their epistemological understanding was assessed in the five judgement domains included in
the instrument developed by Kuhn, Cheney, and Weinstock (2000) [Kuhn, D., Cheney, R., & Weinstock,
M. (2000). The development of epistemological understanding. Cognitive Development, 15, 309–328).
Data show that more than 70% of identified patterns were consistent and interpretable within the underlying theoretical framework. Absolutist positions were more frequent in judgments about values even when the shift to non-absolutism was attained in all other domains. Gender, grade level, and curriculum significantly differentiated participants for the first developmental transition, from absolutism to multiplism. Overall, boys showed more absolutist positions than girls, 8th graders more than 13th
graders, and participants in the scientific branch more than those in the technical–commercial one
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Epistemic Metacognition in the Context of Information Searching on the Web
No full textThis chapter focuses on personal epistemology activated in context, to expand our understanding of its role in knowledge construction processes. The examined context is online searching on the Web, which is particularly relevant nowadays, as it has become a routine way for identifying and accessing information needed to know more on a topic. In accordance with Kuhn’s (2000) and Hofer’s (2004) conceptualizations, the chapter first situates personal epistemology at the metacognitive level of cognition, and then argues about how it may be in action during online searching. To believe that knowledge claims should not be justified in the light of evidence as they are reproductions of reality, or that knowledge claims are idiosyncratic and incomparable, or that they can be compared and rationally evaluated on the basis of shared norms may act as a resource or constraint for epistemic metacognition. Data from our empirical research program with college, high, and middle school students illustrate and clarify the arguments being proposed about epistemic monitoring and judgments during online searching of information to know more on a debated topic. Finally, the chapter reflects on the importance of students’ evaluation and interpretation of different resources provided by the Internet, which can be used as an epistemological tool (Tsai, 2004), and will draw educational implications for the enhancement of epistemic metacognition
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