Students bring an intact, if unarticulated, epistemological perspective into the classroom that influences how they receive and process new information. In this study, students who explored a wider range of perspectives had significantly improved learning outcomes as measured in 3 domains: retention of specific content, retention of general themes, and application of the course content to other courses, mass media information, and their sense of self.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdlerJ. M. (2008). Two modes of thought: The narrative/paradigmatic disconnect in the Bailey book controversy. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 422–425.
2.
EriksonE. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. New York: Norton.
3.
FlanaganM. F.RalstonD. A. (1983). Intra-coordinated team teaching: Benefits for both students and instructors. Teaching of Psychology, 10, 116–117.
4.
GrecoJ. (1999). What is epistemology? In GrecoJ.SosaE. (Eds.), The Blackwell guide to epistemology (pp. 1–32). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
5.
HammerE. Y.GiordanoP. J. (2001). Dual-gender team-teaching human sexuality: Pedagogical and practical issues. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 132–133.
6.
HoferB. K. (2004). Exploring the dimensions of personal epistemology in differing classroom contexts: Student interpretations during the first year of college. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29, 129–163.
7.
KuhnD.CheneyR.WeinstockM. (2000). The development of epistemological understanding. Cognitive Development, 15, 309–328.
8.
LaudanL. (1981). A confutation of convergent realism. Philosophy of Science, 48, 19–49.
9.
LidarM.LundqvistE.ÖstmanL. (2005). Teaching and learning in the science classroom: The interplay between teachers' epistemological moves and students' practical epistemology. Science Education, 90, 148–163.
10.
LovingC. C. (1997). From the summit of truth to its slippery slopes: Science education's journey through positivist-postmodern territory. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 421–452.
11.
MeylingH. (1997). How to change students' conceptions of the epistemology of science. Science & Education, 6, 397–416.
12.
PrestonC. J. (2005). Pluralism and naturalism: Why the proliferation of theories is good for the mind. Philosophical Psychology, 18, 715–735.
13.
SchrawG.CrippenK. J.HartleyK. (2006). Promoting self-regulation in science education: Metacognition as part of a broader perspective on learning. Research in Science Education, 36, 111–139.
14.
WilsonJ. H.HobbsS. H. (2006, February). Team teaching: Benefits, challenges, and considerations. Paper presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Teaching of Psychology Conference, Atlanta, GA.
15.
YerrickR. K.PedersenJ. E.ArnasonJ. (1998). “We're just spectators”: A case study of science teaching, epistemology, and classroom management. Science Education, 82, 619–648.
