Reasoning about science-related uncertain issues and epistemological perspectives among children

Abstract

In order to fulfill social responsibility, one of the goals in science education is to equip students with the competence of scientific reasoning. Nevertheless, psychological studies have found that people in general do not have adequate ability to make scientific arguments in everyday situations. Later studies found that the inadequate ability was associated with the development of personal epistemology. However, the conclusion is drawn mostly from research with adults or adolescents. This study attempted to examine the relation between scientific reasoning in informal contexts and the epistemological perspectives demonstrated by elementary school pupils. Participants of the study were 62 sixth graders who were interviewed to criticize two science-related uncertain issues. Content analysis showed that most children had developed the absolutist form of personal epistemology. Chi-square analyses suggested that the more multiplist view toward the certainty of knowledge and the process of knowing, the better coordination of theory and evidence as well as reflective reasoning. In addition, children's beliefs about the certainty of knowledge, source of knowledge and concept of justification were seemingly consistent across different issues. Nevertheless, content analysis showed that the criteria used to make judgments varied with problem contexts.

Understanding children's epistemic beliefs in elementary education

“…To examine epistemic judgments across domains Walker, Wartenberg, and Winner (2012) 7-8-year-olds (USA) To examine the relationships between dialogic pedagogy, skills of argument and epistemic beliefs Interviews Yang and Tsai (2010) 6th-grade students (Taipei)…”

“…This approach has not been commonly used in research with children, possibly because thinking about epistemic beliefs can be quite an abstract task and openended questions that focus on such beliefs may prove to be too challenging for young children in terms of language demands (Moschner et al 2008). Yang and Tsai (2010) used content analysis of interviews to investigate the nature of sixth-grade children's epistemic beliefs in science. They provided children with newspaper reports that depicted contradictory information on a range of issues (earthquake prediction and land subsidence).…”

Junior High School Students' Reasoning

“…There is ample evidence that students often had difficulty in making and justifying arguments and scientific claims because of the knowledge and the level of their cognitive development is not enough [28], so that the participation of students in discussions argumentative role is to enhance conceptual understanding of the subject matter in school age children, so is the case in the student [14]. Some research suggests that activities arguments which students express his views, presenting reasons and evidence to support his view or refute the views of others, it can stimulate the formation of students' knowledge in the classroom [1].…”

“…As at the time of the discussion, the students may have the same or different reasons with others. The argued that there should be a accompanied by evidence that they have, so that rationality of science were discovered in the ability to establish a convincing argument that invites and theoretical explanation of the data of observation [28].…”

High-School Students’ Epistemic Knowledge of Science and Its Relation to Learner Factors in Science Learning

“…Numerous psychological investigations have shown the significant role of personal epistemic theories in mediating cognitive activities such as learning, thinking, and decision making (Cano 2005;Kitchener 1983;Schommer-Aikins and Hutter 2002;Whitmire 2004). In the field of science education, many studies have indicated that students' epistemic views of science correlate with their approaches to learning and performances of scientific reasoning and argumentation (e.g., Nussbaum et al 2008;Yang and Tsai 2010). In short, it has been empirically confirmed that a person's epistemic theory is closely related to his/her cognitive behaviors.…”