Modeling Student Negotiation of Assessment-Related Epistemological Messages in a College Science Course
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| Title: | Modeling Student Negotiation of Assessment-Related Epistemological Messages in a College Science Course |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Cara E. Schwarz, Kimberly S. DeGlopper, Nicole C. Greco, Rosemary S. Russ, Ryan L. Stowe (ORCID |
| Source: | Science Education. 2025 109(2):429-447. |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 19 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) |
| Contract Number: | 2003680 2225025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | College Science, Modeling (Psychology), Undergraduate Students, Organic Chemistry, Courses, STEM Education, Student Attitudes, Evaluation Methods, Change Strategies, Epistemology, Learning, Feedback (Response) |
| DOI: | 10.1002/sce.21914 |
| ISSN: | 0036-8326 1098-237X |
| Abstract: | To prepare students to use science knowledge in their later personal or professional lives, we must attend to what they believe it means to know and learn science (i.e., epistemology). Unfortunately, we have little understanding of how students' epistemologies shift and are stabilized as they navigate their science courses. Researchers have made intuitive arguments that many microscale epistemological messages sum over time to give rise to macro-scale understandings of knowing and learning, but we have no theoretical model for how this sum unfolds. Here, we begin to build such a theoretical model. To do so, we focus on assessments and related materials in a college chemistry course as potentially consequential sources of messages about valued knowledge products and processes. We then elicited students' evolving understandings of assessment-related epistemological messages in several one-on-one interviews conducted throughout the semester. Analysis of how three students experienced, negotiated, and responded to assessment-related messages showed that interactions with the course system stabilized a consistent, well-resolved picture of the ways of knowing and learning that counted in the focal course. Specifically, good knowledge must have specific authority-mandated features and knowledge is justified primarily via alignment with an instructor-authored key. Students found utility in different (reliable) processes for achieving the aim of authorized knowledge, and some of these differences were maintained throughout the semester. Implications for modeling students' experience with course-embedded epistemological messages over time and how this work might inform practice are discussed. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1460580 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | To prepare students to use science knowledge in their later personal or professional lives, we must attend to what they believe it means to know and learn science (i.e., epistemology). Unfortunately, we have little understanding of how students' epistemologies shift and are stabilized as they navigate their science courses. Researchers have made intuitive arguments that many microscale epistemological messages sum over time to give rise to macro-scale understandings of knowing and learning, but we have no theoretical model for how this sum unfolds. Here, we begin to build such a theoretical model. To do so, we focus on assessments and related materials in a college chemistry course as potentially consequential sources of messages about valued knowledge products and processes. We then elicited students' evolving understandings of assessment-related epistemological messages in several one-on-one interviews conducted throughout the semester. Analysis of how three students experienced, negotiated, and responded to assessment-related messages showed that interactions with the course system stabilized a consistent, well-resolved picture of the ways of knowing and learning that counted in the focal course. Specifically, good knowledge must have specific authority-mandated features and knowledge is justified primarily via alignment with an instructor-authored key. Students found utility in different (reliable) processes for achieving the aim of authorized knowledge, and some of these differences were maintained throughout the semester. Implications for modeling students' experience with course-embedded epistemological messages over time and how this work might inform practice are discussed. |
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| ISSN: | 0036-8326 1098-237X |
| DOI: | 10.1002/sce.21914 |
