Teacher epistemic beliefs: The development of a psychometrically sound measure
Open Access
- Author:
- Hennessey, Maeghan Nichole
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- July 20, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Pricilla Karen Murphy, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Jonna Marie Kulikowich, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Karen M Boomer, Committee Member
James F Nolan Jr., Committee Member - Keywords:
- elementary education
justification
pedagogical practices
teacher beliefs
epistemic beliefs
instrument development - Abstract:
- This dissertation study is an investigation of teacher epistemic beliefs. Teacher epistemic beliefs are defined as the beliefs teachers have about the justification of knowledge and how those beliefs are evidenced in their pedagogical practices. Much of the current research in educational psychology has focused on the beliefs of students (e.g., Cano, 2005; Hofer, 2000; Perry, 1970; Schommer, 1990) However, the beliefs of teachers are important to study because it is those beliefs that influence students’ beliefs (Hofer, 2001). Thus, the purpose of this dissertation study is to create and investigate the psychometric properties of a new measurement system designed to assess teacher epistemic beliefs as they are defined in the philosophical literature. The sample for this dissertation study included both preservice and inservice teachers involved in a Professional Development School program. Results of the data analyses show that the scores from the Likert-type items created for this study were both internally consistent and stable over time. In addition, profiles of teacher epistemic beliefs were created in a reliable way using content-free Likert-type items for both preservice and inservice teachers. However, when content teaching was introduced into the items reflecting pedagogical practices, the reliability of participants’ scores were less than optimal. Finally, the results of this study show that when teachers provide a detailed description of their lessons and pedagogical practices, the measurement system created was able to show that preservice teachers’ epistemic beliefs are espoused and enacted in similar ways.