Epistemological Beliefs of Undergraduate Students as Function of Gender and Academic Level

10 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2014

See all articles by Wail Muin

Wail Muin

University of Malaya - Department of Foundation of Education Faculty of Education

Nabeel Abedalaziz

University of Malaya (UM) - Faculty of Education

Zaharah Hussin

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Educational Foundations

Mohd Mohamed

University of Malaya - Department of Education

Rahimi Md Saad

University of Malaya (UM) - Faculty of Education

Date Written: February 6, 2014

Abstract

Epistemological beliefs are those concerning the structure or the nature of knowledge and knowing, including definitions of knowledge, how knowledge is constructed, how knowledge is evaluated, and reflects the viewpoint of the individual about what and how knowledge can be acquired and the degree of certainty. The present study sought answers to the following questions: What are the overall epistemological beliefs of undergraduate students? Do epistemological beliefs of undergraduate students differ by gender? Do epistemological beliefs of undergraduate students differ by academic level? Epistemological beliefs scale comprising 62 items measuring five components of beliefs (i.e. Quick Learning, knowledge, Certain Knowledge, Omniscient authority, innate ability, and simple knowledge) was administered to a sample of 154 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Education at University of Malaya. Descriptive statistics, Two way MANOVA, multiple comparisons, and ANOVA analyses were used. Results indicated that: (1) participants had sophisticated beliefs on Innate ability, whereas they had a naïve belief on Certain knowledge, (2) males scored higher than females in innate ability, whereas both males and female are similar in Quick Learning, Certain Knowledge, Omniscient authority, and simple knowledge), (3) Quick Learning and Innate ability were found to decrease with increase in academic level.

Keywords: Certain Knowledge, Innate ability, Omniscient authority, Quick Learning, Simple

JEL Classification: I21

Suggested Citation

Muin, Wail and Abedalaziz, Nabeel and Hussin, Zaharah and Mohamed, Mohd and Md Saad, Rahimi, Epistemological Beliefs of Undergraduate Students as Function of Gender and Academic Level (February 6, 2014). OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 109-118, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2391608

Wail Muin

University of Malaya - Department of Foundation of Education Faculty of Education ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)

Nabeel Abedalaziz

University of Malaya (UM) - Faculty of Education ( email )

50603 Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

Zaharah Hussin

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Educational Foundations ( email )

Malaysia

Mohd Mohamed

University of Malaya - Department of Education ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
Malaysia

Rahimi Md Saad (Contact Author)

University of Malaya (UM) - Faculty of Education ( email )

50603 Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

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