Trained elementary school teachers’ epistemological beliefs were measured using Schraw, Bendixen and Dunkle (2002) adaptation of Schommer’s (1990) epistemological belief inventory. The population consisted of 424 trained teachers. The levels of IBI of a 25% random sample of these teachers were also determined using an observational rating scale. A determination was also made of any significant differences in teachers beliefs based on relevant grouping variables. Correlation analysis was used to determine the extent to which teachers’ epistemological beliefs predicted their inquiry-based instructional practices in science. Teachers’ epistemological, beliefs were found to be generally moderately favourable to their practice of IBI. Significant differences in teachers’ epistemological beliefs (df=3, F=2.881. p<.05) were found with these beliefs increasing with teaching experience. Teachers’ inquiry-based practices were found to be at the developing inquiry level. These findings are significant in that they show the importance of teachers’ educational beliefs in influencing their IBI practices and highlight the importance of promoting an academic and societal culture that promotes the development of more sophisticated students’ epistemologies.
| Published in | International Journal of Elementary Education (Volume 4, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11 |
| Page(s) | 101-112 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Inquiry-Based Instruction, Beliefs, Epistemological Beliefs
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APA Style
David F. Samuel, Babalola J. Ogunkola. (2015). Elementary School Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs as Predictors of Their Inquiry-Based Practices in Science Instruction. International Journal of Elementary Education, 4(6), 101-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11
ACS Style
David F. Samuel; Babalola J. Ogunkola. Elementary School Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs as Predictors of Their Inquiry-Based Practices in Science Instruction. Int. J. Elem. Educ. 2015, 4(6), 101-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11
AMA Style
David F. Samuel, Babalola J. Ogunkola. Elementary School Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs as Predictors of Their Inquiry-Based Practices in Science Instruction. Int J Elem Educ. 2015;4(6):101-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11,
author = {David F. Samuel and Babalola J. Ogunkola},
title = {Elementary School Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs as Predictors of Their Inquiry-Based Practices in Science Instruction},
journal = {International Journal of Elementary Education},
volume = {4},
number = {6},
pages = {101-112},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeedu.20150406.11},
abstract = {Trained elementary school teachers’ epistemological beliefs were measured using Schraw, Bendixen and Dunkle (2002) adaptation of Schommer’s (1990) epistemological belief inventory. The population consisted of 424 trained teachers. The levels of IBI of a 25% random sample of these teachers were also determined using an observational rating scale. A determination was also made of any significant differences in teachers beliefs based on relevant grouping variables. Correlation analysis was used to determine the extent to which teachers’ epistemological beliefs predicted their inquiry-based instructional practices in science. Teachers’ epistemological, beliefs were found to be generally moderately favourable to their practice of IBI. Significant differences in teachers’ epistemological beliefs (df=3, F=2.881. p<.05) were found with these beliefs increasing with teaching experience. Teachers’ inquiry-based practices were found to be at the developing inquiry level. These findings are significant in that they show the importance of teachers’ educational beliefs in influencing their IBI practices and highlight the importance of promoting an academic and societal culture that promotes the development of more sophisticated students’ epistemologies.},
year = {2015}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Elementary School Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs as Predictors of Their Inquiry-Based Practices in Science Instruction AU - David F. Samuel AU - Babalola J. Ogunkola Y1 - 2015/12/30 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11 T2 - International Journal of Elementary Education JF - International Journal of Elementary Education JO - International Journal of Elementary Education SP - 101 EP - 112 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7640 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20150406.11 AB - Trained elementary school teachers’ epistemological beliefs were measured using Schraw, Bendixen and Dunkle (2002) adaptation of Schommer’s (1990) epistemological belief inventory. The population consisted of 424 trained teachers. The levels of IBI of a 25% random sample of these teachers were also determined using an observational rating scale. A determination was also made of any significant differences in teachers beliefs based on relevant grouping variables. Correlation analysis was used to determine the extent to which teachers’ epistemological beliefs predicted their inquiry-based instructional practices in science. Teachers’ epistemological, beliefs were found to be generally moderately favourable to their practice of IBI. Significant differences in teachers’ epistemological beliefs (df=3, F=2.881. p<.05) were found with these beliefs increasing with teaching experience. Teachers’ inquiry-based practices were found to be at the developing inquiry level. These findings are significant in that they show the importance of teachers’ educational beliefs in influencing their IBI practices and highlight the importance of promoting an academic and societal culture that promotes the development of more sophisticated students’ epistemologies. VL - 4 IS - 6 ER -
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