The First-Year University Experience and Personal Epistemology: Core of Deep Approaches to Learning

Universities are paying more attention to how students learn in higher education. Knowledge is valued as a marketable product in the rapidly increasing information age in which we live, which has immediate implications for higher education aims. The process of knowing is highly valued in addition to the development of knowledge as a product of higher education. Individuals must use critical thinking as one of their methods of knowing in order to make educated judgments in both their personal and professional lives. The beliefs of first-year students regarding knowing and learning may not only differ greatly from one another, but also from those held by the university. Students whose learning beliefs do not favor independent study, in particular, may find it difficult to navigate the higher education landscape. The purpose of this study is to determine what first-year teacher education and creative writing students believe about learning and knowing in order to better understand their learning when they begin their university courses. Participants of this study completed the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS) in the first week of their first semester of study. A series of one-way ANOVA using key demographics as independent variables and the EBS factor scores as dependent variables revealed that the sophistication of students' personal epistemologies is affected by their age. This could also indicate that younger students are more prone to remain passive in the learning process, feeling they have no involvement in knowledge building. As a result, knowledge is considered as absolute, unchanging, and transferable from one person to another. This is harmful to the learning process and puts them at danger of not being able to engage in critical thinking during the learning process.

کلیدواژه ها:

personal epistemology ، epistemological beliefs ، first year experience