The Influence of Web-supported Independent Activities and Small Group Work on Students' Epistemological Beliefs

Epistemological beliefs are those concerning the nature of knowledge and learning: beliefs about how individuals come to know, and how knowledge is constructed. There is growing evidence in the literature that indicates epistemological beliefs influence students learning, but little research as to how learning environments impact on students' epistemological beliefs, and hence students' approaches to study. This paper reports on a research project that investigated the effects of a major course revision on students' epistemological beliefs. The course that underwent revision was a large undergraduate information systems course. The learning environment created aimed to engage students in independent webbased learning, and utilised small-group workshop activities based on students' previous independent study. The independent work required students to undertake web-supported independent activities (WSIA) before attending lecturer facilitated small group workshops. Fo...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: ACE
• Authors: Denise Tolhurst
• Keywords: ACE 2004, Education, Epistemological Beliefs, Epistemological Beliefs Influence, Independent Webbased Learning