1. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology

2. Knowledge Genesis Developing Information Literacy for Improved Learning Outcomes Doug Colbeck Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology

3. My Research is a phenomenographic study focused on the ontological development and subsequent utilization of epistemological knowledge engaging personal literacy development

4. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Personal Epistemology Influences many aspects of learning Multidimensional in its development A progression of more sophisticated beliefs Given their importance in student learning, the development of epistemological beliefs has been recognised as an important goal of teaching

5. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology The instrument used in this study (EBS) Developed from existing studies Participant comprehension Australian lexus The Epistemological Beliefs Sampler (EBS) was specifically designed to gather ratings from participants based on their personal epistemological beliefs

6. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology The four domains being; Computing Information Systems Nursing, and Health Age Groups Gender Survey Totals MF < 20106140246 20 – 24294372 25 – 29121527 30 – 39133750 40 – 4932831 50 +369 Totals166269435 Participant demographics Four broad content domains participated in this study

7. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Data Collection The EBS was designed to be distributed during the first fifteen minutes of the first lecture of semester one to new undergraduates at UTAS Prior to any teaching – to ensure minimal bias During the introductory element of the course – to minimise disruption Timed to only use a minimal amount of time – ensured acceptance by lecturing staff and participating students Distributed to approximately 515 students with a return of 435 completed surveys (84.4%)!

8. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Data Analysis The data was naïve response recoded and a series of multivariate factor analysis applied Confirmatory analysis conducted Results compared to existing studies Experimental analysis conducted

9. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Results - Confirmatory Factor Analysis – 1 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.757 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Significance =.000 Cronbach’s Alpha =.634 34 statements - 10 factors

10. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Results - Confirmatory Factor Analysis – 2 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.757 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Significance =.000 Cronbach’s alpha =.634 10 factors - 4 themes (61.083%)

11. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Results - Experimental Factor Analysis – 1 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.768 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Significance =.000 Cronbach’s alpha =.744 34 statements - 11 factors (53.5%)

12. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Results - Experimental Factor Analysis – 2 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.674 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Significance =.000 Cronbach’s alpha = 0.641 11 Factors - 4 themes (56.75%)

13. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Findings The beliefs observed indicate immature dualistic thinking There is a firm belief in an innate ability An obvious need to maintain a guiding or directing authority Not been correctly taught how to learn and improve their personal literacy skills

14. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Conclusions The progression from simple to more complex epistemological beliefs is not uniform amongst students in higher education Each individual student will possess different beliefs on entering university and will develop in a different way from their peers

15. Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology The future Although existing research has begun to investigate the relationship between learning environments and epistemological beliefs, little is yet understood about the process of epistemological development The current research literature concludes that encouraging students in being active and independent learners can support their epistemological development, but that further research is clearly needed

16. Doug Colbeck office +61 3 6324 3211 mobile 0448 343850 email Doug.Colbeck@utas.edu.au website http://www.comp.utas.edu.au/users/ dcolbeck/Index.htm Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology Questions? Colbeck Family Coat-of-Arms