Personal epistemological development during the undergraduate education : beliefs about knowledge and knowledge acquistion of Thai University students.
Issued Date
2007
Resource Type
Language
eng
Rights
Mahidol University
Suggested Citation
Fujiwara, Takayoshi, Phillips, Brian J. (2007). Personal epistemological development during the undergraduate education : beliefs about knowledge and knowledge acquistion of Thai University students.. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/35022
Title
Personal epistemological development during the undergraduate education : beliefs about knowledge and knowledge acquistion of Thai University students.
Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Objectives: This research investigates students’ beliefs about knowledge and
knowledge acquisition (i.e., personal epistemology) to evaluate how students
develop epistemologically during their undergraduate education. Methods: Two
groups of undergraduate students (N = 3,050) in a Thai university completed a
questionnaire: first-year students who were about to begin studying in the
university (n = 870), and students who had just graduated from the university (n
= 2,180). Results: A five-factor structure is identified for the personal
epistemology of the students. Significant differences are identified between the
first-year students and the graduates in four out of the five factors. The
differences between the male and female students are also significant in four out
of the five factors. Further separate breakdown analyses by students’ subject
major indicate that the discrepancies between the first-year and the graduates
are more noticeable in some majors than others. Conclusions: The research
results provide a global picture of the dimensional structure of personal
epistemology of Thai university students. Moreover, they also suggest that
undergraduate university education has an influence on the students in
developing their epistemological viewpoints in certain aspects.
Description
The 3rd International Malaysia-Thailand Conference on Southeast Asian Studies, Mahidol University International College, Thailand. November 29 - December 1, 2007