January 2012 Volume 15 Number 1 - Educational Technology ...

Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2012). Epistemological Beliefs and Ill-structured Problem-solving in Solo and Paired Contexts.
Educational Technology & Society, 15 (1), 2–14.
Epistemological Beliefs and Ill-structured Problem-solving in Solo and Paired
Contexts
Charoula Angeli and Nicos Valanides
Department of Education, University of Cyprus, 11-13 Dramas street, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus // cangeli@ucy.ac.cy //
nichri@ucy.ac.cy
ABSTRACT
A mixed-method exploratory approach was employed to examine the relationship between epistemological
beliefs and quality of thinking when participants first thought about an ill-structured problem alone, and then
with another person in a dyad. The results showed that there was not a systematic connection between
epistemological beliefs and ill-structured problem solving in either solo or paired contexts. It is speculated that
the emotional and cultural nature of the problem affected participants’ problem-solving approach. It is
recommended that future empirical studies examine the relationship between epistemological beliefs and
thinking in a contextualized way by assuming an integrative approach so that emotions, epistemological beliefs,
and cognition are considered systemically.
Keywords
Epistemological beliefs, Individual thinking, Paired thinking, Ill-structured problem solving.
Introduction
A lot of the problems that we are often confronted with, either in our personal lives or in the workplace, are mostly
ill-structured, that is, problems for which there is real uncertainty as to how they can best be solved. According to
Jonassen (1997), ill-structured problems are unique interpersonal activities and require learners to express personal
beliefs; thus, for this reason, cognitive processes alone are insufficient requirements for solving ill-structured
problems, because epistemological beliefs affect the ways that learners naturally tend to approach these problems
(Oh & Jonassen, 2007; Mandler, 1989; Rogoff, 1990, 2003). We use the term epistemological beliefs to refer to
beliefs about the nature of knowledge (certainty of knowledge) and knowing (source of knowledge and justification
of knowledge) (Hofer, 2001).
Empirical findings showed that epistemological beliefs affect reasoning about ill-structured problems (Bendixen &
Schraw 2001; Schommer & Dunnell, 1997; Sinatra, Southerland, McConaughy, & Demastes, 2003; Schraw, 2001).
Research in this area, however, has not addressed closely the role of social context on one’s epistemological beliefs.
In other words, could it be possible for Bendixen, Schraw, Schommer, and Dunnell to obtain different results about
the role of epistemological beliefs on students’ reasoning had they asked their students to think about an illstructured
problem, not alone, but with others in a collaborative setting? Do epistemological beliefs behave the same
way when one thinks about a problem individually or with others in a group?
Therefore, to remedy for the lack of research on the role of context on epistemological beliefs, in this study we
considered socio-cultural aspects of the problem-solving context, and assumed a mixed-method exploratory approach
in order to better understand how learners with naïve or sophisticated epistemological beliefs think about an illstructured
controversial problem individually or in dyads.
Literature review
Jonassen (1997) distinguished well-structured from ill-structured problems, and articulated differences in cognitive
processing engaged by each. Ill-structured problem solving often requires solvers to consider multiple perspectives
and apply several criteria while evaluating problems or solutions. The ability to do so depends partially on solvers
underlying beliefs about knowledge and how it develops. Since ill-structured problems have commonly divergent or
alternative solutions, solvers must develop justification or an argument for supporting the rationale of their selection
of a particular solution (Voss & Post, 1988).
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