Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

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epistemic beliefs and ontological beliefs to differentiate nuances in the described
phenomenon.
Definitions
The introduction of new terminology requires initial definitions: Ontology is the study of
the nature of reality (Hofweber, 2004 in context of philosophical discourse; Lincoln &
Guba, 2000 in context of empirical research). Philosophers of science have traditionally
distinguished between epistemological beliefs from ontological beliefs and/or worldviews
and have then claimed that both contribute to the way that scientists will necessarily view,
conduct research, and construe theories of science and meta-science (e.g. Kuhn, 1962). We
have added the new category of ontological beliefs describing the role that one’s beliefs
about the external world of nature plays in one’s knowledge of the discipline or in one’s
belief about how we know what we know. As James (2005) suggested ontology and
epistemology are interconnected. A developed understanding and appreciation of both
ontology and epistemology are expected to disclose philosophical divergences and, thus,
can foster reflexive thinking by encouraging students to confront and justify their own
ideas, beliefs, and positions.
Figure 1: Proposed Model of Epistemological Beliefs
Epistemic Beliefs are defined as the beliefs on the nature of epistemic frames (Shaffer,
2006) or the knowledge that, knowing how and knowing with contextualized within a
discipline or place of practice. Epistemic frames are to know whom to ask, where to begin
looking, what constitutes appropriate and accepted evidence and when to draw a
conclusion (see Shaffer, 2006, p.227). We chose to include epistemic beliefs in this model
to acknowledge that epistemological and ontological beliefs cannot be separated about the
beliefs of what are acceptable standards and practices in the context in which they are
employed aka the disciplinary boundaries.
Significance of this work
Previous research has focused nearly exclusively on epistemological beliefs, therefore, the
authors of this paper presume that epistemic beliefs, ontological beliefs and
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011