Epistemological beliefs

In this article, the actual impact on students' instructional and epistemological beliefs of systematic attempts to implement a problem‐based, collaborative and technologically‐rich learning environment in regular, internationally‐spread, secondary school classrooms is described. Although the literature suggests that learning environments do affect both categories of beliefs, empirical evidence is currently limited. To study the effects of learning environments, classroom‐based learning environments were redesigned in various respects. The change entailed the implementation of a problem‐based, collaborative and technologically‐rich environment to replace the more regular content‐driven, teacher‐centred and textbook‐based environment. The implementation of the innovation was hypothesised to result in a change of both the instructional and epistemological beliefs of students. Moreover, these beliefs were expected to evolve in the direction of the assumptions underlying the innovative environment. A classical pretest and posttest study resulted in the confirmation of the first hypothesis. However, for the second hypothesis, the opposite was found: students' beliefs strengthened in a direction that contradicts the basic principles underlying the designed environment. The study highlights that a poor implementation of potentially powerful learning environments can result in unexpected and even undesirable side effects.

The present study investigated the relationship between pre-service science teachers’ epistemological beliefs and beliefs about nature of science. For this aim, Schommer’s Epistemological Belief Questionnaire (SEQ) and Beliefs about Nature of Science Scale (BNOS) were conducted to 219 pre-service science teachers attending four public university in Turkey. For data analysis, SPSS program was used and correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between epistemological beliefs and beliefs about nature of science. Results showed that the more sophisticated epistemological beliefs preservice science teachers have, the more informed beliefs about nature of science they have. Also it was found that positive/negative significant correlations among the four subscales of Schommer’s Epistemological
Belief Questionnaire and seven subscales of Beliefs about Nature of Science Scale. The implications were discussed.
Key words: beliefs about nature of science; epistemological beliefs; preservice science teachers; science education

The study evaluated the effects of a developed lesson exemplars in electricity integrating computer simulations and constructivist approach on students' Epistemological Beliefs. Specifically, it sought to determine how computer simulations, constructivist approach and Formative Assessment Classroom Technique (FACT) can be integrated in the lesson exemplars in electricity; and evaluate the effects of the developed lesson exemplars in the students’ Epistemological Beliefs. The investigation employed the pre-experimental single-group pretest and posttest study using the Epistemological Beliefs Assessment in Physical Sciences (EBAPS) questionnaire. The study was conducted among seventy-two (72) Grade 10 students of a laboratory high school from a state university in the Philippines. They were taught using Physics Educational Technology (PhET) and other web-based simulations, constructivist approach, and formative assessment classroom technique. The results revealed that the over-all...

In recent decades, two lines of research, phenomenographic and meta-cognitive, have examined students' approaches and epistemological beliefs about learning. To date there has been very little research describing the change in epistemological beliefs in European secondary students, or analysing interrelationships between epistemological beliefs and approaches in order to explain their influence on academic performance. The first aim of this investigation is to analyse the change in epistemological beliefs and learning approaches in secondary students as they progress through their studies. The second aim is to examine the effects of epistemological beliefs on learning approaches, and learning approaches on academic performance. About 1,600 Spanish students, boys and girls, from several secondary schools took part in the study. They were between 12 and 20 years old and their average age was 14.79 years. Measures of epistemological beliefs (EQ: Epistemological Questionnaire), lear...

The paper analyses possible reasons for the gap between teachers’ actions and intentions, reported by research on practices with the use of ICT. The theoretical approach is informed by teachers’ beliefs, which are discriminated in two categories: pedagogical and epistemic. A qualitative fieldwork research undertaken in eight public primary schools in Rio de Janeiro between 2014 and 2019 presents empirical evidence of the relationship between ICT use in the classroom and teachers’ beliefs. Data collection took place in two phases, and the data set consists of: (1) sixty four semi-structured interviews with teachers of the eight schools; (2) two focus groups with teachers in two schools, selected among the eight initial schools. Main findings show the importance of ICT self-efficacy at the core of teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, as skills and knowledge are built upon direct experience and observation of others. Furthermore, epistemic beliefs are strongly related to pedagogical beliefs and teachers’ attitudes. Findings show that the most innovative teachers are those who conceive ICT as a cultural artefact, have an ecological view of the classroom, and translate their intentions into actions, facing uncertainty and possible failure.

This study aims to explore the locus of control, epistemological beliefs and metacognitive awareness levels of
preservice early childhood education teachers and to determine the interrelations among these variables. 206
teacher candidates have been asked to fill out Rotter’s Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, Central Epistemological
Beliefs Scale and Metacognitive Awareness Scale. The statistical analyses revealed that there were
meaningful correlations between Locus of Control and the first two factors of Central Epistemological Beliefs
Scale, namely, Belief in Supernatural Powers, and Belief in Superstitious Rituals; and between Metacognitive
Awareness and the last two factors of Central Epistemological Beliefs Scale, namely, Belief in Science as a
Source of Knowledge, and Belief in a Rational Society. Another important finding was that Belief in Supernatural
Powers and Belief in Superstitious Rituals were important predictors of Locus of Control.

The Biblical definition of "faith" is analyzed, where it is found that there is quite surprising confusion among both Christians and atheists as to what faith is, in Biblical terms. It will be claimed that Biblical faith is a sort of constant communion with Christ (in direct awareness). With this definition it is further found that faith "information" is not scientific, logical, or mathematical information, but rather is only a sort of supernatural "information", or intimacy, directly implanted into a human mind and heart by God: faith is a third type of information available to a human, and different from the other two types of information that humans usually entertained (reason and sense information). Since atheists (and Christians) typically describe Christianity in terms of reason or empirical information, they therefore misrepresent what Christianity actually is: transcendent of reason and empirical information.
This article later became a chapter in my recent book, God-Faith: Discovering the Pure Logic Built into the Fabric of Reality.

Bu araştırmada, matematik öğretmen adaylarının epistemolojik inançları ile öğrenme ve öğretim stilleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada ilişkisel tarama yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma, Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Ahmet Keleşoğlu Eğitim Fakültesi İlköğretim Matematik Öğretmenliği Anabilim Dalındaki II. III. ve IV. sınıfta öğrenim gören toplam 374 öğretmen adayı üzerinde yapılmıştır.
Araştırmada, öğretmen adaylarının epistemolojik inançlarını belirlemek için Schommer (1990)’in geliştirdiği, Deryakulu ve Büyüköztürk (2002) tarafından Türkçe’ye uyarlanan “Epistemolojik İnanç Ölçeği”; öğrenme stillerini belirlenmek için Grasha-Reichmann (1974) tarafından hazırlanan, Sarıtaş ve Süral (2010) tarafından Türkçe’ye uyarlanan “Grasha-Reichmann Öğrenme Stili Ölçeği” ve öğretim stillerinin belirlenmesinde Grasha (1994) tarafından hazırlanan, Sarıtaş ve Süral (2010) tarafından Türkçe’ye uyarlaması yapılan “Grasha Öğretme Stili Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır.
Verilerin analizinde; istatistiksel teknik olarak betimsel istatistikler, t testi ve tek yönlü varyans analizi (Anova), Scheffe Testi, korelasyon ve regrasyon analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır.
Araştırmada elde edilen veriler analiz edildiğinde şu sonuçlar ortaya çıkmıştır:
 Öğretmen adaylarının öğrenmenin çabaya bağlı inanç boyutunda daha çok gelişmiş düzeyde inanca sahipken, diğer boyutlarda ise az gelişmiş düzeyde inanca sahip oldukları bulunmuştur.
 Öğretmen adaylarının en fazla tercih ettikleri öğrenme stili “bağımsız”, en az tercih ettikleri öğrenme stili ise “çekingen” öğrenme stilidir.
 Öğretmen adaylarının en fazla tercih ettikleri öğretim stili grubu 3. Grup (Kolaylaştırıcı/Kişisel Model/Uzman) iken, en az tercih ettikleri öğretim stili grubu ise 2. grup (Kişisel Model/Uzman/Otoriter) olduğu tespit edilmiştir.
 Öğretmen adaylarının epistemolojik inanç düzeylerinin baskın öğrenme stili tercihlerine bağlı olarak değiştiğine dair bir bulguya ulaşılmamıştır.
 Öğretmen adayların öğretim stili tercihleriyle epistemolojik inanç alt boyutlarından öğrenmenin yeteneğe bağlı olduğuna inanç ve tek doğruya olan inanç alt boyutlarında anlamlı bir ilişkinin varlığı tespit edilmiştir.
 Öğretmen adayların öğrenme stilleri ile öğretim stili tercihleri arasında anlamlı bir ilişkinin varlığı tespit edilmiştir.
 Öğretmen adaylarının epistemolojik inançları cinsiyet değişkenine göre incelendiğinde, tüm alt boyutlarda kızlar lehine anlamlı bir fark tespit edilmiştir. Sınıf düzeyleri açısından incelendiğinde öğrenmenin çabaya ve yeteneğe bağlı olduğuna inanç boyutlarında gruplar arasında anlamlı farklılık bulunurken, tek bir doğrunun var olduğuna inanç boyutunda anlamlı bir fark bulunmamıştır. Öğretmen adaylarının mezun oldukları lise türlerinin epistemolojik inanç alt boyutları üzerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar göstermediği tespit edilmiştir.
 Öğretmen adaylarının öğrenme stilleri cinsiyet, sınıf düzeyi ve mezun olunan lise türü değişkenlerine göre incelendiğinde anlamlı bir ilişkinin olmadığı tespit edilmiştir.
 Öğretmen adaylarının öğretim stilleri; cinsiyete bağlı olarak anlamlı bir farklılık gösterirken, sınıf düzeyi ve mezun olunan lise türü değişkenlerine göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar göstermediği tespit edilmiştir.
Anahtar Sözcükler: Epistemolojik İnanç, Öğrenme Stili, Öğretim Stili.

ABSTRACT
In this research, it was aimed to examine the relationship between pre-service mathematics teacher’s epistemological beliefs and their learning and teaching styles. This research was carried out by using  survey method. The research was carried out by a total of 374 II, III and IV grades pre-service mathematics teachers at the Department of Primary Mathematics Education in Necmettin Erbakan University  Ahmet Keleşoğlu  Faculty of Education.
In this research, “Epistemological Beliefs Scale”, developed by Schommer (1990) and adapted to Turkish by Deryakulu and Büyüköztürk (2002), was used in order to determine the epistemological beliefs of pre-service teachers; “Grasha-Reichmann Learning Style Inventory”, prepared by Grasha-Reichmann (1974) and adapted to Turkish by Sarıtaş and Süral (2010), was used in order to determine learning styles, and “Grasha Teaching Style Inventory”, prepared by Grasha (1994) and adapted to Turkish by Sarıtaş and Güral (2010), was used in order to determine teaching styles.
The collected data analysed by descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, as t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe’s test, correlation and regression.

The following results were obtained by the study:
The pre-service teachers believe that “learning depends on effort”; one of the sub-dimensions of epistemological belief, is strong, while their beliefs in other dimensions are weak.
The most preferred learning style is the “independent" style, while  the least preferred learning style is the "avoidant" learning style.
The most preferred teaching style is “Group 3 (Facilitator/ Personal Model/Expert)”, while the  least  preferred teaching style group is “Group 2 (Personal Model/Expert/Formal Authority)”.
No statistically significant evidence has been found between epistemological belief levels and learning style preferences.
It has been determined that there is an appreciable relation between the sub-dimensions of epistemological belief;  “learning depends on ability” and “one single truth” with teaching style preferences.
A relation has been determined between the learning and the teaching style preferences.
When epistemological beliefs of pre-service teachers were examined according to gender variable, a significant difference in favor of girls has been determined in all  dimensions. There is a significant difference between groups at grade levels in the beliefs that “learning depends on ability and effort”. There is no significant difference in an other dimension, that is the presence of “one single truth”. There was no statistically significant difference in epistemological belief sub-dimensions when compared with their high school types.
No statistically significant relation was found when learning styles of pre-service teachers  were analyzed in terms of variables of gender, grade level and  high school types.
There is a statistically significant differences of pre-service teachers’ teaching style preferences when compared with gender but there is no statistically significant differences when compared with grade levels and high school types.
Key Words: Epistemological beliefs, Learning style, Teaching style.

Can science tell us what’s objectively true? Or is it merely a clever way to cure doubt – to give us something to believe in, whether it’s true or not? In this essay, I look at the pragmatist account of science expounded by Charles Sanders Peirce in his 1877 essay, ‘The Fixation of Belief’. Against Peirce, I argue that science does not come naturally to our species, nor does the doubting open-mindedness upon which its practice relies. To the extent that science is successful in ‘curing’ doubt, it’s because it tracks the real state of the world; and I argue that Peirce himself – his pragmatist narrative notwithstanding – is implicitly committed to this view as well.

The primary purpose of this study was to adapt the Teaching-learning Approaches Questionnaire. The working
group of the study consisted of 341 student-teachers. The results indicated that the factor structure is partially consistent with the model. Cronbach reliability coefficient for the whole instrument was .71, while sub-scale reliabilities were .88 and .83. The 30-item questionnaire loaded into two factors. The secondary purpose
of this study was to determine the relationship between epistemological beliefs and teaching-learning conceptions. Further analyses carried out whether teaching-learning conceptions differ based on gender and class-levels. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between epistemological beliefs and teaching-learning conceptions; the student-teachers preferred constructivist approach over the traditional approach,
and student-teacher views differed based on gender and class-level. Finally, significant correlations were found among epistemological beliefs (Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort, Learning Process - Casting Doubt on Authority/ Expert Knowledge, and Certainty of Knowledge) and approaches to teaching and learning (Constructivist
Conception, Traditional Conception).

Wisdom is often considered to be the pinnacle of human development. Though it is universally cherished, it is unclear whether the concept of wisdom can be applied similarly across cultures. We review the emerging research on this topic, exploring extant scholarly definitions, portrayals of wisdom in the world’s philosophies, folk beliefs concerning wisdom and its development, and empirical insights evaluating expression of wisdom-related characteristics. There appears to be a large amount of convergence in scholarly and cross-cultural folk concepts, suggesting that wisdom involves certain aspects of pragmatic reasoning, with less clarity concerning emotion regulatory and prosocial aspects of wisdom. Folk beliefs about wisdom vary across cultures in the degree to which they emphasize social components and characterize development of wisdom as an incremental ability (vs. an immutable entity). Cultures also vary in the likelihood of expressing wisdom. We conclude by calling for a culturally-grounded understanding of the distribution and function of wisdom-related psychological phenomena.

This research, conducted by the author when a Senior Researcher at Newcastle University, UK, was funded by a UK governance organisation to help them assess, integrate and improve their understanding of the governed population.

ABSTRACT: Governance organisations have been urged to develop more holistic evidence-based approaches with partners to better deal with issues affecting the governed population. This presupposes an understanding of the population, yet there has been little research work addressing how governance organisations come to understand their governed population, nor how this understanding can be improved upon within such organisations.

This case study examined in-depth how understanding of a governed population was developed within one UK local governance organisation and it explored how such understanding might be developed and improved through more holistic and evidence-based organisational learning within the organisation and its governance partnerships.

The research methodology involved placement within the governance organisation, participant observations on several projects and innovative initiatives, observations within, across, and outside the organisation, and also interviews with varied key stakeholders.

The study examined:

- stakeholder engagement and networks
- current and varied understandings of the population
- mechanisms actually used for developing understandings
- the influence of context on organisational learning

and analysed these to arrive at a recommendations to improve organisational understanding of the governed population.

In the case studied, significant strengths were found: including innovative past learning trials for development, extensive ongoing networking activities, and many varied and accumulating quantitative datasets available across partnerships.

However, entrenched organisational approaches and practices constrained the development of holistic evidence-based understanding, for instance: the absence of systematic maintained collective learning processes; weak recording and forgetting of understandings; methodological exclusion of stakeholders from the development of understanding; the relative neglect of qualitative data, explanations, investigations, interpretations, and reflexivity; and also implicit organisational acceptance of such limitations and low aspirations.

Nonetheless, untapped opportunities existed to enable change including: latent practitioner knowledge and innovative management champions, the desire for improvement and raised aspirations within learning networks, and the development potential of alterative learning approaches.

It was concluded that more holistic evidence-based understanding was possible, but required new learning approaches beyond those then in use in both local government or academia.   

Recommendations are made to utilise and develop improved organisational learning approaches trialed and reported in the case study.

It is argued that the case study findings, conclusions, and recommendations may be applicable to other similar local governance organisations and partnerships that seek to better understand local populations, services and interventions.

The work was also submitted for, and awarded, an MPhil (at Newcastle University, supervised by Prof. Patsy Healy)

This is a pilot study using semi structured interviews to observe the students view, and to supplement this with pilot ethnographic observation through which it build-ups picture of the determinants of recycling and littering conduct among the students in a public area of Stirling university campus.

The NNEST Lens invites you to imagine how the field of TESOL and applied linguistics can develop if we use the multilingual, multicultural, and multinational perspectives of a NNEST (Non Native English Speakers in TESOL) lens to re-examine our assumptions, practices, and theories in the field. The NNEST lens as described in and developed through this volume is a lens of multilingualism, multinationalism, and multiculturalism through which NNESTs and NESTs—as classroom practitioners, researchers, and teacher educators—take diversity as a starting point in their understanding and practice of their profession. The 16 original contributions to this volume include chapters that question theoretical frameworks and research approaches used in studies in applied linguistics and TESOL, as well as chapters that share strategies and approaches to classroom teaching, teacher education, and education management and policy. As such, this volume will be of interest to a wide range of students, practitioners, researchers, and academics in the fields of education and linguistics.

QUESTIONING LINGUISTICS brings together different perspectives on language studies and applications into a single volume and allows readers to examine how linguists of diverse traditions study and use this expert knowledge of language. By doing so, this volume invites us to reconsider the nature and focus of the field of study and questions a number of current thoughts about language theory, application, and use. In effect, the nature of linguistics, linguistic theory, and languages are called into question, as are the methods that we as linguists may take for granted in our developed research traditions.

Konzept: Beliefs werden in letzter Zeit verstärkt in lernpsychologischen und bildungswissenschaftlichen Arbeiten sowie in internationalen und deutschsprachigen geschichtsdidaktischen Studien als relevante Aspekte für (historisches) Denken, Lehren und Lernen beachtet. Im Beitrag fasse ich den bisherigen Ertrag meines Doktoratsprojektes zusammen. Dabei stehen geschichtstheoretische (epistemologische) und geschichtsdidaktische (lehr-lerntheoretische) Überzeugungen von (angehenden) Geschichtslehrkräften im Zentrum. Fragestellung: Konkret frage ich unter anderem, welche geschichtstheoretischen und -didaktischen Beliefs (angehende) Geschichtslehrpersonen in der Deutschschweiz und Deutschland angeben, wenn sie quantitativ befragt werden, inwiefern personelle Merkmale (wie Geschlecht, Alter) und Kontextfaktoren (z.B. sozioökonomischer Hintergrund der Eltern, Semesterzahl usw.) als Einfluss auf das Antwortverhalten interpretiert werden können und wie es methodisch gelingen kann, Geschichtslektionen beteiligter Lehrkräfte qualitativ so auszuwerten, dass ein konzeptioneller Zusammenhang mit den zuvor quantitativ erhobenen Überzeugungen hergestellt werden kann. Probleme: Die Entwicklung der quantitativen Instrumente für die Erhebung der geschichtstheoretischen Überzeugungen stellte eine Herausforderung dar, da deutschsprachige Fragebögen bisher nicht vorlagen. Deshalb war eine mehrstufige Pilotierung notwendig. Zudem ist z.B. die methodische Verknüpfung zwischen quantitativen und qualitativen Daten aus Unterrichtsbesuchen noch eine offen Forschungsaufgabe. Bisherige Ergebnisse: Eine qualitative Fallanalyse verdeutlicht unter anderem, dass sich die Überzeugungen der untersuchten Lehrperson auch in der Unterrichtsstruktur zeigen lassen. Quantitative Analysen verweisen darauf, dass Deutschschweizer und deutsche Geschichtslehrerstudierende tendenziell narrativ-konstruktivistischen geschichtstheoretischen, jedoch verschieden geschichtsdidaktischen Beliefs zustimmen. Außerdem können verschiedene personelle und soziokulturelle Merkmale, die durch die Befragten angeben wurden, als bedeutsame Aspekte für die gegeben Antworten interpretiert werden.

Este libro reúne los trabajos de aquellas voces alrededor del
encuentro del III Congreso de Estudios Poscoloniales y IV Jornadas
de Feminismo Poscolonial, en Buenos Aires (2016), organizado
conjuntamente con las universidades: UBA-UNSAM-UNSJ-UNCUNAM-UAM-X-PUCP-UNMDP-UNRN-UNR.

Alvin Plantinga has famously argued that the naturalist who accepts evolutionary theory has a defeater for all of her beliefs, including her belief in naturalism and evolution. Hence, he says, naturalism, when conjoined with evolution, is self-defeating and cannot be rationally accepted. This is known as the evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN). However, Tyler Wunder (Religious Studies 51:391-399, 2015) has recently shown that if the EAAN is framed in terms of objective probability and theism is assumed to be non-contingent, then either theism is necessarily false or the EAAN is unsound. Neither option is attractive to the proponent of the EAAN. Perry Hendricks (Religious Studies 1-5, 2018) has responded to Wunder's criticism, showing that the EAAN can be salvaged and, indeed, strengthened, by framing it in terms not of naturalism (N), but of a proposition that is entailed by N that is also consistent with theism. We will show that once Hendricks' solution to Wunder's objection is accepted, a puzzle ensues: if the EAAN provides the naturalist with a defeater for all of her beliefs, then an extension of it appears to provide God with a defeater for all of his beliefs. After bringing out this puzzle, we suggest several ways in which the proponent of the EAAN might solve it, but also show some potential weaknesses in these purported solutions. Whether the solutions to the puzzle that we consider ultimately succeed is unclear to us. (Translation: the authors disagree. One author thinks that the solutions (or, at least, some of them) that we consider do solve the puzzle while the other author does not.) However, it is clear to us that this is an issue that proponents of the EAAN need to address.

relationship between mathematics and mathematics education values. This research was carried out by using survey method.
The sample of the study, 2014-2015 academic year, constitutes 138 mathematics teachers working at various public schools
in Konya. In this research, “Epistemological Beliefs Scale”, developed by Schommer (1990) and adapted to Turkish by
Deryakulu and Büyüköztürk (2002), was used in order to determine the epistemological beliefs of mathematics teachers;
“Mathematics And Mathematics Education Values Inventory”, prepared by Durmuş, Bıçak ve Çakır (2008) was used in
order to determine mathematics and mathematics education values. The collected data analysed by descriptive and
inferential statistical techniques, as t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis. The
following results were obtained by the study: The mathematics teachers believe that “learning depends on effort and
abilities”; sub-dimensions of epistemological belief, is strong, while their beliefs in other dimension (belief in only true) is
weak.Teachers are identified to the mathematics and mathematics education value more constructivist (subjective) teacher by
themselves. A statistically significant relation has been determined between mathematics teacher’s epistemological beliefs
and mathematics and mathematics education values and the results show that statistically significant differences teachers of
mathematics and mathematics education value when compared to the epistemological beliefs.
Keywords:Epistemological beliefs, Mathematics and Mathematics Education Value, Values.

In this paper, a core-peripheral beliefs framework is used to present a structure for conceptualising epistemological beliefs, or beliefs about the nature and acquisition of knowledge. Using this framework, the structure of the epistemological belief system is seen as comprising both core beliefs about knowing and peripheral beliefs about learning. Core beliefs about knowing are central and connected to most

Across multiple societies, we see a shift from regimes of truth (ROT) to “regimes of
posttruth” (ROPT) characterized by proliferating “truth markets.” ROT corresponded
to disciplinary society, tighter functioning between media/political/education apparatuses, scientific discourses, and dominant truth-arbiters. ROPT corresponds to societies of control, where power exploits new “freedoms” to participate/produce/express (as well as consume/diffuse/evaluate). These developments further correspond to postpolitics/ postdemocracy, where issues, discourses, and agency for sociopolitical change remain constrained, despite the enabling of a new range of cultural and pseudopolitical participation around, among other things, truth. ROPT emerge out of postpolitical/postdemocratic strategies common to control societies where especially resource rich political actors attempt to use data-analytic knowledge to manage the field of appearance and participation, via attention and affect.

Simandan D (2005) "Pragmatic Scepticism and the Possibilities of Knowledge" Timisoara, Editura Universitatii de Vest/West University Press, 256 pp.

This book distiled my own way of understanding the relation between epistemology, ontology, and politics, and the best name I found for labelling that way is pragmatic scepticism. Throughout the book, I stay away from the temptation to give a dictionary-like definition of this philosophy. I do not even like to think of it as a philosophy. Instead, I see pragmatic scepticism as a way of being and as a way of relating. A way of being human, i.e. enmeshed in language and limited by our senses; and a way of relating, i.e. crafted by the happy and sad encounters with theories, things, and lifeís happenings. The book is structured in three parts, which together give a sense of the potentials of pragmatic scepticism: as a way of thinking about the world, as a way of approaching theoretical dilemmas, as a way of mapping one's inner contradictions. The first part of the book introduces pragmatic scepticism in relation to the general questions underwriting the philosophy of knowledge and the study of science. The second part is more specific in that it deploys the pragmatic sceptical attitude to the central metatheoretical questions of the discipline of geography. The last part of the book groups under the heading "philosophies of struggle" two more applied essays on the political economy and the political epistemology of conflicts over knowledge in the globalised landscape of higher education in general and geography in particular.

The aim of this paper is to reflect upon the relation between history and literature, first, from the viewpoint of classical historiography and of the literary practices that undermined the scientific credibility of traditional historical discourses, and second, by discussing the late avatar of postmodern historiography and its prospects to the present.
I chose to reflect on the arguable issue of postmodern historiography starting from the specific close relation that it draws between history and literature. This relation, which has nowadays been acknowledged as inevitable (see the theories of Hayden White), with postmodern historiography became particularly praiseworthy and gave unlimited power to literature. Although postmodern historiography may seem a close episode to many, I synthetised and explored its prospects and results against the epistemological rise of relativism and skepticism to which it largely contributed (and which are still very powerful to the contemporary mind), but also hand in hand with a few benefits it brought.
Keywords: postmodern historiography, history, literature, Hayden White, historical knowledge, objectivity

The quest to provide a fundamental understanding and explanation of reality is an ambitious one. Perhaps it is too ambitious. The possible restrictions for such an enterprise to be successful must be inquired in order to determine the issue. Section 1 explores one’s understanding in reaching (scientific) conclusions: to what extent does a successful account testify to understanding? Section 2 focuses on the other side of such an account: does it provide an explanation in a more fundamental sense than pointing out causes of phenomena, or is it restricted to such a task? A critical stance vis-à-vis the (scientific) enterprise of unearthing reality’s structure remains necessary in order not to confuse a consistent and productive theory with one that demonstrates an understanding and explanation in the sense of this article.

This article is focused on answering the question to what extent one can be a sceptic. Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Scepticism serves as a guide. In section 1, it is investigated whether three logical laws have a certain foundation or are subject to doubt. In section 2, Sextus’s way to deal with these laws is examined; the question arises how dogmatic his approach is. After that, a possible ‘reply’ by Sextus to the criticism receives attention. Section 3 is concentrated on a possible alternative to Sextus’s approach. Besides logical laws, some important methods are concerned.

Christopher Buck, “Bahāʾīs.” Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān: Supplement. Ed. Jane McAuliffe. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. (Published December 1, 2016.)

Having arisen out of Islamic historical context and milieu, the Bahāʾī religion has certain Islamicate elements, yet the Bahāʾī Faith exhibits certain other features that phenomenologically are supra-Islamicate and socially and institutionally distinctive in character. For instance, Islamic doctrine adheres to a belief in successive revelations, beginning with Adam, and culminating with the Prophet Muḥammad as the “Seal of the Prophets.” In Bahāʾī teachings, the idea of successive revelations is invested with a teleology that transforms it into “progressive revelation” where the succession of Messengers throughout the history of religions is not only sequential but cumulative, coefficient with the social evolution of humanity. As humankind advances socially, so does the corresponding need for guidance and laws suited to the exigencies of the day and age. Here, “progressive” conveys the notion of a “fuller” and “more advanced” repository of divine guidance (by way of revelatory sacred texts), without making a claim of intrinsic superiority.

A Bahāʾī theology of pluralism, with special reference to Islam, may be based on a statement by Shoghi Effendi, “Guardian” of the Bahāʾī Faith (1921–57): “Unequivocally and without the least reservation it proclaims all established religions to be divine in origin, identical in their aims, complementary in their functions, continuous in their purpose, indispensable in their value to mankind.” (S. Effendi, World Order, p. 58). This, of course, applies as much to Islam as to other religions.

Islamic prophetology is anchored in the received interpretation of Q. 33:40, which is widely believed to establish Muḥammad as the final prophet (see prophets and prophethood). In what is perhaps his most significant exegetical maneuver, Bahā’u’llāh relativizes that claim in order to supersede it, refocusing the reader’s attention a mere four verses later (Q. 33:44) on the eschatological attainment to the presence of God (liqāʾ Allāh) on the last day (see eschatology):

*** Even as the Lord of being hath in His unerring Book (Qurʾān), after (baʿd az) speaking of the “Seal” in His exalted utterance: “Muḥammad is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40), hath revealed unto all people the promise (vaʾda) of “attainment unto the divine Presence (liqāʾyi khudā).” To this attainment to the presence of the immortal King testify the verses of the Book, some of which We have already mentioned (vide par. 148: Q. 29:23, 2:46, 2:249, 18:111, 13:2). The one true God is My witness! Nothing more exalted or more explicit than “attainment unto the divine Presence” hath been revealed in the Qurʾān. (va khudā-yi vāḥid shāhid-i maqāl ast kih hīch amrī a’ẓam az liqā’ va asraḥ-ī az ān dar furqān zikr nayāftih.) Well is it with him that hath attained thereunto, in the day wherein most of the people, even as ye witness, have turned away therefrom. ***

*** And yet, through the mystery of the former (avval) verse, they have turned away from the grace promised by the latter (thānī), despite the fact that “attainment unto the divine Presence” in the “Day of Resurrection” (liqāʾ dar yawm-i qiyām) is explicitly stated in the Book (Qurʾān). (Bahā’u’llāh, the Kitāb-i-Īqān, trans. Shoghi Effendi, Pars. 181–182; parenthetical references added; id. Īqān, Pars. 181–182). ***

In this pivotal passage, when Bahā’u’llāh relates back to “verses of the Book, some of which We have already mentioned,” a quick search of the Īqān shows that, in par. 148, Bahā’u’llāh cites Q. 29:23, 2:46, 2:249, 18:111, 13:2. Yet in this passage, Bahā’u’llāh also alludes to a Qurʾānic announcement of the “attainment unto the divine Presence” in the “Day of Resurrection” (liqāʾ dar yawm-i qiyām) that comes “after” (baʿd az) the “Seal” verse.

Shoghi Effendi, in his dual role as authorized translator and interpreter of Bahāʾī scriptures, provides a word-for-word, literal translation in rendering the Persian so: “And yet, through the mystery of the former.” Then Shoghi Effendi inserts one word for amplification: “verse” (not in the original Persian). This subtle, yet highly significant, gloss disambiguates the text, narrowing the reading from an episodic sequence of prophetic/eschatological events (“Seal of the Prophets” followed by “Divine Presence”) to a textual, qurʾānic sequence, i.e. of a pair verses descriptive of this same sequence. This makes perfect sense since the preposition “after” (baʿd az) can also mean “next.”

An attractive hypothesis (with strong evidence shy of conclusive proof) is that Bahā’u’llāh intended this pair of verses, Q. 33:40 and Q. 33:44, to be read together. Indeed, the very next verse after the “Seal” verse that refers to the eschatological encounter with God is Q. 33:44, which reads: “Their greeting the Day they meet Him will be, “Peace.” And He has prepared for them a noble reward” (Sahih International). A Shīʿī rendering is: “On the day when they will be brought into the presence of their Lord, their greeting to each other will be, ‘Peace be with you.’ God has prepared an honorable reward them” (Muḥammad Sarwar).

In an effort to understand why recent initiatives to promote learner-centred pedagogy in science teaching made a little change in the actual teaching practices of science teachers, this study explored pre-service science teachers' beliefs about science knowledge and their teaching practices. Six pre-service science teachers were interviewed to explore their beliefs. Moreover, lessons taught by pre-service teachers were observed to see how their beliefs manifest in their teaching practices. This was followed by post-observation interviews focusing on critical incidences observed. Findings showed that pre-service science teachers hold dualist views about science. They viewed science knowledge to be simple, rigid and derivative of specific bodies of knowledge handed down by authorities such as textbooks and experts. Consistent with their beliefs, pre-service teachers asked factual questions and sought predetermined textbook-based answers from students. They adopted transmissive teaching strategies to propagate textbook-based science knowledge. It was concluded that the way science teachers uptake the aspired learner-centred teaching may be partly due to incompatible beliefs they hold.

We investigated: (a) the associations of implicit theories and epistemological beliefs and their effects on the academic motivation and achievement of students in Grade 6 science and (b) the mean differences of implicit theories, epistemological beliefs, and academic motivation and achievement as a function of gen- der and race/ethnicity (N = 508). Path analysis revealed that an incremental view of ability had direct and indirect effects on adaptive motivational factors, whereas fixed entity views had direct and indirect effects on maladaptive factors. Epistemological beliefs mediated the influence of implicit theories of abil- ity on achievement goal orientations, self-efficacy, and science achievement. Results are discussed in relation to Dweck and Leggett’s (1988) social-cognitive theory with a focus on middle school science.

The single most important statement that can be made with regard to the logical status of human and physical geographical reasoning is that it belongs to the class of non-monotonic reasoning. In other words,  geographical reasoning is defeasible (i.e. earlier drawn conclusions can be defeated by the addition of new facts, some of which are generated by the very application of our ideas outside academe) and non-demonstrative (i.e. our beliefs about reality cannot be demonstrated once and for ever; we must do with building provisional arguments based on the current weight of the evidence, which itself changes with the times). Indeed, unlike mathematics, which is a closed world of formalisms that relies heavily on deduction, demonstration, and proof, geography studies and attempts to improve the real, messy world out there. Because that wild, unruly world is always in a process of becoming, the conclusions drawn yesterday may have to be abandoned today, and so on, without end in sight. The core virtue of geographical reasoning is not certainty, but adaptability. As the world changes, so do geography’s entertained beliefs about how to improve it. The point we are trying to make is that an alternative window into the nature of geographical reasoning, besides the one provided by the discipline’s key concepts, offers an opening toward the more subtle problematic of the mechanisms by which the updating of geographical beliefs operate.

Abstract
Maar daar is ook, vanuit die fenomologie: ‘n intensionaliteit vir lewe. Benewens ‘n teoretiese intensionaliteit, bv in die natuurwetenskaplike verobjektivering van alles, is daar in die spel van die lewe, ‘n intensionaliteit vir lewe: dit is om die skoonheid van ‘n roos of die prag van die sterrehemel in die Bosveld te geniet, om vir jou lewensmaat te kan sê, ek het jou lief. Alles nie-wetenskaplik, maar dit maak dit nie onwaar nie! Net soos om te kan bely: Ek glo in God, Skepper van die hemel en aarde.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications
The author takes epistemology ……., fused with transcendence, as point of departure in order to understand the theologian-science dialogue within a theological as well as a philosophical context. As starting point, the article reflects upon humans as they are involved in practical and relevant day to day situations, consequently religious, within a religious, philosophical and natural science contexts. (Theology) constitute the so called first dialogue, the natural sciences follows as the second dialogue. Within the context of epistemology and the cosmology metaphor embedded in a transcendental philosophical viewpoint, we are ultimately led to a ‘third dialogue’ with Jesus Christ as part of an answer to the theological-science debate.

To discuss reflexive practice in relation to epistemic cognition, we posit informed reflexivity as an epistemic virtue that is informed by its particular context and purposes of knowing and action and promotes use of reliable processes to achieve epistemic aims. It involves reasoning about social relationships in which a person is embedded when acting in a specific kind of context—whether academic or real-world—that requires construction, evaluation, and application of knowledge. Informed reflexivity is the learned disposition to reason about one's knowledge-related actions, entailing context-specific epistemic characteristics. It involves an intentional stance about the need to reason about oneself and the context. Discussions of two disciplinary competencies (science and history) and two cross-disciplinary competencies (critical thinking and writing) illustrate how epistemically competent practices instantiate informed reflexivity. Promoting informed reflexivity as an epistemic virtue might dispose students toward reliable processes of knowing and making epistemically informed resolved action appropriate to the context.

Alethic functionalism, as propounded by Michael Lynch, is the view that there are different ways to be true, but that these differences nevertheless contain enough unity to forestall outright pluralism. This view has many virtues. Yet, since one could conceivably apply Lynch's "one and many" strategy to other debates, I try show to how his argumentative steps can be used to solve—not just the controversy pertaining to truth—but any controversy that surrounds a "What is X?" question.

Neste artigo, a partir de uma abordagem multidisciplinar do problema do entendimento humano e de uma perspectiva fenomenológica da Teoria do Conhecimento, constrói-se uma proposta de detalhamento da estrutura dos processos cognitivos envolvidos na produção e transformação do conhecimento. Distingue-se os conceitos de percepção sensorial, impressão cognitiva e entendimento, com base na contraposição de conceitos filosóficos com conceitos e resultados experimentais da física e da neurofisiologia.

A conceptual exploration of the umbrella notion Wisdom, as well as dimensions, characteristics and components of the idea of wisdom as suggested by experimental philosophy, neurosciences and other studies and a comparison of the notion of wisdom with those of knowledge, truth, insight and understanding.

Epistemological beliefs are beliefs about knowledge and learning. In a physics class, for example, some students might believe learning consists of memorizing facts and formulas provided by the teacher, whereas others might believe it entails applying and modifying their conceptualizations of phenomena. This article explores, in the context of a debate about velocity from the author's high school physics class, how a perspective of students as having epistemological beliefs might influence a teacher's perceptions of students and intentions for instruction. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This study aims at analysing the relations between students’
achievement motivation, learning strategies and their epistemological beliefs in
learning through structural equation modelling, and at exploring the mediation
role of motivation in the relations between learning strategies and epistemological
beliefs. The study group was composed of 446 undergraduate students attending
the Faculty of Education. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
(MSLQ) in addition to the Epistemological Belief Scale was employed as the
instrument of data collection in the research. The data obtained were then
analysed via confirmatory factor analysis and the path analysis. In consequence, it
was found that the model consisting of such variables as learning strategies,
motivation and the belief that learning depends on effort yielded the acceptable fit
indices, and it was also found that motivation variable mediated between the
relations holding between the belief that learning depends on effort and the
learning strategies.

This essay argues that acknowledging the existence of mind-independent facts is a matter of vital importance, in that acquiescence before the layout of the world is something demanded of knowing agents from the most elementary empirical deliverance to the most abstract construct. Building on the idea that normativity requires the presence of more than one option to choose from, the essay shows how the cessation of one's life is the disjunctive alternative of any experiential episode. This much has been missed, it argues, because of a generalized failure to appreciate how even the simplest atomic contents embroil their subjects in acts of assent. Its account thus casts a new light on relativism and skepticism, revealing them to be provisional luxuries supported only by the cognitive labor of others.