Understanding Middle Students' Beliefs About Knowledge and Learning Using a Multidimensional Paradigm

Recent theory (Schommer, 1990) suggests that personal epistemology is multidimensional. The multidimensional epistemology structure with middle school students was tested in this study. Over 1,200 students in Grades 7 and 8 completed an epistemological belief questionnaire. Prior theory, developed with college students, suggested 4 epistemological belief factors: Ability to Learn, Structure of Knowledge, Speed of Learning, and Stability of Knowledge. Confirmatory factor analysis applied to a random half of the sample indicated that a 3-factor model was a good fit to the data. That model was replicated with the second half of the data. Follow-up regression analyses indicated that the more students believed in gradual learning and incremental ability to learn, the higher GPA they earned.