Personal Epistemology: An Integrative Approach to Research
Barbara K. Hofer

        Individual conceptions of knowledge and knowing have been shown to be intricately related to learning and education. What students think knowledge is and how knowing occurs, how knowledge is justified and where it resides, all have significant implications for how students approach learning and how they perceive educational experiences. In reciprocal fashion, educational experiences also influence epistemological development. In this talk I will provide a short overview of paradigmatic approaches to understanding personal epistemology, illustrated with a set of studies I have conducted in order to investigate epistemic understanding and how it is related to cognitive processes, instantiated in pedagogical practices, and activated metacognitively. I will review methodological approaches employed in my research, including surveys, classroom observations, interviews, and think-aloud protocols, and will talk about the value of a mixed-method approach to understanding personal epistemology and learning. Primary focus will be on the preliminary results of an ongoing study of epistemological development in adolescence from sixth grade through the first year post-high school, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s division of Developmental and Learning Sciences. I will conclude with a rationale for theoretical integration of existing models of personal epistemology, implications for education, and suggestions for future research, as well as suggestions for addressing epistemology from a cultural perspective.