Abstract of Invited Speech

Epistemic cognition and motivation: How do these concepts relate?
Christian Brandmo
University of Oslo, Norway

Ever since Marlene Schommer (1990) introduced her multi-dimensional model of epistemological belief, researchers have discussed the distinction between personal epistemology concepts and motivation. Through the introduction of epistemic cognition as a general term in the field as well as the theoretical models related to this term, the question of a distinction between motivation and personal epistemology is more relevant than ever. In this talk, concepts from the field of epistemic cognition (e.g., epistemic aim, values) will be compared with concepts that traditionally have been associated with motivation (e.g., goals and values). Furthermore, based on theoretical models and empirical research from both the area of personal epistemology and the area of motivation, the function of various concepts on individuals’ cognition and behavior will be discussed.


Invited Speaker

Prof. Christian Brandmo (University of Oslo, Norway)

Christian Brandmo is an associate professor in the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo, Norway, were his position is related to quantitative research methodology, motivation and learning science. He worked as a school psychologist until he started his research career and graduated as a PhD on a dissertation related to higher education students’ epistemic beliefs, motivation and self-regulation. Before he moved to his current position, he worked seven years as an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo, linked to the field of educational leadership. During this period, he also served as a department deputy and department head of research. His publications are related to topics such as epistemic cognition, motivation, self-regulated learning, and reading comprehension in various groups (students, teachers, and school leaders) and contexts. He has also edited two special issues on self-regulated learning for the Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology. He is member of the research group on Text Comprehension - Development, Instruction, and Multiple Texts (TextDIM), and is currently engaged in two research projects; a project on lower secondary students’ motivation and achievement and a project on teachers’ motivation and epistemic cognition during online reading. In addition, he is member of the Norwegian project-team of the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).