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The Relationships Between Epistemic Beliefs in Biology and Approaches to Learning Biology Among Biology-Major University Students in Taiwan

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between students’ epistemic beliefs in biology and their approaches to learning biology. To this end, two instruments, the epistemic beliefs in biology and the approaches to learning biology surveys, were developed and administered to 520 university biology students, respectively. By and large, it was found that the students reflected “mixed” motives in biology learning, while those who had more sophisticated epistemic beliefs tended to employ deep strategies. In addition, the results of paired t tests revealed that the female students were more likely to possess beliefs about biological knowledge residing in external authorities, to believe in a right answer, and to utilize rote learning as a learning strategy. Moreover, compared to juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores tended to hold less mature views on all factors of epistemic beliefs regarding biology. Another comparison indicated that theoretical biology students (e.g. students majoring in the Department of Biology) tended to have more mature beliefs in learning biology and more advanced strategies for biology learning than those students studying applied biology (e.g. in the Department of Biotechnology). Stepwise regression analysis, in general, indicated that students who valued the role of experiments and justify epistemic assumptions and knowledge claims based on evidence were more oriented towards having mixed motives and utilizing deep strategies to learn biology. In contrast, students who believed in the certainty of biological knowledge were more likely to adopt rote learning strategies and to aim to qualify in biology.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yi-Chun Lin, Jyh-Chong Liang & Chin-Chung Tsai

Authors
  1. Yi-Chun Lin
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  2. Jyh-Chong Liang
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  3. Chin-Chung Tsai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi-Chun Lin.

Appendices

Appendix 1: The Questionnaire Items on the EBB

Source

  1. 1.

    Everybody has to believe what biologists say.

  2. 2.

    In biology, you have to believe what the biology books say about stuff.

  3. 3.

    Whatever the teacher says in biology class is true.

  4. 4.

    If you read something in a biology book, you can be sure it’s true.

Certainty

  1. 1.

    All questions in biology have one right answer.

  2. 2.

    The most important part of doing biology is coming up with the right answer.

  3. 3.

    Biologists pretty much know everything about biology; there is not much more to know.

  4. 4.

    Biological knowledge is always true.

  5. 5.

    Once biologists have a result from an experiment that is the only answer.

  6. 6.

    Biologists always agree about what is true in biology.

Development

  1. 1.

    Some ideas in biology today are different than what biologists used to think.

  2. 2.

    The ideas in biology books sometimes change.

  3. 3.

    There are some questions that even biologists cannot answer.

Justification

  1. 1.

    In biology, there can be more than one way for biologists to test their ideas.

  2. 2.

    One important part of biology is doing experiments to come up with new ideas about how things work.

  3. 3.

    It is good to try experiments more than once to make sure of your findings.

  4. 4.

    Good ideas in biology can come from anybody, not just from biologists.

  5. 5.

    A good way to know if something is true is to do an experiment.

  6. 6.

    Good answers are based on evidence from many different experiments.

  7. 7.

    Ideas in biology can come from your own questions and experiments.

  8. 8.

    It is good to have an idea before you start an experiment.

Appendix 2: The Questionnaire Items on the ALB

Deep Approach

Deep Motive

  1. 1.

    I find that at times studying biology makes me feel really happy and satisfied.

  2. 2.

    I feel that biology topics can be highly interesting once I get into them.

  3. 3.

    I work hard at studying biology because I find the material interesting.

  4. 4.

    I always greatly look forward to going to biology class.

  5. 5.

    I spend a lot of my free time finding out more about interesting topics which were discussed in biology class.

  6. 6.

    I come to biology class with questions in my mind that I want to be answered.

  7. 7.

    I find that I continually go over my biology class work in my mind even when I am not in biology class.

  8. 8.

    I like to work on biology topics by myself so that I can form my own conclusions and feel satisfied.

Deep Strategy

  1. 1.

    I like constructing theories to fit odd things together when I am learning biology topics.

  2. 2.

    I try to find the relationship between the contents of what I have learned in biology subjects.

  3. 3.

    I try to relate new material to what I already know about the topic when I am studying biology.

  4. 4.

    I try to understand the meaning of the contents I have read in biology textbooks.

  5. 5.

    I do my best to understand the subject matter I have learned in biology class.

Surface Approach

Surface Motive

  1. 1.

    I am discouraged by a poor mark on biology tests and worry about how I will do on the next text.

  2. 2.

    Even when I have studied hard for a biology test, I worry that I may not be able to do well on it.

  3. 3.

    I worry that my performance in biology class may not satisfy my teacher’s expectations.

  4. 4.

    I want to achieve well in biology so that I can get a better job in the future.

  5. 5.

    I want to do well in biology so I can please my family and the teacher.

  6. 6.

    No matter whether I like it or not, I know that achieving well in biology could help me to get an ideal job in the future.

Surface Strategy

  1. 1.

    I see no point in learning biology materials that are not likely to be on the examinations.

  2. 2.

    As long as I feel I am doing well enough to pass the examination, I devote as little time as I can to studying biology subjects. There are many more interesting things to do with my time.

  3. 3.

    I generally will restrict my study to what is specially set as I think it is unnecessary to do anything extra in learning biology.

  4. 4.

    I find that studying each topic in depth is not helpful or necessary when I am learning biology. There are too many examinations to pass and too many subjects to be learned.

  5. 5.

    I find the best way to pass biology examinations is to try to remember the answers to likely questions.

  6. 6.

    When learning biology, I try to memorize the content again and again till I remember it very well.

  7. 7.

    I find that memorizing the most important content helps me get high scores in the examinations instead of understanding it.

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Lin, YC., Liang, JC. & Tsai, CC. The Relationships Between Epistemic Beliefs in Biology and Approaches to Learning Biology Among Biology-Major University Students in Taiwan. J Sci Educ Technol 21, 796–807 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-012-9367-y

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