Epistemological Beliefs of Underprepared College Students

Epistemological beliefs, learners' general understandings about the nature of knowledge and learning, have emerged as a factor influencing self-regulated learning (Jehng, Johnson, & Anderson, 1993). The epistemological beliefs of underprepared undergraduates were assessed at the beginning and end of the students' first five-week session. Results demonstrated that the epistemological beliefs of underprepared undergraduates tended to be naive and to change during initial college experience. Investigations of the underlying structure of these beliefs did not demonstrate the five distinct dimensions demonstrated by previous research but rather as two general dimensions: 1) the nature of learning and 2) the nature of knowledge.