The Epistemological Development of Physics Majors

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Epistemological beliefs influence how students study physics and how they solve physics problems. In this study, we use the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey to probe students’ beliefs at different stages of an undergraduate physics degree program. We examine the extent to which epistemological beliefs differ at these stages and identify factors that may influence epistemological stance. Differences in specific beliefs, as well as overall sophistication, are reported. We also comment on trends seen in the reported strengths of beliefs. The survey data are supported by interviews with individual students. We find that beginning physics majors are significantly more sophisticated than non-majors in introductory physics courses and that this high level of sophistication is consistent for most of undergraduate study. We conclude that the expert-like views assessed by CLASS are, to a significant extent, an inherent, preexisting characteristic of students who choose to be physics majors, rather than a characteristic that is learned or acquired during the degree program.

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