Abstract

PADILLA, Kira  and  GARRITZ, Andoni. Epistemological beliefs of two professors at higher education. Educ. quím [online]. 2014, vol.25, n.3, pp.343-353. ISSN 0187-893X.

Several definitions of «beliefs» are presented first, trying to set clearly that there is not an accepted definition of this concept, which born in social psychology joined with another one: «attitudes» that was afterwards forced to be separated from «beliefs», by classifying «attitudes» as an affective construct and «beliefs» as a cognitive one. Then we proceed to relate beliefs with teaching, through some classical papers, as those of Bandura, Nespor, Pajares and Prawat, and to connect them with Pedagogical Content Knowledge, having selected for doing that the model of Magnusson et al. We proceed to the methodology of our study, by mentioning the sources of a questionnaire that has been constructed with twelve questions to document the epistemological beliefs of two professors of higher education dedicated to lecturing and research. The results are shown with a selected categorization of the answers given by the two interviewers. In spite that both professors have different epistemological beliefs, cultivate different fields of chemical sciences, and are giving classes in different syllabi to diverse students, both coincide in the needed development of skills and knowledge that allow students to become responsible and independent professionals.

Keywords : epistemological beliefs; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; questionnaire; professors of higher education.

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