Developing Personal Epistemic Beliefs

Epistemology represents the study of knowledge. This applied to a philosophical context means understanding how an individual learns something, what the basis for genuine knowledge is, and what that knowledge signifies. Many interpret knowledge as true, justified belief, meaning a claim can be justified, the claim is true, and the individual believes in the claim. Over time such exploration of thinking has led to the formation of two main branches of philosophical epistemology. These are Rationalism and Empiricism. Empiricism states that the input from senses (experience and observation) helps a person find true knowledge. Rationalism on the other hand, emphasizes reason instead of the use of the senses to justify claims and beliefs. Outside of philosophy, epistemology is used to understand how people acquire knowledge and learn like Genetic epistemology. When so many areas of study can be examined via the lens of epistemology, it makes developing a personal epistemology integral to learning and acquiring knowledge.

To discover and understand one's own personal epistemic beliefs, one must explore the information out there and attempt to verify these claims, and believe in what is learned and identified via the process. People find knowledge through various ways. From reading books to going online, data is streamed from a multitude of avenues and thus becomes an ongoing journey to attempt to assimilate some of this endless knowledge in a way that promotes further learning and personal growth development. Now that the internet has become fully integrated into society, it is the main way people acquire knowledge.

The main way people acquire knowledge is through internet searches. One study noted the effects of internet search on the personal epistemic beliefs of students and stated, "Internet search experience had negative relations with uncertainty, complexity and source of Internet-based knowledge; however, it was positively related to justification of Internet-based knowing" (Chiu, Liang, & Tsai, 2016, p. 286). The negative aspect can be seen when people examine information from sites like Wikipedia or blogs. Although the information seems factual, there is no formal aspect of how the knowledge was acquired to verify its validity.

Therefore, as a student learning in the new age of digital technology, there must be a set of epistemic beliefs and procedures that help the individual sort through the 'false' and 'true' information available. These beliefs often come from the interactions a person receives while socializing, in school, and through education. Teachers for example, help students develop their personal epistemic beliefs via their teaching methods. The more developed a teacher's epistemic beliefs are, the more a positive effect it will have on the student (Pamuk, Sungur, & Oztekin, 2016).

Because knowledge has a major belief component in it, people wishing to develop their epistemic beliefs, must believe the information they are processing to be true. Humans believe in the sun setting and rising. This is because people see it every morning and afternoon. However, when there are days with no sunlight such as in Northern areas, what then allows people to believe that the sun rises and sets? Logic and reason then come into play by allowing the person to use their own experience or the experience of others to understand that even if the sun is not seen that day, it still rises and sets.

My own vision of society, of people in general uses reason, logic, experience, and the senses to help me understand what I need to, to grow. Although so much false information is out there on the internet and in the media, there is a means of weeding out such data. Certain characteristics for example of questions and statements help in recognizing false and true information. These characteristics are open and closed-ended questions, details, and sources (Pope & Mooney, 2016).

Sources can be used to verify information. For example, if sources of a paper come from blog posts that have no references, this information may appear false. However, if the information comes from a source that has been examined and screened by a formal board or journal, then the information seems more valid. Because knowledge is based on believing something to be true, I believe knowledge is possible and that some knowledge is certain. Although most knowledge may not be certain as proven with the 'earth is flat' theories, specific things like death and life are certain. People are born and they die. This is experienced, written about, and has not changed since our consciousness advanced.

When it comes to academics and applying beliefs in achieving goals, this way of discerning from fact or fiction can help in understanding core concepts through self-motivated research and exploration (Madjar, Weinstock, & Kaplan, 2016). When aligning data with a principle or belief, it makes it not only easier to explore data, but to also believe in it because it aligns with one's own beliefs. This goes to back to Plato in that knowledge must be true and believed. If people do not believe in what they understand, then the impact of that information fades.

This can be translated into having interest and passion in a subject. The more interest someone takes on a topic or idea, the more motivation that person has to explore deeper and find meaning and therefore, attempt to validate what he or she finds (Stoel et al., 2017). This all leads to centered and developed personal epistemic beliefs.

In conclusion, learning and the pursuit of knowledge are inherent in all of humanity. To understand there must be a level of belief. This belief manifests as interests or passions. This then leads to an effective cultivation of what is and what may be.

References

Chiu, Y., Liang, J., & Tsai, C. (2016). Exploring the roles of education and Internet search experience in students' Internet-specific epistemic beliefs. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 286-291. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.091

Madjar, N., Weinstock, M., & Kaplan, A. (2016). Epistemic beliefs and achievement goal orientations: Relations between constructs versus personal profiles. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(1), 32-49. doi:10.1080/00220671.2015.1034353

Pamuk, S., Sungur, S., & Oztekin, C. (2016). A Multilevel Analysis of Students' Science Achievements in Relation to their Self-Regulation, Epistemological Beliefs, Learning Environment Perceptions, and Teachers' Personal Characteristics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. doi:10.1007/s10763-016-9761-7

Pope, K. J., & Mooney, G. A. (2016). The related effects of item characteristics in measures of epistemological beliefs. Africa Education Review, 13(2), 1-16. doi:10.1080/18146627.2016.1202551

Stoel, G., Logtenberg, A., Wansink, B., Huijgen, T., Van Boxtel, C., & Van Drie, J. (2017). Measuring epistemological beliefs in history education: An exploration of naive and nuanced beliefs. International Journal of Educational Research, 83, 120-134. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2017.03.003