Epistemology and epistemic cognition: The problematic virtue of relativism and its implications for science education

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Published: Apr 20, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14482/zp.12.050.66
Keywords:
epistemic cognition episte-mology science education.

Main Article Content

Mauricio Herrón
Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9862-3411

Abstract

Research on personal epistemologies has shown that beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing in adolescents and young adults change through fixed stages of development. Models proposed over the past four decades have indicated, that the nature of personal epistemologies tends to shift from objectivism to relativism and that this shift is reflecting an ascendant transition in terms of epistemic cognition complexity. The underlying assumption is that epistemic cognition changes towards different forms of relativism in analogy to what has happened to the central epistemological principles of most sciences in modern history (e.g., physics, biology). Therefore, a large part of students' success in science education has been thought to depend on how they understand knowledge and knowing, considering relativistic-based thinking as a necessary achievement for science learning. 

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Article Details

Issue
No. 12 (2010)
Section
Artículo de investigación
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Author Biography

Mauricio Herrón, Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia.

Psicólogo, universidad del norte (colombia). Becario fulbright-colciencias-universidad del norte estudiante de postgrado purdue university (estados unidos)

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