Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science (EBAPS)

Measures students' views about the nature of knowledge and learning in the physical sciences along five non-orthogonal dimensions (structure of scientific knowledge, nature of knowing and learning, real-life applicability, evolving knowledge, & source of ability to learn.

Average Review: 3 (3.0)

Supplemental Information:

n/a

Assessment Type:

30 items (5-point Likert scale & multiple choice)

Scale:

5-point Likert scale (for 17 questions) strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, somewhat agree, strongly agree

Publication Date:

Nov 07, 2008

Respondent:

High school & college students taking introductory physics, chemistry or physical science

Domain(s) Evaluated:

Attitude / Behavior, Competence

Sample items:

18. If someone is trying to learn physics, is the following a good kind of question to think about?

"Two students want to break a rope. Is it better for them to (1) grab opposite ends of the rope and pull (like in tug-of-war), or (2) tie one end of the rope to a wall and both pull on the other end together?"

(a) Yes, definitely. It's one of the best kinds of questions to study.
(b) Yes, to some extent. But other kinds of questions are equally good.
(c) Yes, a little. This kind of question is helpful, but other kinds of questions are more helpful.
(d) Not really. This kind of question isn't that great for learning the main ideas.
(e) No, definitely not. This kind of question isn't helpful at all.

Reliability:

Not reported

Validity:

Present & acceptable

Frequency:

Rarely

Administration time:

20 minutes

Requires a Computer:

No

Requires Internet Access:

No

Primary reference:

You can visit a website describing the EBAPS here: http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~elby/EBAPS/home.htm

Comments:

For a discussion of the ideas underlying the EBAPS, go here: http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~elby/EBAPS/idea.htm

Other References:
Renken, M D., McMahan, E. A. & Nitkova, M. (2015). Initial Validation of an Instrument Measuring Psychology-Specific Epistemological Beliefs. Teaching of Psychology, 1-11.

The study used a combination of assessments, including Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science (EBAPS), to derive psychology specific epistemological scale (psych-SEBS).

Gaffney, J. D. H. (2013). Education majors' expectations and reported experiences with inquiry-based physics: Implications for student affect. American Physical Society, 8 1-12.

The study makes reference to EBAPS suggesting, while these surveys compare student epistemologies with experts, they provide an incomplete background.

STEM Criteria

Science

Yes

Technology

No

Engineering

No

Math

No