Date of Award:

8-2024

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Applied Sciences, Technology, and Education

Committee Chair(s)

Debra Spielmaker

Committee

Debra Spielmaker

Committee

Mimi Recker

Committee

Joseph Furse

Committee

Gary Straquadine

Committee

Kelsey Hall

Abstract

Research in educational psychology has shown that students' beliefs about knowledge—known as personal epistemology—significantly impact their academic success. However, accurately measuring these beliefs has proven to be challenging due to the lack of reliable and valid tools. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing two tools aimed at assessing high school students' beliefs about knowledge and reality in the context of photography: the Photographic Knowledge Questionnaire (PKQ) and the Photographic Reality Questionnaire (PRQ).

Photography, with its strong ties to reality and representation, provides a unique way to explore personal beliefs about the nature of reality and how knowledge of that reality is acquired. The PKQ looks at students' beliefs about photographic knowledge, while the PRQ examines their beliefs about photographic reality. The study involved three stages: a preparatory stage to refine the tools, a pilot test with 39 students, and a field test with 106 students.

Results from the analyses showed that the PRQ is both a valid and reliable measure of beliefs about photographic reality, while the PKQ needs further refinement to reach a similar level of validity. These findings suggest that beliefs about reality can be assessed separately from beliefs about knowledge, opening new opportunities for research and educational practice. Future research could focus on developing a theoretical model for personal beliefs about reality and exploring their impact on academic achievement. Additionally, improving the PKQ could provide a more credible tool for understanding how specific beliefs about knowledge influence learning in photography.

This study not only contributes to the field of educational measurement but also offers practical insights for educators seeking to enhance students' understanding of knowledge and reality through photography.

Checksum

13e7cf73da2dd7f2eb416ef3ff74545a

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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