Exploring Connections Between Epistemic Beliefs, Internet Reliance and ICT Practices: A study among first-year university students

This dissertation explores the relation between frequent use of internet-based resources, reliance on internet-based resources, and epistemic beliefs. The topic was inspired by everyday observations, indicating that the increasing use of information and communication technologies was changing various practices and, in the context of education, learning practices specifically. The starting point of the dissertation coincided with the contemporary debate around the existence of so-called digital natives. A suspicion arose that the frequent use of internet-based resources may affect changes in students' epistemic beliefs.

The aim of the dissertation is to shed some light on the phenomenon that was initially labelled as the googling approach. Was the googling approach an expression of an underlying reliance on internet-based information, and was the googling approach also an expression of a changed view of knowledge and knowing, that is, changed epistemic beliefs?

The dissertation is, in its entirety, built on survey data collected among first-year students (N=916) representing 15 degree programmes at a university of applied sciences. To respond to the research questions, the data were analysed using statistical methods such as mean comparison, cluster analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analysis.

This dissertation comprises three sub-studies, with an integrative chapter providing an overview of the background, the methodology, the results, and concludes with a critical discussion of the studies and their results.

Based on the results showing that both ICT practices and ICT skills vary to a large degree, Study I refutes earlier assumptions associated with the debate regarding digital natives versus immigrants. Based on ICT practices, five ICT user clusters were identified and, out of these, only two clusters resembled digital natives in terms of both ICT practices and performance-based tests for measuring ICT skills.

In Study II, a constructivist approach to learning, internet reliance and learning by dialogue were introduced as three new dimensions of epistemic beliefs. Among these, the dimension of internet reliance, expressed a belief in the usefulness and trustworthiness of internet-based information.

The analyses in Study III revealed a positive correlation between three dimensions of epistemic beliefs and internet reliance. These results indicate that internet reliance may go hand in hand with naïve epistemic beliefs, that is, views that consider knowledge as certain, absolute, and unchanging (certainty of knowledge), consisting of unambiguous, isolated bits (structure of knowledge), and basically being handed down by authority (omniscient authority). Considering the overall aim of the dissertation, the positive correlation between internet reliance and the dimension of omniscient authority is of specific importance, since both these dimensions may offer tools for engaging critically with the concept of algorithmic authority.

As a theoretical implication, the dissertation questions the dimensional construct that has been applied so far when measuring epistemic beliefs and it further highlights the importance of including the dimension of justification for knowing. From this theoretical implication follows the methodological implication of framing the items in questionnaire-based measurement into a context that is relevant to the respondent. Contextual framing makes it easier for the respondents to relate to the statements, thereby contributing to more accurate measurement. As a practical implication, the dissertation introduces the concept of epistemic alignment as a principle of learning activities, where topics are presented and learned on an appropriate epistemic level.

Conceptually, the dissertation is located at the crossroads of several disciplines and research areas such as humans and information technology, ICT and media practices, epistemology (on an individual level), educational sciences, and information sciences. The finding that a higher level of internet reliance may go hand in hand with naïve views of knowledge highlights the importance of information literacy in the current world of ubiquitous information from sources that are often unknown or unverified. The correlation between internet reliance and omniscient authority invites caution in the debate about trust in non-human (algorithmic) authorities and is of special interest especially considering the increasing use of algorithmically generated content. An important area for future research would be to explore the extent to which – and on what grounds – users are able to identify the difference between human statements (testimonies) versus algorithmically generated content.