Investigating the relationship between academic staff's digital epistemological beliefs and digital technology literacy

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between academic staff's digital epistemological beliefs and their digital technology literacy. The research was conducted on a sample of 673 academic staff working at public universities in Turkey. To determine the digital epistemological beliefs of the participating academic staff, a "Digital Epistemological Beliefs Scale" developed by the researcher was used. To assess digital technology literacy, a "Digital Technology Literacy Scale," also developed by the researcher, was employed. For collecting data on the independent variables, a personal information form prepared by the researcher was used to identify the demographic characteristics of the academic staff. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using statistical software programs. Initially, during the scale development process, validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, while reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. For the final scales, normality assumptions were tested, and this included examining the arithmetic mean, median, skewness, and kurtosis coefficients. Once normality assumptions were confirmed, parametric tests were employed to address the sub-problems of the research. This involved the use of descriptive statistics (arithmetic mean, standard deviation), as well as Pearson correlation, simple linear regression, independent samples t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). According to the research findings, it was determined that the perceptions of academic staff regarding their digital epistemological beliefs and digital technology literacy are at a moderate level. It was found that there are no significant differences in digital epistemological beliefs and its sub-dimensions based on gender. However, significant differences were observed based on title, professional seniority, and field of expertise. Similarly, no significant differences in digital technology literacy levels and their sub-dimensions were found based on gender, but significant differences were noted based on title, professional seniority, and field of expertise. The study revealed a high-level, positive, and significant relationship between digital epistemological beliefs and digital technology literacy among academic staff. Additionally, it was determined that the level of digital epistemological beliefs predicts digital technology literacy. Keywords: Digital epistemological beliefs, Digital technology literacy, Academic staff, Scale development.