Investigating relationships among 6th grade students' epistemological beliefs, epistemic emotions and argumentativeness

This study was conducted to investigate relationships among 6th grade students' epistemological beliefs, epistemic emotions and argumentativeness. Participants were selected among 6th grade students of two elementary schools in Düzce during the 2018-2019 academic session. The scale of epistemological beliefs developed by Conley, Pintrich, Vekiri and Harrison (2004) was applied to 60 students. 2 students were selected for each of naïve, moderate and sophisticated epistemological levels by analyzing the scale results in SPSS program. Following steps involving three different sessions were realized with these 6 participants.. The first and the third sessions involved semi-structured interviews whereas the second session was applied by applying think aloud protocol. Multiple case study, which is a qualitative research design, guided this study. Cognitive disequilibrium texts, which were used during think aloud protocol, and semi-structured interview protocols were prepared by the researcher. The results of study showed that naïve and sophisticated epistemological beliefs have significant impacts on students' epistemic emotions and argumentativeness. In line with these findings supporting individuals' epistemological beliefs was suggested to raise scientifically literate citizens.