Exploring the differences of the Internet-specific epistemic beliefs between Taiwanese undergraduates and high school students

Abstract

This paper aimed to compare the differences of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs (ISEB) between undergraduates and high school students. Furthermore, the influence of age and educational level as well as other variables on the ISEB were also examined. 299 participants including 150 undergraduates and 149 high school students were surveyed with the Inter-specific epistemic questionnaire (ISEQ). The exploratory factor analysis was executed to construct the ISEQ. Four dimensions of ISEB were indentified, namely Certainty, Simplicity, Source and Justification. Further, the t-test analysis and regression were administered. The results showed that there were differences of ISEB with regard to Certainty and Justification between undergraduates and high school students. However, the variables of age and educational level cannot significantly predict any dimension of ISEB. Interestingly, the gender and experience in using the Internet for academic information searching were significant predictors of Simplicity, Source and Justification.