Learning biology as ‘Increase ones’ knowledge and understanding’: studying Taiwanese high school students’ learning strategies in relation to their epistemic views and conceptions of learning in biology

This study aimed to examine high school students’ learning strategies in relation to their epistemic views and conceptions of learning in the discipline of biology through a structural equation modelling technique. A total of 247 high school students (168 males) participating in this study completed 3 questionnaires, the Epistemic Views of Biology (EVB), the Conceptions of Learning Biology (COLB), and the Strategies of Learning Biology (SLB). The results supported the hypothesised model proposed in this study, and a new factor of ‘Increase one’s Knowledge and Understanding,’ reflecting the feature of high school students’ biology learning, and serving an important role in biology learning, was identified in this study. In addition, students’ epistemic views were associated with their conceptions of learning, which consequently correlated to their learning strategies. More specifically, the EVB of ‘Uncertainty’ negatively related to lower COLB, which consequently positively related to Surface Strategies, whereas the EVB of ‘Justification’ was positively correlated to higher COLB as ‘Increase one’s Knowledge and Understanding,’ which in turn was correlated to Deep Strategies. According to the research findings, theoretical and practical suggestions for future research are provided.