Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students

Eder Santiago Martelo-Gomez; Eduin Alexander Prada-Rodríguez; Rosa Delgado-Rebolledo

doi:10.29333/ejmste/19318

Full Text (PDF)

Eder Santiago Martelo-Gomez ¹ ^* , Eduin Alexander Prada-Rodríguez ¹ , Rosa Delgado-Rebolledo ²

More Detail

¹ Universidad de Investigación y Desarrollo, Bucaramanga, COLOMBIA² Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, CHILE^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study adapted and validated the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics for Colombian secondary students. A total of 817 public-school students aged 10-20 participated, and the sample was randomly divided for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 407) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 410). Content validity was examined through expert judgment, and analyses used procedures appropriate for ordinal data. Item screening and EFA supported a revised 27-item structure in which ability differentiated into personal ability and general ability, whereas structure of knowledge did not emerge as a coherent factor. CFA showed that the revised six-factor model fit the data better than the five-factor alternative (CFI = .966, TLI = .962, RMSEA = .070, SRMR = .072), with satisfactory reliability (ωt = .898). Measurement invariance held through the scalar level across educational levels. Findings suggest context-sensitive factorial configurations, supporting context-specific validation when transferring domain-specific instruments.

Keywords

epistemic beliefs
mathematics education
scale adaptation
confirmatory factor analysis
secondary education
Latin America

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 9, September 2026, Article No: em2917

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

Publication date: 21 Sep 2026

Article Views: 14

Article Downloads: 5

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Alkış Küçükaydin, M., & Ayaz, E. (2024). Validation of the scientific reasoning competencies instrument: Relationships with epistemological beliefs and analytical thinking. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 23, 343-363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-024-10482-2
American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). APA. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
Arias Ortiz, E., Giambruno, C., Morduchowicz, A., & Pineda, B. (2024). The state of education in Latin America and the Caribbean 2023. Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0005515
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.
Boaler, J. (2022). Mathematical mindsets: Unleashing students’ potential through creative mathematics, inspiring messages and innovative teaching (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Byrne, B. M. (2016). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315757421
Cresswell, C., & Speelman, C. P. (2020). Does mathematics training lead to better logical thinking and reasoning? A cross-sectional assessment from students to professors. PLoS ONE, 15(7), Article e0236153. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236153
Dorsah, P., Amedeker, M. K., & Ngman-Wara, E. I. (2025). Exploring the factor structure of the epistemic beliefs inventory. International Journal of Didactical Studies, 6(2), Article 33004. https://doi.org/10.33902/ijods.202533004
Ernest, P. (1989). The knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the mathematics teacher: A model. Journal of Education for Teaching, 15(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260747890150102
Ernest, P. (2015). The social outcomes of learning mathematics: Standard, unintended, or visionary? International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 3(3), 187-192. https://doi.org/10.18404/ijemst.29471
Estrella, S., & Chaves, E. (2023). Balance y perspectivas de la estadística y la probabilidad en la educación matemática [Balance and perspectives of statistics and probability in mathematics education]. In P. Scott, Y. Morales, & Á. Ruiz (Eds.), Educación matemática en las Américas 2023: Trabajos invitados de la XVI CIAEM (vol. 1, pp. 302-311). Comité Interamericano de Educación Matemática.
Hambleton, R. K., & Zenisky, A. L. (2011). Translating and adapting tests for cross-cultural assessments. In D. Matsumoto, & F. van de Vijver (Eds.), Cross-cultural research methods in psychology (pp. 46-70). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779381.004
Henseler, J., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 88-140. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543067001088
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (Eds.). (2002). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410604316
Howard, M. C. (2016). A review of exploratory factor analysis decisions and overview of current practices: What we are doing and how can we improve? International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 32(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2015.1087664
Hu, L.-T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
International Test Commission. (2018). The ITC guidelines for translating and adapting tests (second edition). International Journal of Testing, 18(2), 101-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2017.1398166
Jablonski, S. (2025). Modelling, argumentation and problem-solving in the context of outdoor mathematics: Results of the MAP study. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-47751-6
Kelly, M. (2020). Epistemology, epistemic belief, personal epistemology, and epistemics: A review of concepts as they impact information behavior research. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 71(11), 1294-1306. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24422
Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (5th ed.). Guilford Press.
Montero-Sánchez, N. (2025). Algorithmic thinking in secondary mathematics education: Challenges, strategies, and opportunities. Sciencevolution, 4(3), 47-60. https://doi.org/10.61325/ser.v4i3.206
Muis, K. R. (2004). Personal epistemology and mathematics: A critical review and synthesis of research. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 317-377. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074003317
OECD. (2023). PISA 2022 results (volume II): Learning during – and from – disruption. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/a97db61c-en
Ondaro, J. E. V., & Dagoc, J. C., Jr. (2025). Students’ self-efficacy, epistemological beliefs and mathematics performance. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(3S), 4577-4589. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.903SEDU0329
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539-569. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452
Říčan, J., & Pešout, O. (2022). Analýza sebeposuzovacích dotazníků zjišťujících epistemická přesvědčení žáků druhého stupně ZŠ ve vyučovacím předmětu dějepis [Analysis of self-assessment questionnaires assessing epistemic beliefs of second-grade elementary school students in the subject of history]. Pedagogika, 72(4), 455-490. https://doi.org/10.14712/23362189.2022.2266
Rincón-Álvarez, G. A., Hernández-Suárez, C. A., Prada-Núñez, R., Solano-Pinto, N., & Fernández-Cézar, R. (2022). Cuestionario de creencias sobre las matemáticas: Propiedades psicométricas [Questionnaire on beliefs about mathematics: Psychometric properties]. Educación y Ciudad, (43), 215-236. https://doi.org/10.36737/01230425.n43.2022.2687
Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02
Sandoval, W. A., Greene, J. A., & Bråten, I. (2016). Understanding and promoting thinking about knowledge: Origins, issues, and future directions of research on epistemic cognition. Review of Research in Education, 40, 457-496. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16669319
Schiefer, J., Edelsbrunner, P. A., Bernholt, A., Kampa, N., & Nehring, A. (2022). Epistemic beliefs in science—A systematic integration of evidence from multiple studies. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 1541-1575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09661-w
Schoenfeld, A. H. (1989). Explorations of students’ mathematical beliefs and behavior. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 20(4), 338-355. https://doi.org/10.2307/749440
Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(3), 498-504. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.3.498
Schraw, G., Bendixen, L. D., & Dunkle, M. E. (2002). Development and validation of the epistemic belief inventory (EBI). In B. K. Hofer, & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 261-276). Routledge.
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, Article 101832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101832
Sfard, A. (1991). On the dual nature of mathematical conceptions: Reflections on processes and objects as different sides of the same coin. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 22(1), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302715
Vizcaino Escobar, A. E., Manzano Mier, M., & Casas Cardoso, G. (2015). Validez de constructo y confiabilidad del cuestionario de creencias epistemológicas sobre la matemática en alumnos de secundaria básica [Construct validity and reliability of the questionnaire on epistemological beliefs about mathematics in junior high school students]. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 24(2), 301-316. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v24n2.43974
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds.). Harvard University Press.
Walker, D. L. W. (2007). The development and construct validation of the epistemological beliefs survey for mathematics [Unpublished PhD thesis]. Oklahoma State University.
Watkins, M. W. (2020). A step-by-step guide to exploratory factor analysis with R and RStudio. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003120001
World Bank. (2024). World development report 2024: The middle-income trap. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-2078-6
World Medical Association. (2013). World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA, 310(20), 2191-2194. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.281053

How to cite this article

APA

Martelo-Gomez, E. S., Prada-Rodríguez, E. A., & Delgado-Rebolledo, R. (2026). Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(9), em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

Vancouver

Martelo-Gomez ES, Prada-Rodríguez EA, Delgado-Rebolledo R. Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(9):em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

AMA

Martelo-Gomez ES, Prada-Rodríguez EA, Delgado-Rebolledo R. Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(9), em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

Chicago

Martelo-Gomez, Eder Santiago, Eduin Alexander Prada-Rodríguez, and Rosa Delgado-Rebolledo. "Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2026 22 no. 9 (2026): em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

Harvard

Martelo-Gomez, E. S., Prada-Rodríguez, E. A., and Delgado-Rebolledo, R. (2026). Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(9), em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318

MLA

Martelo-Gomez, Eder Santiago et al. "Validation and adaptation of the epistemic beliefs survey for mathematics in Colombian secondary students". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 22, no. 9, 2026, em2917. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19318