Abstract:

According to conceptual change theorists, high engagement with a learning task mediates the relationship between knowledge beliefs and learning. In the Cognitive Reconstruction of Knowledge Model (CRKM), many psychological factors including affect, epistemological beliefs, motivation, and knowledge satisfaction have been hypothesized to influence engagement and knowledge reorganization. In this study, participants performed an internet search to learn about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Measures of participants' epistemological beliefs, achievement motivation, knowledge satisfaction, moral beliefs, search strategies, and HPV knowledge were taken at various times during their internet searches to test a modified version of the CRKM. Multilevel growth curve modeling was used to analyze participant searches. Participants' HPV knowledge satisfaction and self-regulatory search strategies significantly predicted change in HPV knowledge over time. Evidence of both accretion and accommodation was found. These findings provide insight into the factors that influence young adult learning about HPV online and their misconceptions about virus - especially in relation to moral beliefs and knowledge satisfaction. The findings also support the use of domain-general models of conceptual change to measure knowledge reconstruction across contexts.