Student Scores and Class Mean Scores
on the Measure of Epistemological Reflection
During the fall 1999, I began to administer the MER and other instruments to students in my IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts course. In the fall 1999, I administered both pre- and post-tests to the Fine and Applied Arts students and also to a section of students in IDST 2205 Global Issues in Society. From the spring 2000 through summer 2001, I administered only one MER to all consenting students in my IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts courses and to my summer 2001 section of IDST 2205 Global Issues in Society. To review my analysis of this data, please consult the enactment sections of each course portfolio (for the IDST 2310 enactment section, click here; for the IDST 2205 enactment section, click here.)
About the MER
(reproduced from http://isu.indstate.edu/wbarratt/dragon/ix/sa-mer.htm)
The MER was developed by Marcia B. Baxter Magolda and William Porterfield. The MER measures level of intellectual development using the Perry scheme of cognitive development. Perry's "scheme" consists of nine cognitive structures that define how people make meaning of their experiences. These structures (referred to as positions) are considered to be hierarchical and integrative, and each new structure represents a qualitative change in thinking. The nine positions are organized into three categories: dualism (positions one through three), represents a dichotomous view of the world; relativism (positions four through six), replaces the dualistic dichotomy as students recognize possibilities and uncertainties; and commitment to relativism (positions seven through nine), focuses on making initial commitments, choosing how to implement the commitments, and realizing the ongoing nature of commitments.
The MER utilizes an essay format to gather information relevant to six domains of intellectual development: (1) decision making, (2) the role of the learner, peers, and instructor in learning, (3) evaluation of learning, and (4) the nature of knowledge. Students provide a written response to six open-ended questions and trained raters probe for justification of the student's thinking with four specific questions. The justification is then scored to assign a position of cognitive development for each question. The ratings for the six domains are then averaged to provide a total protocol rating. The MER was originally developed using the Perry scheme as a foundation, but has been shown to assess gender-related patterns in epistemological development beyond those evident in Perry's work.
Reliability: Reliability of the MER was assessed through internal consistency (alpha coefficient) and interrater reliability. The alpha coefficient for the entire sample was .76 indicating a moderately high degree of internal consistency.
Validity: The concurrent validity of the MER was evaluated by comparison to the Measure of Intellectual Development. Construct validity was evaluated through analysis of scores by level of education.
IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts in Civilization Scores
Fall 1999 class means on the MER pre- and post tests
Fall 1999 individual scores on the MER pre-test
Fall 1999 individual scores on the MER post-test
Spring 2000 individual student scores
Fall 2000 class means (still under construction)
Fall 2000 individual student scores (still under construction)
Spring 2001 class means (still under construction)
Spring 2001 individual student (scores still under construction)
IDST 2205 Global Issues in Society Scores
This section is still under construction.
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