Epistemological Beliefs of Students of Pedagogy and Sciences of the Education

This article reports a study about the extent to which the epistemological beliefs of students of pedagogy and sciences of the education change as they progress through their careers, and the extent to which these beliefs are differentiated by gender. It was conducted prior to the implementation of the European Higher Education Area. The study starts from the premise that the understanding of learning experiences is relevant to the student in a self-centered teaching. 1,388 students of Complutense University of Madrid answered the Schommer's questionnaire of epistemological beliefs. Results show that the beliefs during the first courses tend to be more naive and simple than in the-later years of the careers. Results also show differences by gender.