Relations Among Beliefs About Epistemology, Ability Conceptions, and Achievement in High School Physical Education Students

While the critical role of knowledge in physical education performance is well-documented, there is little research into the role that students' beliefs about what knowing is and how they come to know relate to their achievement in physical education. The purpose of this study was to discover relations between beliefs about epistemology, ability conceptions, and achievement in 750 high school physical education students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided reasonable support for a two factor structure (Simple Integration of Knowledge; Stable Useless Knowledge) of beliefs about epistemology in physical education that, along with incremental ability conceptions, predicted achievement in physical education. Gender differences were not evident. The findings highlight the potential role that beliefs about epistemology and incremental ability conceptions have in physical education.