Validation of the Chinese version of the Sense of Self (SOS) Scale

This study explored the cross-cultural applicability of the Sense of Self (SOS) Scale in the Hong Kong Chinese cultural context. The SOS Scale is a 26-item questionnaire designed to measure students?? sense of purpose, self-reliance, and self-concept in school. Six hundred ninety-seven Hong Kong Chinese high school students participated in the study. Both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation were adopted. Responses to this questionnaire are shown to have good internal consistency reliability, and support is provided for its construct validity in terms of its factorial structure and correlations with other educational outcomes such as learning strategies. In addition, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis also indicated invariance of the instrument across males and females, across students of different year levels, and across students from different types of school. Implications for cross-cultural research are discussed.     

Development of a scale on learners' views on blended learning and its implementation process

The purpose of this study was to extend the evaluation of learners' views on blended learning and its implementation process by developing and validating an objective assessment instrument. Cronbach' alpha, item analysis and item discrimination indices, principal component analysis, varimax rotation, and discriminant validity were used to measure the reliability and validity of the scale. A 50-item refined version of the scale was found to be highly reliable and of reasonable length.Further refinement was made based on principal component analysis. This indicated two major components, which facilitate the elicitation of learners' views on blended learning and its implementation process in relation to the complexity levels of the learning process.The scale is recommended to identify individual's views on blended learning and its implementation process and thus, to contribute to the improvement of a blended learning environment for learners.     

Development of an instrument to measure classroom community

The purpose of this study was to develop and field-test the Classroom Community Scale and to determine its validity and reliability for use with university students taking courses at a distance via the Internet. The 20-item Classroom Community Scale measures sense of community in a learning environment. Data were collected from 375 students enrolled in 28 different courses, offered for graduate credit via the Blackboard e-learning system by a private university. It was concluded that the Classroom Community Scale is a valid and reliable measure of classroom community and that this instrument yields two interpretable factors, connectedness and learning.     

Teachers’ Roles,Students’ Personalities,Inquiry Learning Outcomes,and Practices of Science and Engineering:The Development and Validation of the McGill Attainment Value for Inquiry Engagement Survey in STEM Disciplines

Inquiry engagement is a newly defined construct that represents the participation in carrying out practices of science and engineering to achieve learning outcomes and is influenced by learners’ personalities and teachers’ roles. Expectancy value theory posits that attainment values are important components of task values that, in turn, directly influence students’ achievement-related choices and performance. The current paper developed and validated the McGill Attainment Value for Inquiry Engagement Survey (MAVIES) with undergraduate students in STEM disciplines. The MAVIES is a 67-item, learner-focused survey that addresses four components that are theoretically important for engaging in scientific inquiry: (a) teachers’ roles, (b) students’ personalities, (c) inquiry learning outcomes, and (d) practices of science and engineering. Evidence for internal consistency and construct, content, and criterion validity was obtained from 85 undergraduates who had experience with scientific inquiry in diverse STEM fields. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed factors that were consistent with role theory, Big Five personality traits, revised Bloom’s learning outcomes, and the Next Generation Science Standards. The MAVIES instrument is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring undergraduate students’ attainment values for scientific inquiry engagement in STEM disciplines.     

理工科学生英语语用能力发展的纵向干预研究

本项研究以58名理工科学生为实验对象,考察了不同的教学方法对言语行为语用能力发展的效用。这些受试接受了持续12周、每周半小时的关于13种言语行为的语用知识的明示和暗示教学。前测和后测结果的t值检验表明,在明示教学的四个测试项目上受试有着显著进步,暗示教学则未带来任何显著变化。在大多数课堂教学中未涉及的言语行为测试项目上,受试或表现退步,或困惑不解。本项研究亦表明语用能力测试问卷的信度和效度还有待提高。     

Reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the DELES

The primary aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) in post-secondary distance education. The second aim was to investigate empirically the conceptualisation of the distance education learning environment as a singular latent construct, within a second-order factorial structure that consists of six first-order factors. The DELES is a 34-item instrument for assessing social-psychological perceptions among distance education students. The tested hypotheses concerned key antecedents and consequences of the factorial structure of DELES in the Turkish context using confirmatory factor analyses. Principal component analysis of the Turkish data revealed six main factors of interest, which corresponded to the hypothesised constructs in the original DELES. The data suggested good reliability and validity for the Turkish DELES (DELES-TR) relative to the original version. Further, second-order analyses were conducted with two complementary samples to demonstrate the validity of six dimensions of the DELES-TR and their contributions to an overall factorial structure of social-psychological learning environment in distance education. Initial support for the second-order factorial validity of DELES-TR was found. Results indicate that a dimensional model of DELES-TR with the six first-order factors provided a superior fit to the data than first-order DELES-TR with six factors. Additionally, an investigation was conducted regarding associations between the DELES-TR’s psychosocial scales and a student satisfaction scale. This study is unique in its focus on the learning environment in distance education in the Turkish setting.     

Psychometric properties of Science Motivation Questionnaire II-Chinese version in two waves of longitudinal data

Science motivation is an important factor that directly influences students’ science learning. Numerous studies have been undertaken to develop and validate questionnaire items for measuring students’ motivation in science learning. This study is the first longitudinal examination of the Chinese version of Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II-C) in a Chinese cultural context. Using two waves of surveys, we evaluated its internal structure validity and criterion-related validity. Results showed that at each time point, scores were internally consistent and the hypothesized five-factor model was confirmed as the best model fit for the data. Results of multigroup invariance revealed the structure of the SMQ II-C was equivalent within gender subgroups. Furthermore, the present study added longitudinal invariance evidence of the SMQ II-C by sampling two-time points. Overall, this study suggests the SMQ II-C is a robust instrument for evaluating Chinese high school students’ motivation to learn science. Furthermore, boys yielded higher scores than girls among all five subscales of science motivation and significant gender differences were observed in both waves. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed.     

The Development of Measures of Individual Differences in Self-Regulatory Control and Their Relationship to Academic Performance

Two studies are reported describing the development and validation of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ): a self-report instrument aimed at eliciting students’ beliefs about the need for, and conditional nature of, self-regulatory control over learning. In Study 1, 281 first-year university education students completed a 40-item pilot questionnaire. Factor analysis of responses revealed a 21-item instrument indicating three types of control beliefs: adaptive executive control, inflexible executive control, and irresolute executive control. In Study 2, the predictive validity of these conceptions was tested against the academic performance of 105 third-year university education students. Results indicated that students reporting adaptive executive control beliefs were more successful academically, while those students reporting inflexible or irresolute control beliefs were significantly less successful academically.     

Developing a scale for using Facebook as a learning tool

This study investigates the development of an instrument to explore the views of student teachers in Turkey towards using Facebook as a tool for teaching and learning. A five-point Likert-type scale was developed for a sample of 687 student teachers from various fields in Adiyaman, Mustafa Kemal, and Inonu Universities. The sample included 445 participants in the first application and 242 participants in the second. A literature review, students’ comments, and relevant Facebook research results were considered in order to establish the items for the scale. A comparative analysis of previous studies and instruments yielded an original 33-item pool, and experts’ judgments were consulted to confirm the content validity of the scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the factor structure of the scale, revealing 17 items that could be grouped under three general factors. A Cronbach’s coefficient (α) was employed to determine the internal consistency coefficients for the whole scale and its subscales. Results indicate that this learning scale (FLTS) is a valid and reliable instrument to investigate the use of Facebook as a learning tool.     

Development of an instrument to measure perceived cognitive,affective, and psychomotor learning in traditional and virtual classroom higher education settings

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a self-report instrument that can be used to measure learning in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. The study underwent three phases, each with its own data collection and analysis. Phase I featured the development, testing, and factor analysis of an 80-item instrument that addressed cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning that was administered to a sample of 142 online and face-to-face learners. Based on the results, the instrument was reduced to 21 items for Phase II and tested with a new sample of 171 online and face-to-face students. The results of confirmatory factor analysis suggested a better data fit with an even smaller 9-item instrument, which was then administered to a new sample of 221 online and face-to-face students in Phase III. The results of this final phase are presented along with the resulting CAP Perceived Learning Scale, a 9-item self-report measure of perceived cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning. Implications and usage of the CAP Perceived Learning Scale for research and practice are also discussed.     

Measuring approaches to learning in preschoolers: validating the structure of an instrument for teachers and parents

This study examined a 13-item instrument measuring approaches to learning (AtL) as a component of school readiness in the context of early childhood socio-emotional development. Few instruments, limited to preschool teacher ratings, measure AtL among kindergarteners with short easy-to-use questionnaires. We investigated psychometric properties of the instrument designed to provide practical measures of AtL behaviours identified in the Arizona Early Learning Standards with teacher (n?=?205) and guardian (n?=?1025) samples. We found a one-factor structure via exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The multi-group CFA for combined teacher and guardian models indicated a good fit, which demonstrated the structure validity of the AtL instrument. This finding, combined with evidence of reliability of the instrument, supported the educational utility of the AtL as a new tool for measuring school readiness among kindergarteners in Arizona.     

Validation of senge ’s learning organization model with teachers of vocational high schools at the Seoul Megalopolis

This study measured and applied Senge ’s (1990) fifth discipline model of learning organizations in a culturally distinct population, namely teachers in 17 vocational high schools located in the Seoul megalopolis. The participants were 976 full-time vocational and academic teachers in public trade/industry-technical and business high schools in the Seoul megalopolis. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine responses from Korean vocational high school teachers to questionnaire items designed to test the theoretical constructs and indices of Senge ’s learning organization model to establish a measurement model. The hypothesized model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Strong evidence was provided for the construct validity of the measurement model (i.e., instrument) to measure the learning organization concept in school contexts. The results also support the notion that the theory of learning organization and related concepts, initially developed against the background of Western culture, can apply to a South Korean school context, reflecting Asian culture.     

中国钢琴作品在高师钢琴教学中的运用

钢琴是律制不同于中国民族乐器律制的西洋乐器，中国钢琴音乐由于在钢琴上演奏，不同于中国原有传统音乐。在中国音乐文化自己独特风格和体系的艺术传统下，中国钢琴音乐的创作显示着两种文明交融带来的文化内部的斗争、冲突、调矛口、融合。按照中国传统文化中的和谐、中庸美学观，作曲家在冲突中摸索着使二者平衡的方法和形式。重视本民族音乐文化已经成为近年来国际音乐教育发展的重要趋势，高等师范院校学生应该在接受西方优秀音乐文化成果的同时，牢固地掌握本民族优秀的音乐文化成果，使二者相辅相成。互相促进。     

PLANNING, ENACTMENT, AND REFLECTION IN INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING: VALIDATING THE MCGILL STRATEGIC DEMANDS OF INQUIRY QUESTIONNAIRE

Tools are needed to track the elements of students’ successful engagement in inquiry. The McGill Strategic Demands of Inquiry Questionnaire (MSDIQ) is a 79-item, criterion-referenced, learner-focused questionnaire anchored in Sch?n’s model and related models of self-regulated learning. The MSDIQ addresses three phases of inquiry engagement—planning, enactment, reflection—perceived as important by teachers, parents, and students before or after inquiry participation. Internal consistency and validity evidence was obtained from 205 university students with different inquiry backgrounds: teacher education years 1 and 4, continuing teacher education, and honors psychology. Separate confirmatory factor analyses of planning, enactment, and reflection generated 14 intercorrelated factors congruent with definitions of inquiry instruction and supported the hypothesized structure underlying the MSDIQ as a reliable and valid instrument for measuring inquiry engagement and valuing its building blocks.     

Validation of the attitude toward women in science scale for early adolescents

The purpose of this study was to measure attitude of adolescents toward women in science careers. To do so, researchers in the Career Oriented Modules to Explore Topics in Science Project validated a 27-item instrument, the Women in Science Scale (WiSS). The scale had high reliability whether measured by estimates of internal consistency or test-retest reliability. The validity was established using the known groups and correlates procedures. The test clearly distinguished between known groups and resulted in the predicted pattern of correlations with measures of other constructs. The WiSS could prove to be a valuable instrument for basic research or curriculum evaluation where adolescent attitude toward women in science careers is a variable of interest.     

Validity extension of the Course-Faculty Instrument (CFI)

The Course-Faculty Instrument (CFI) demonstrates similar measurement properties with student populations at four diverse institutions. These students agree about the nature and extent to which course and instructor attributes relate to their learning. The results suggest that: (1) a perceived learning criterion may have general relevance to students, and (2) validity extension research is an economically feasible alternative to full-scale instrument development and validation efforts. Since validity extension is practical and facilitates cross-institutional comparisons, it appears to be a more viable strategy for researching and instituting student evaluation systems than is suggested by its current usage.     

Development and validation of the Self-Regulated Translation Learning Strategy Scale (SRTLSS)

Self-regulated learning (SRL) has been highlighted as a critical aspect of translation learning. However, past work in translation learning has rarely sought to synthesize translation learning strategies under a self-regulated learning paradigm. Further research would be confined by the paucity of a psychometrically sound instrument to measure learners' self-regulated translation learning strategies. This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid self-regulated translation learning strategy scale (SRTLSS). Based on relevant literature, we hypothesized a hierarchical model and generated items for the SRTLSS. Drawing on the response from 873 Chinese English majors, the validated SRTLSS had 25 items addressing five dimensions: self-control, meaning fulfillment, value and interest, text processing, and retrieving strategies. Results demonstrated the SRTLSS has good measurement validity and reliability with strong invariance across undergraduate and graduate students. The SRTLSS can be used as a complementary tool to diagnose learners' weaknesses and strengths in translation teaching and learning.     

Mapping context-based learning environments: The construction of an instrument

The current trend in science curricula is to adopt a context-based pedagogical approach to teaching. New study materials for this innovation are often designed by teachers working with university experts. In this article, it is proposed that teachers need to acquire corresponding teaching competences to create a context-based learning environment. These competences comprise an adequate emphasis, context establishment, concept transfer, support of student active learning, (re-)design of context-based materials, and assistance in implementation of the innovation. The implementation of context-based education would benefit from an instrument that maps these competences. The construction and validation of such an instrument (mixed-methods approach) to measure the context-based learning environment is described in this paper. The composite instrument was tested in a pilot study among 8 teachers and 162 students who use context-based materials in their classrooms. The instrument’s reliability was established and correlating data sources in the composite instrument were identified. Various aspects of validity were addressed and found to be supported by the data obtained. As expected, the instrument revealed that context-based teaching competence is more prominently visible in teachers with experience in designing context-based materials, confirming the instrument’s validity.     

Assessing culturally sensitive factors in the learning environment of science classrooms

As schools are becoming increasingly diverse in their scope and clientele, any examination of the interaction of culturally sensitive factors of students' learning environments with learning science assumes critical importance. The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop an instrument to assess learning environment factors that are culturally sensitive, to provide initial validation information on the instrument and to examine associations between students' perceptions of their learning environments and their attitudes towards science and achievement of enquiry skills. A measure of these factors of science student's learning environment, namely the Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLEQ), was developed from past learning environment instruments and influenced by Hofstede's four dimensions of culture (Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, and Masculinity/Femininity). The reliability and discriminant validity for each scale were obtained and associations between learning environment, attitude to science and enquiry skills achievement were found.     

ETAS: an instrument for measuring attitudes towards learning English with technology

ABSTRACT

Information and communication technology (ICT) increasingly is utilised in second-level English education, aiming to engage students, yet quantitative instruments for evaluating the impact of technology-mediated learning experiences are lacking. This article presents the rationale, development and psychometric analysis of the English and Technology Attitudes Scale (ETAS): a 19-item instrument designed to evaluate students’ attitudes towards English and technology and monitor changes. Five constructs are measured: behavioural engagement; technology confidence; English confidence; emotional engagement; and learning with technology. Using the ETAS, this study revealed insights to Irish students’ (n = 419) attitudes that can inform approaches to teaching and learning with ICT. Despite strong technology confidence, a high proportion of students report poor attitudes towards learning English with technology. Moreover, males have significantly more positive attitudes towards learning English with technology, yet females have significantly higher engagement in English. These findings demonstrate both the need for and the usefulness of this instrument.