The process of developing a research questionnaire to measure attitudes to shared learning

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Educational Psychology
• Research Methodology

Background:

• Shared learning initiatives are increasingly common in health professions education.
• Existing measurement tools do not adequately capture attitudes specific to shared learning.
• A validated instrument is necessary to accurately assess student perceptions of shared learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the systematic development and validation of a questionnaire measuring attitudes toward shared learning.
• To create a reliable research instrument for use in health professions education.
• To address the lack of specific attitude measures for shared learning environments.

Main Methods:

• Development of a questionnaire based on principles of monadic scale construction.
• Testing the questionnaire with pre-registration students in occupational therapy, diagnostic radiography, and therapeutic radiography.
• Assessment of questionnaire reliability using the Cronbach alpha coefficient, with a minimum requirement of 0.7.

Main Results:

• A reliable questionnaire for measuring attitudes to shared learning was successfully developed.
• The Cronbach alpha coefficient exceeded the minimum requirement of 0.7, indicating good internal consistency.
• The process provided valuable insights into creating attitude measurement instruments.

Conclusions:

• The developed questionnaire is a credible and reliable tool for assessing attitudes toward shared learning.
• This instrument contributes to the available resources for evaluating shared learning programs in health professions.
• The systematic approach ensures the validity and utility of the new attitude measure.