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Measuring alternative learning outcomes: dispositions to study in higher education
Maria Pampaka1, Julian Williams, Graeme Hutcheson
1School of Education, Room B4.10, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom. maria.pampaka@manchester.ac.uk
Journal of Applied Measurement
|July 3, 2013
Summary
This study validates scales measuring pre-university students' commitment to Higher Education (HE) and studying math. The scales offer robust measures for tracking student progression into higher education subjects.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Higher Education Studies
- Quantitative Research Methods
Background:
- Understanding pre-university students' motivations is crucial for higher education (HE) success.
- Existing measures may not fully capture disposition towards HE entry and advanced STEM fields.
- Disposition is viewed as both self- and socially-attributed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate two scales measuring students' disposition towards entering Higher Education (HE).
- To validate a scale measuring students' disposition towards further study in mathematically-demanding subjects.
- To provide robust measures for monitoring and explaining student progression in HE.
Main Methods:
- Scale construction drawing on interview data and a theoretical model of disposition.
- Rasch analysis to assess the psychometric properties of the developed scales.
- Iterative scale revision, including addressing a ceiling effect in the HE commitment scale.
Main Results:
- Two robust, one-dimensional scales were validated: 'strength of commitment to enter HE' and 'disposition to study mathematically-demanding subjects further'.
- The HE commitment scale was revised to overcome a psychometric ceiling effect.
- The validated scales provide reliable measures of student disposition.
Conclusions:
- The validated scales offer significant potential for monitoring student learning outcomes.
- These measures can help explain or predict students' subject choices and progress in HE.
- The study contributes validated instruments for educational research and practice.
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