Developing an instrument to measure emotional behaviour abilities of meaningful learning through the Delphi technique

To identify items for a new instrument that measures emotional behaviour abilities of meaningful learning, according to Fink's Taxonomy.

Meaningful learning is an active process that promotes a wider and deeper understanding of concepts. It is the result of an interaction between new and previous knowledge and produces a long-term change of knowledge and skills. To measure meaningful learning capability, it is very important in the education of health professionals to identify problems or special learning needs. For this reason, it is necessary to create valid instruments.

A Delphi Study technique was implemented in four phases by means of e-mail.

The study was conducted from April-September 2015. An expert panel consisting of ten researchers with experience in Fink's Taxonomy was established to identify the items of the instrument. Data were analysed for conceptual description and item characteristics and attributes were rated. Expert consensus was sought in each of these phases. An 87·5% consensus cut-off was established.

After four rounds, consensus was obtained for validation of the content of the instrument 'Assessment of Meaningful learning Behavioural and Emotional Abilities'. This instrument consists of 56 items evaluated on a 6-point Likert-type scale. Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimension, Caring and Learning How to Learn were the six major categories explored.

This content validated tool can help educators (teachers, trainers and tutors) to identify and improve the strategies to support students' learning capability, which could increase their awareness of and/or responsibility in the learning process.