Validity testing of classroom community scale in virtual environment learning: A cross sectional study

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Online Learning Environments
• Psychometrics

Background:

• A strong classroom community is linked to lower dropout rates in online education.
• Several scales exist to measure community, with Rovai's Classroom Community Scale being widely adopted.
• This study assesses the psychometric properties and structural validity of the Classroom Community Scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Classroom Community Scale.
• To examine the theoretical structure of the Classroom Community Scale.
• To confirm the scale's validity and reliability for measuring online classroom community.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 215 postgraduate virtual students completed the Classroom Community Scale.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess the measurement model's fit.
• The study evaluated the goodness-of-fit between the proposed model and the collected sample data.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure for the Classroom Community Scale, indicating adequate model fit.
• The connectedness and learning subscales were found to be valid and reliable.
• Results confirmed the high reliability, face validity, and content validity of all scale items.

Conclusions:

• The 20-item Classroom Community Scale is a valid and reliable instrument.
• The scale effectively measures the sense of community among postgraduate medical education students in online settings.
• Findings support the scale's utility for research and assessment in online medical education.