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The purpose of this study was to develop a valid, reliable, and brief measure of active learning in college classrooms that is cheap and easy to complete and yields results that faculty can easily use to inform their development as instructors. Initial construct and face validity was achieved by modifying existing instruments and creating a draft of a brief measure of active learning for external expert review. Following the suggested revisions, the engaging classroom observation was then piloted and revised as necessary. Reliability was tested and measures of internal consistency and interrater reliability were acceptable. A principal component analysis showed two components that were moderately correlated, which indicated the potential they could be combined. An Exploratory Factor Analysis confirmed the instrument is measuring one factor, which we propose as active learning. This study is significant because it offers a brief instrument based on students’ perceptions that can be used formatively by faculty.
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Development of a Brief College Embeddedness Scale
Embeddedness is a construct with potential explanatory power in studies of student persistence, retention, and success. The goal of this study was to address a need for a brief embeddedness measure for use in small college undergraduate environments. Three measures of embeddedness were developed: an initial 43-item scale, a reduced 35-item scale, and a final brief 12-item version of the scale. A total of 450 undergraduate students at a small private liberal arts college were included in the study. Internal consistency reliability was assessed with both McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha, test–retest reliability was observed over a one-year period, factor analysis was used in item analysis, structural validity was examined with confirmatory factor analysis, and criterion-related validity was assessed with convergent and discriminant validity correlations. The results provide acceptable initial estimates of reliability and validity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1643649
- PAR ID:
- 10481131
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice
- ISSN:
- 1521-0251
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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