Development and Psychometric Testing of a Generic Student Engagement Scale for Contemporary Healthcare Education

Abstract

Background: Student engagement receives heightened research attention in traditional and contemporary education. This study aimed to develop and validate a Generic Student Engagement Scale (GSES) for the use in contemporary healthcare education including online, distance learning or e-learning.Methods:A 2-phased methodological study employed a cross-sectional design with repeated measures. Phase 1 aimed to develop the items of GSES for the use in generic learning environment of nursing students through item development/revision, content validation, face validation, and statement standardization. Phase 2 aimed to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed GSES on its internal consistency, stability, and factorial validity. Data was collected in 2016-2018. Results:Based on 45 items of the Distance Students Engagement Scale (i.e., 3-factor model), 39 items were revised and adapted to fit the generic learning environment in nursing education. Seven experts and 20 nursing students examined each items and indicated a satisfactory content (CVI = 0.71–1.00 except item G9) and face validity (100% comprehensibility and interpretability). By analyzing 451 valid data from nursing students, confirmatory factor analysis did not support this 3-factor model GSES. Exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the new internal structure of GSES. The 26-item 4-factor solution that accounted for a total of 41.0% variance was found the most optimal. The factors were labelled “self-regulated learning”, “cognitive strategy use”, “teacher-student interaction”, and “experienced emotion”. The internal consistency and stability of this new model was re-examined with satisfactory results.Conclusions:The newly developed 26-item 4-factor GSES is reliable and valid scale measuring student engagement among nursing students.