Development and Validation of a Survey to Assess Belonging, Academic Engagement, and Self-Efficacy in STEM RLCs

Autor/inn/en	Leibowitz, Justin B.; Lovitt, Charity Flener; Seager, Craig S.
Titel	Development and Validation of a Survey to Assess Belonging, Academic Engagement, and Self-Efficacy in STEM RLCs
Quelle	In: Learning Communities: Research & Practice, 8 (2020) 1, Artikel 3 (25 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2375-804X
Schlagwörter	Test Construction; STEM Education; Student Participation; Self Efficacy; Student School Relationship; Majors (Students); College Environment; On Campus Students; College Students; Test Validity; Communities of Practice; College Housing; Student Attitudes; Student Characteristics; Gender Differences; Racial Differences; Ethnicity; First Generation College Students; Test Reliability + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Testaufbau; STEM; Schülermitarbeit; Schülermitwirkung; Studentische Mitbestimmung; Self-efficacy; Selbstwirksamkeit; Schüler-Lehrer-Beziehung; Hochschulumwelt; Collegestudent; Testvalidität; Community; Studentenunterkunft; Schülerverhalten; Geschlechterkonflikt; Rassenunterschied; Ethnizität; Testreliabilität
Abstract	This study examines how to investigate traditionally underrepresented students' sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and academic engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) residential learning communities (RLCs). A 28-item survey was developed that included items from three previously validated instruments to measure three constructs: academic engagement; self-efficacy; and sense of belonging to the academic major, institution, and residential community. The survey was administered to first-year residential students pursuing a STEM major at three universities. This article discusses the development and administration of a survey to measure these constructs and the resulting validity scores. Samples included students living in STEM RLCs and STEM students not living in RLCs. An exploratory factor analysis examined validity, and Cronbach's alpha was computed for internal consistency. Belonging to the university, belonging to academic major, and belonging to residential learning community emerged as separate factors, indicating that students appear to conceptualize these different types of belonging during their college experiences. These constructs can be used to explore differences between student populations. Despite the small sample sizes, there were observations suggesting that differences in sense of belonging, academic engagement, and self-efficacy exist between traditionally represented and underrepresented students. However, further research is needed to explore these questions. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Evergreen State College's Washington Center, the National Resource for Learning Communities. 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, SEM II E2115, Olympia, WA 98505. Tel: 360-864-6606; Fax: 360-867-6662; e-mail: washcenter@evergreen.edu; Web site: https://washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/lcrpjournal/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01