measure-of-learner-autonomy-university-students

StudiesinHigherEducationVol.35,No.3,May2010,351–359ISSN0307-5079print/ISSN1470-174Xonline©2010SocietyforResearchintoHigherEducationDOI:10.1080/03075070903502703*andElissaTaylorPsychologyResearchGroup,SheffieldHallamUniversity,Sheffield,UKTaylorandFrancisCSHE_A_450696.sgm10.1080/03075070903502703StudiesinHigherEducation0307-5079(print)/1470-174X(online)OriginalArticle2010Societyfo[e-mail]spaidtotherequirementforuniversitystudentstobecomeautonomouslearners.Areviewoftheliteraturerevealedalackofrelativelyshortpsychometricallysoundmeasuresofautonomouslearningdespiteitspurportedimportance.Thisstudyaimedtodevelopabrief,psychometricallysound,measureofautonomouslearningtofacilitateempiricalresearchinthisarea.Itemsforthescalewereselectedfromreviewingtheliterature,andfacevaliditywasconfirmedbyexperiencedacademics.Inthefirststudy,first-yearpsychologystudents(n=214)completedthemeasure.Principalcomponentsanalysisproduceda12-itemmeasurewithtwosubscalesthatappearedtobepsychometricallysound.Thefactorstructurewasreproducedwithamorediversegroupofundergraduates(n=172)inasecondstudy.Theinternalreliabilityandtheconcurrentvalidityofthescalewerebothfoundtobesatisfactory,suggestingthatthismeasuremayproveusefultoeducationalresearchers.Keywords:autonomouslearning;measurementscale;independentlearning;studyskillsIntroductionItisfrequentlysuggestedthatstudyatuniversityrequiresstudentstobecomeautono-mouslearners(BrydeandMilburn1990;Chemers,Hu,andGarcia2001;StephensonandLaycock1993).However,theredoesnotappeartobeasingleconsensualdefini-tionofwhatismeantbyautonomouslearningand,indeed,manyarticlesappeartodiscussautonomouslearningwithoutdefiningexactlywhattheymeanbyit.Intheearlyliteratureitisoftenreferredtoasself-directedlearning(Long1989).Autonomouslearningisvariouslydescribedasthelearner’sabilitytoacquireknowledgeorskillsofvalueindependentlybyprocessesthathe/shedetermines(Chene1983),orasbeingapsychologicalcharacteristicofindividualswhoareabletoindependentlydirecttheirlearning(Knowles1980;MerriamandCaffarella1999;Ponton1999).Ithasbeenhypothesisedthatautonomouslearninginvolvestheapplicationofpersonalinitiativeinengagingwithlearningandfindingresourcesandopportunitiesforlearning,persistenceinlearningandresourcefulness(Ponton,Carr,andConfessore2000).Thislatterdefinitionstressesthepsychologicalcharac-teristicsofautonomouslearners,andfollowsfromLong’s(1998)analysisthatthispsychologicalconceptualisationisessentialandsufficienttoexplainwhathetermedself-directedlearning,andismorefrequentlynowlabelledautonomouslearningorindependentlearning.*Correspondingauthor.Email:[e-mail][NationalChiaoTungUniversity]at07:3703October2014352A.MacaskillandE.TaylorAswellasahistoryofcompetingdefinitions,thereisanapparentlackofanyrela-tivelyshort,psychometricallysoundmeasureofautonomouslearning.Mostresearchhasbeenundertakenontheprocessesassociatedwiththefacilitationofautonomouslearningratherthanonthecharacteristicsofautonomouslearners,andthismayexplainthedearthofmeasures(MerriamandCaffarella1999).Thesmallamountofresearchonthecharacteristicsofautonomouslearnershastendedtomeasurecharac-teristicsassociatedwithautonomouslearning,suchasmotivationtolearnandperceivedcompetence(FazeyandFazey2001),ratherthandirectlymeasureautonomouslearning.Historically,themostwidelyusedmeasureisGuglielmino’s(1977)Self-directedLearningReadinessScale,butproblemshavebeenreportedwiththeconstructvalidityofthisscaleandtherecommendationistodiscontinueusingit(Candy1991;Field1989,1991;StrakaandHinz1996).AfulldiscussionontheshortcomingsofthismeasureiscontainedinFisher,King,andTague(2001).AmorerecentlydevelopedmeasureistheSelf-directedLearningReadinessScaleforNursingEducation(Fisher,King,andTague2001).Thisisafairlylongscaledevelopedwithaspecificgroupofstudentsinmind.Itwasfeltthatashortergenericscale,designedspecificallytomeasurewhatiscurrentlyunderstoodasautonomouslearninginuniversitystudents,wouldbebeneficialforresearchinthisarea.Frequentlyresearcherswanttoassessseveralvariables;hencethebenefitofshortermeasuressowedonotoverburdenourresearchparticipants.Theaimwastodevelopashort,psychometricallysound,measurewithonegroupofstudentsandvalidateitwithasecondmorediversestudentgroup(Kline2000).Methodstudy1ParticipantsTheparticipantswere214first-yearpsychologystudents(170womenand44men,meanage=19.11years,SD=3.33):195werewhiteBritish,17wereBritishAsiansand2wereGreek.Theyvolunteeredtocompletethequestionnaireduringsmallgroupinductionsessionsontheirfirstdayatuniversity.Thequestionnairewasdevelopedaspartofalargerstudyexploringcharacteristicsofstudentsthatmightinfluenceautonomouslearning.DevelopmentofthemeasureTheliteratureonautonomouslearningwasextensivelysurveyedwithaparticularfocusonhowautonomouslearningwasconceptualised.Statementswerethengener-atedindependentlybytheauthorstoreflectwhatwasfelttobethecore