Abstracts
Abstract
This study developed and validated the Turkish version of the Self-Directed Online Learning Scale (SDOLS-T) for assessing students’ perceptions of their self-directed learning (SDL) ability in an online environment. Specifically, this study conducted in two stages multiple categorical confirmatory factor analyses factoring in the ordered categorical structure of the SDOLS-T data. The data in this study came from a parent study which utilized the SDOLS-T and other instruments for data collection. From among the three competing models the literature recommends examining to explain the shared variance of items in a survey, the results at stage 1 showed that the correlated, two-factor structure, originally proposed for the SDOLS, was also the best-fit model for the SDOLS-T. At stage 2, using the best-fit model from stage 1, measurement invariance analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which SDL under the SDOLS-T was understood and measured equivalently across the groups specified by four dichotomous demographic variables: gender, network connection, online learning experience, and grade. The stage 2 results indicate the SDOLS-T reached scalar invariance at least for gender and network connection, thus allowing the comparison of latent or manifest means, or any other scores (e.g., total scores, Rasch scores), across the groups by these two demographic variables. In the end, the findings support the SDOLS-T for use in facilitating educational practice (e.g., improving instructional design), advancing scholarly literature (e.g., investigating SDL measurement and content area issues), and informing policy/decision-making (e.g., increasing retention rates and reducing dropout) in online education in Turkey.
Keywords:
- self-directed learning,
- online teaching and learning,
- confirmatory factor analysis,
- ordered categorical data,
- measurement invariance
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Dr. Hongwei Yang is an associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Leadership and Research, School of Education at the University of West Florida. His scholarship is found in quantitative methodology, psychometrics, survey research as well as in content areas including online teaching and learning, family science, human and animal medical care, among others.
Dr. Müslim Alanoğlu is an Associate Professor at Fırat University, Faculty of Education. His research interests include school leadership and classroom management in the context of online/web and hybrid teaching and learning. He is also interested in survey research, quantitative methodology, and psychometrics.
Dr. Songül Karabatak is an associate professor at Fırat University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Administration. Her research interests include classroom management in the context of online/web and hybrid teaching and learning and technology-based school leadership education.
Dr. Jian Su is an Instructional Designer/Developer in the Office of Digital Learning at the University of Tennessee. Her research interests include online teaching and learning, Open Educational Resources, and digital distractions.
Dr. Kelly D. Bradley is a full professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, College of Education at the University of Kentucky. Her research is anchored in quantitative methods and measurement, with a focus on survey research and the Rasch model.
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