Development of a Scale for Measuring the Learner Autonomy of Distance Education Students

Evanthia Bei; Ilias Mavroidis; Yiannis Giossos

doi:10.2478/eurodl-2019-0015

Development of a Scale for Measuring the Learner Autonomy of Distance Education Students

European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning

Volume 22 (2019): Issue 2

By: Evanthia Bei, Ilias Mavroidis and Yiannis Giossos

Open Access

|Jan 2020

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable psychometric scale to measure the perceived autonomy of postgraduate students in the Hellenic Open University and similar distance education environments. Two dimensions of autonomy, namely personal and educational, were revealed from the literature review and the preliminary study. For the evaluation of each dimension, two subscales were developed. Following two pilot studies, the initial item pool led to the development of a 25-items questionnaire, which was then administered to a sample of 239 postgraduate students. The exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors for the personal autonomy subscale, with 7 items in total, and two factors for the educational autonomy subscale, with 9 items in total. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ranged between .623 and .717. A statistically significant gender difference was found only for the personal autonomy subscale and, more specifically, for the factor ‘managing difficulties’, where female respondents received a lower score than males.

Περίληψη

Η παρούσα έρευνα είχε ως στόχο να αναπτύξει μια έγκυρη και αξιόπιστη ψυχομετρική κλίμακα μέτρησης της αυτονομίας των μεταπτυχιακών φοιτητών του Ελληνικού Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου και παρόμοιων περιβαλλόντων εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευσης. Από την ανασκόπηση της βιβλιογραφίας και την προκαταρκτική έρευνα προέκυψαν δύο διαστάσεις για την αυτονομία, η προσωπική και η εκπαιδευτική, για την αποτίμηση των οποίων διαμορφώθηκαν αντίστοιχα δύο υποκλίμακες. Μετά από την πραγματοποίηση δύο πιλοτικών ερευνών διαμορφώθηκε το αρχικό ερωτηματολόγιο με 25 ερωτήματα, το οποίο χορηγήθηκε σε δείγμα 239 μεταπτυχιακών φοιτητών. Η διερευνητική ανάλυση αποκάλυψε δύο παράγοντες για την υποκλίμακα της προσωπικής αυτονομίας με 7 ερωτήματα και δύο παράγοντες για την κλίμακα της εκπαιδευτικής αυτονομίας με 9 ερωτήματα. Ο συντελεστής Cronbach α κυμάνθηκε από .623 έως .717. Στατιστικώς σημαντική διαφυλική διαφορά διαπιστώθηκε μόνο στην υποκλίμακα της προσωπικής αυτονομίας και ειδικότερα στον παράγοντα «αντιμετώπιση δυσκολιών», με τις γυναίκες να παρουσιάζουν χαμηλότερη βαθμολογία από τους άνδρες.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eurodl-2019-0015 | Journal eISSN: 1027-5207

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Language: English

Page range: 133 - 144

Published on: Jan 24, 2020

Published by: EDEN Digital Learning Europe

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© 2020 Evanthia Bei, Ilias Mavroidis, Yiannis Giossos, published by EDEN Digital Learning Europe
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 22 (2019): Issue 2