Construction and Validation of Scale to measure Perceptions of Students towards Blended Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

Purpose: The use of blended learning is gaining acceptance in the educational system. It is observed that the educational stakeholders hold different opinions regarding blended learning. The change in the perceptions towards blended learning can impact on the implementation of blended learning. It is imperative to understand the students’ perspectives of the blended learning instruction; which would be significant to manage and enhance the blended learning process in Indian context. Therefore, in this background, the present paper aims on the development of a scale to study the perceptions of students of higher education towards the blended learning

Design/Methodology/Approach: In order to validate the scale to know the perceptions of students of higher education towards blended learning, a five-point Likert Scale was developed, after a comprehensive review and analysis of the available literature. To validate the present scale an exploratory factor analysis and Monte Carlo PCA were conducted. The scale was administered on a representative sample of 211 students from higher education.

Findings: The final scale to measure the perceptions of students of higher education consisted of 35 items. The final scale with five dimensions (dimension 1=15 items, dimension 2= 5 items, dimension 3= 6 items, dimension 4= 4 items, and dimension 5= 5 items) found valid and reliable to study the perceptions of students towards blended learning instruction.

Research Limitations/Implications: The increasing number of research studies on blended learning leads to the need for the development of valid and reliable psychometric scale for the assessment of perception towards it. Thus, the present scale would be helpful in assessing perceptions of students of higher education towards blended learning. Since, the scale has been designed, developed and validated in the contexts and Indian higher education institutional settings, the scale would be useful for comparative purposes also.

Originality/Value: The present paper presents the process of the construction, validation and factor analysis of an-empirically-based psychometric scale to study the perceptions of students.

Paper Type: Empirical Research Paper