Establishing the Reliability and Validity of the ASSIST Questionnaire: A South African Sample Perspective.

espanolIntroduccion. Para comprender mejor los enfoques de aprendizaje de los estudiantes en las clases de matematicas, se utilizo el Inventario de Aproximaciones y Estudios de Habilidades para Estudiantes (ASSIST Short Version). Metodo. Los participantes fueron 345 estudiantes de matematicas de primer y segundo ano de una universidad en la provincia de Gauteng (Sudafrica). La fiabilidad de la version corta de ASSIST se calculo con el alfa de Cronbach. Los valores de los coeficientes de las puntuaciones de cada grupo se presentan con respecto a la fase de datos preliminares y la fase de datos posteriores a la intervencion. La validez del cuestionario ASSIST se calculo utilizando la validez del contenido, lo que implico el calculo del analisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio. Resultados. Los resultados muestran que en la fiabilidad de la version corta de ASSIST, los valores alfa oscilaron entre 0,75 y 0,83 (fase de datos preliminares), asi como 0,65 y 0,82 (fase de datos posteriores a la intervencion). Respecto a la validez del contenido, los resultados muestran que el valor de KMO = . 769 fue aceptable mientras que el test de Bartlett de esfericidad tambien fue estadisticamente significativo ([χ2 = 210.94, df = 132, p Discusion y Conclusion. En terminos de fiabilidad de las puntuaciones del instrumento, los valores alfa fueron aceptados para este estudio porque eran comparables a los reportados en la literatura. La validez se calculo a traves del analisis de factores (validez de contenido) y el analisis factorial confirmatorio (validez de constructo). Los dos valores informados en este estudio indicaron que el calculo del analisis factorial era apropiado para los datos. Usando la rotacion directa oblimin de forma consistente como en la literatura, se acepto una solucion de tres factores en este estudio. Debido a que estos factores eran consistentes con los reportados en la literatura, la validez de contenido fue aceptable en este estudio. EnglishIntroduction. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST Short Version) was used to better understand the students’ approaches to learning in a mathematics classes. Method. Quantitave method was used in this study. Participants were 345 first and second year mathematics students from a university in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The reliability of the ASSIST Short Version was computed by Cronbach’s alpha. The coefficient values from scores of each group are presented with respect to the preliminary data phase and the post-intervention data phase. The validity of the ASSIST questionnaire was computed using content validity which involved the computation of factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis which involved checking whether the theory developed constructs of Deep, Strategic and Surface approaches. Results. The results show that the reliability of ASSIST Short Version, the alpha values ranged between . 75 and . 83 (preliminary data phase) as well as . 65 and . 82 (post-intervention data phase). For the content validity the results show that the value of KMO = . 769 was acceptable while the Bartlett’s test of sphericity was also statistically significant (p Discussion and Conclusion. In terms of reliability of scores from the instrument, the alpha values were accepted for this study because they were comparable to those reported in literature. Validity was computed through factor analysis (content validity) and confirmatory factor analysis (construct validity). Before computing the factor structure of the ASSIST, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were determined. The two values reported in this study indicated that computing the factor analysis was appropriate for the data. Using the Direct oblimin rotation consistently as in reported literature, a three factor solution was accepted in this study. Because these factors were consistent with those reported in literature content validity was acceptable in this study.