Active Learning with Technology: Computer Skills Checklist

Welcome to INSIGHT South Central RTEC Instrument Library and Data Repository

INSIGHT: Distance Education Learning Environments Survey

Validation was conducted by means of a field test that resulted in 680 responses from 13 countries, primarily the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Fifty six field tested items were reduced to 42 items in seven scales after principle component factor analysis and internal consistency reliability (Cronbachs alpha) analysis. The items with factor loadings ≥ 0.55 within their own scales were kept. Items with factor loadings < 0.55 were discarded. For the seven scales, the alpha reliability coefficient ranged from 0.75 to 0.95.

DELES scales, in the order presented in this survey, are as follows:

Instructor Support items 1-8
Student Interaction & Collaboration items 9-14
Personal Relevance items 15-21
Authentic Learning items 22-26
Active Learning items 27-29
Student Autonomy items 30-34
Student Satisfaction (Enjoyment) items 35-42

Factor Analysis

Rotated component matrix with principle component analysis and varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. Faulty items have been removed.

Item	Factor Loading
Item	Student Interaction & Collaboration	Instructor Support	Personal Relevance	Authentic Learning	Student Autonomy	Active Learning
INSTSUP1		.69
INSTSUP2		.73
INSTSUP3		.83
INSTSUP4		.84
INSTSUP5		.80
INSTSUP6		.63
INSTSUP7		.62
INSTSUP8		.76
INTER9	.90
INTER10	.83
INTER11	.85
INTER12	.86
INTER13	.90
INTER14	.87
RELEV15			.75
RELEV16			.69
RELEV17			.81
RELEV18			.78
RELEV19			.83
RELEV20			.55
RELEV21			.70
AUTH22				.61
AUTH23				.77
AUTH24				.80
AUTH25				.84
AUTH26				.69
ACT27						.63
ACT28						.79
ACT29						.75
AUTON30					.65
AUTON31					.65
AUTON32					.81
AUTON33					.75
AUTON34					.61
% variance	14.31	14.10	13.88	10.35	8.50	6.01

Factor loadings smaller than 0.50 have been omitted.

Reliability

Scale reliability measured using Cronbachs alpha coefficient.

Scale	α Reliability
Instructor Support	.87
Student Interaction & Collaboration	.94
Personal Relevance	.92
Authentic Learning	.89
Active Learning	.75
Student Autonomy	.79
Enjoyment	.95

When analyzing associations between the attitude scale (enjoyment of distance education) and the six psychosocial scales, the correlations ranged from r = 0.12 to 0.31 with the scale of personal relevance having the strongest correlation. Regression coefficients ranged from β = 0.00 to 0.23, again with the scale of personal relevance having the strongest association, followed by authenticity in learning with β = 0.16.

Association between Student Satisfaction and Psychosocial Learning Environment Scales

Association between six DELES scales and student satisfaction using simple correlations (r) and standardized regression coefficients (β).

Psychosocial Scale	r	β
Instructor Support	.25**	.12**
Student Interaction & Collaboration	.23**	.14**
Personal Relevance	.31**	.23**
Authentic Learning	.28**	.16**
Active Learning	.12**	.00
Student Autonomy	.24**	.11**
Multiple correlation (R) R² coefficient		.46 .21

n=680 individuals, **p<.01

For detailed information regarding the development of this instrument, please contact Scott Walker at walks@lake.ollusa.edu and ask for the Evaluation, Description & Effects of Distance Education Learning Environments for Higher Education