Validation of the individual and collective self-efficacy scale for teaching writing in post-secondary faculty

Abstract

Faculty actions in the classroom are known to impact student writing self-efficacy and academic achievement. The purpose of this paper was to validate Locke and Johnston’s Individual and Collective Self-Efficacy for Teaching Writing Scales, a tool originally validated in high school teachers, in a new population of post-secondary faculty. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis methods were used in two studies with independent samples of multidisciplinary faculty (N = 281) for the exploratory factor analysis (Study 1) and nursing discipline specific faculty (N = 187) for the confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). Three factors were identified in the questionnaire which maintained the essence of the theoretical structure proposed by Locke and Johnston. Factor 1 was named Context and Process Competencies, Factor 2 Textural Competencies, and Factor 3 Motivational Competencies. This factor structure was confirmed with acceptable goodness of fit in the confirmatory factor analysis Study 2. Learning to be a teacher of writing is a developmental process and this measurement tool has important validation information that speaks to its usefulness in understanding that process.