The development and validation of the student response system benefit scale

Previous research into the benefits student response systems (SRS) that have been brought into the classroom revealed that SRS can contribute positively to student experiences. However, while the benefits of SRS have been conceptualized and operationalized into a widely cited scale, the validity of this scale had not been tested. Furthermore, subsequent research found the scale to be unreliable. Therefore, this project used two studies and created a reliable and valid SRS benefit scale. First, iterative exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine whether the stated conceptual definitions matched the operational definitions reflected in student responses to survey items. The results of this statistical analysis showed an 8-item, two-factor scale demonstrating the benefits of SRS in the large lecture classroom. Study 2 used a new sample for confirmatory factor analysis that confirmed the results of the EFA suggested a good model fit with excellent scale reliability. Implications for future assessment of the benefits of SRS were discussed.