This paper is positioned to make a sound contribution to knowledge of higher education (HE) quality through its study of student engagement in a large university in Ethiopia. We establish that the assessment of student engagement is a valid facet in determining HE quality, contributing holistically alongside quality assurance and university rankings. The authors present an example of this through reporting on a statistical analysis of an adjustment of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement survey and its administration in the Ethiopian university. The results of factor analysis illustrate empirical support for the nine-factor engagement scale and a number of associated factors related to student demographics and university experience. The results of the multi-validation approach provide specific guidelines to universities using this approach to evaluate the validity and reliability of this construct. The paper provides a supporting tool that can be used by other universities to assist in the evaluation of students’ engagement with their undergraduate programmes.
This study tested the construct validity, factorial validity, and measurement invariance of the learning gains scale based on survey responses of a large sample (n = 536) of undergraduate students in two colleges at a university in Ethiopia. The analyses were performed through structural equation modeling technique using the stata 13 data analysis and statistical software package. The results demonstrate a 3-factor model representing the underlying construct satisfying the different model goodness-of-fit statistics and practical indexes. The observed factor loadings of variables within each factor and the correlations between the factors provide supporting evidence of construct validity. Measurement invariance tests were also confirmed acceptable levels of measurement equivalence between groups. Implications of the 3-factor model in higher education research are discussed.
Berzelius failed to make use of Faraday's electrochemical laws in his laborious determination of equivalent weights.