Construct Validity for the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers Questionnaire

Abstract

Positive teacher attitudes toward computers are widely recognized as a necessary condition for effective use of information technology in the classroom (Woodrow, 1992). To measure attitudes toward technology, it is important to have valid and reliable instruments. In this study, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to verify construct validity for the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) Questionnaire, an instrument created from 32 well-validated scales, as a more parsimonious questionnaire covering areas assessed by previously existing instruments in the field. Since its creation as 284 items in 1997, this Likert- and Semantic Differential–based instrument has undergone two major refinements, each of which was designed to reduce the number of items while retaining subscale internal conshhhncy reliabilities in the range of .8–.9. The 51-item version of the TAC (v. 6.1) produced acceptable goodness-of-fit indices for its nine subscale constructs, based on analysis of 1,179 teacher responses from 2003. High internal consistency reliabilities were also verified-for additional sets of 2006 teacher data and 2008 preservice teacher preparation data. This led the authors to conclude that the TAC is a well-validated, reliable instrument for teachers’ self-appraisal of their attitudes toward computers, wonby of continued use in multiple language and cultural environments.

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