Journal for Geometry and Graphics 24 (2020), No. 1, 125--140
Copyright Heldermann Verlag 2020
Three-Dimensional Modeling Self-Efficacy: An Examination of Psychometric Properties of a Domain-Specific Instrument in Engineering Graphics Education
Daniel P. Kelly
College of Education, Texas Tech University, 3002 18th Street, Lubbock, TX 79409, U.S.A.
daniel.kelly@ttu.edu
Self-efficacy positively mediates performance, persistence, and academic outcomes, and its measures are known to have strong levels of predictive validity in educational environments. Although investigations into self-efficacy are present in engineering education, there are few studies within the sub-discipline of engineering graphics. Self-efficacy researchers are consistent in the literature that measures of the construct must be domain-specific. To date, little examination into a self-efficacy instrument specific to engineering graphics exist. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the Three-Dimensional Modeling Self-Efficacy instrument specifically developed for engineering graphics and presents the methods and findings of a psychometric investigation of that instrument using a population of 503 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory engineering graphics course. This investigation includes reliability metrics, correlational analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and regression analysis. The Three-Dimensional Modeling Self-Efficacy instrument examined in this study was found to have strong evidence of reliability and validity, and exploratory factor analysis revealed a single factor structure underlying the instrument. The Three-Dimensional Modeling Self-Efficacy instrument also appears to have evidence of predictive validity for student final course outcomes.
Keywords: Engineering graphics, self-efficacy, three-dimensional (3D) modeling, engineering education.
MSC: 97G80
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