Development and Validation of an Instrument Measuring Postgraduates' Holistic Development

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Higher Education

Abstract

This study describes the development and validation of the postgraduates’ holistic Development inventory that evaluate students’ holistic development. To construct the inventory, focus groups and individual interviews were first conducted with current taught postgraduates and university staff working in postgraduate units. Content analysis identified 16 themes and served as the search terms to locate well-established surveys. The adaptation and modification of the items from existing surveys resulted in 80 drafted items, which were validated with 388 postgraduates. The Rasch unidimensional measurement model was adopted and resulted in a modified 69-items version with satisfactory item fitness, excellence separation index, and reliability. The new inventory is an assessment tool to facilitate equitable educational plans for postgraduate students’ holistic development.

Authors

• Michelle W.T. CHENG, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Sing-Kai Lo, Education University of Hong Kong