Adapting a Measure of Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy for Engineering Students

• In Event: Interrogating Systems of Assessment in Professions Education

Abstract

Higher education has struggled to increase the retention rate of engineering students despite scholarly attention and government funding. Researchers and policy-makers recommend increasing students’ sense of engineering identity and self-efficacy, and conceptualizations of these constructs often include problem-solving. Therefore, problem-solving self-efficacy may be a key means of increasing engineering identity and self-efficacy, but first, researchers must operationally define it and adopt a reliable and valid measure of it. We report two studies that adapt a pre-existing scale, the Personal Problem-Solving Inventory, and present evidence of reliability and structural, criterion, and construct validity to support it.

Authors

• Jacob M. Marszalek, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Darran R. Cairns, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Presenting Author

• Michelle A. Maher, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathleen O'Shea, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ahmed Shiekhaden, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author