MOBILE-APPS questionnaire: Developing and validating a scale to measure the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students on mobile information literacy

This paper aims at reflecting on the process of developing and validating a scale for measuring the students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the use of mobile technologies in the teaching-learning of information competencies (MOBILE-APPS). Validation was carried out by administering the questionnaire to a pilot group of students, selected from Education degree, with a rubric to analyse the quality/coherence, clarity and usefulness of the content. The questionnaire was then piloted with a larger sample of students. To analyse the tool’s reliability and internal validity, scale validation techniques and exploratory factorial analysis were used. The resulting questionnaire, MOBILE-APPS, is a simple yet effective scale for collecting information. It can be applied in a number of university settings and degrees to ascertain student attitudes and perceptions of mobile information literacy.

[1]  Willie Miller,et al.  iLearning: The Future of Higher Education? Student Perceptions on Learning with Mobile Tablets , 2012 .

[2]  M. R. Novick,et al.  Coefficient alpha and the reliability of composite measurements. , 1967, Psychometrika.

[3]  C.-H. Cheng,et al.  A mobile gamification learning system for improving the learning motivation and achievements , 2015, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[4]  J. Gliem,et al.  Calculating, Interpreting, And Reporting Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Coefficient For Likert-Type Scales , 2003 .

[5]  Shih-hsien Yang,et al.  Exploring College Students' Attitudes and Self-Efficacy of Mobile Learning , 2012 .

[6]  Gerhard Mels,et al.  Choosing the Optimal Number of Factors in Exploratory Factor Analysis: A Model Selection Perspective , 2013, Multivariate behavioral research.

[7]  Maria Pinto,et al.  The Attitudes of Teachers-in-Training Towards Information Literacy Skills and the Inclusion of Mobile Devices in the Process of Teacher Education , 2018, ECIL.

[8]  Esteban Vázquez-Cano,et al.  Mobile Distance Learning with Smartphones and Apps in Higher Education. , 2014 .

[9]  Sujeet Kumar Sharma,et al.  Development and validation of Mobile Learning Acceptance Measure , 2017, Interact. Learn. Environ..

[10]  Andrew Middleton,et al.  Considering the Smartphone Learner: an investigation into student interest in the use of personal technology to enhance their learning , 2012 .

[11]  Maria Pinto,et al.  Information Literacy Competencies among Social Sciences Undergraduates: A Case Study Using Structural Equation Model , 2014, ECIL.

[12]  H. Kaiser.  An index of factorial simplicity , 1974 .

[13]  SuC-H.,et al.  A mobile gamification learning system for improving the learning motivation and achievements , 2015 .

[14]  Fahad N. Al-FAHAD,et al.  STUDENTS' ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE LEARNING IN KING SAUD UNIVERSITY, SAUDI ARABIA , 2009 .

[15]  B. Zumbo,et al.  Investigating Validity Evidence of the Satisfaction with Life Scale Adapted for Children , 2010 .

[16]  Shuiqing Yang,et al.  Understanding Undergraduate Students' Adoption of Mobile Learning Model: A Perspective of the Extended UTAUT2 , 2013 .

[17]  Jairak Kallaya,et al.  An Acceptance of Mobile Learning for Higher Education Students in Thailand , 2009 .

[18]  Alice Schmidt Hanbidge,et al.  Using Mobile Technology to Enhance Undergraduate Student Digital Information Literacy Skills: A Canadian Case Study. , 2015 .

[19]  S. Wise,et al.  The Development and Validation of the Information Literacy Test , 2007 .

[20]  Maria Pinto,et al.  Design of the IL-HUMASS survey on information literacy in higher education: A self-assessment approach , 2010, J. Inf. Sci..

[21]  Alain Yee-Loong Chong,et al.  Modeling the stimulators of the behavioral intention to use mobile entertainment: Does gender really matter? , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[22]  María Pinto,et al.  Undergraduates' information literacy competency: A pilot study of assessment tools based on a latent trait model , 2016 .

[23]  Dora Sales,et al.  Attitudes, perceptions and prospectings on mobile information literacy training: Design and validation of the MOBILE-APP questionnaire , 2018, J. Libr. Inf. Sci..

[24]  Riyadh A. Alhassan,et al.  Mobile Learning as a Method of Ubiquitous Learning: Students’ Attitudes, Readiness, and Possible Barriers to Implementation in Higher Education , 2016 .

[25]  Khaled Shaalan,et al.  Investigating attitudes towards the use of mobile learning in higher education , 2016, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[26]  Amy R. Hofer,et al.  Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education , 2014 .

[27]  Yi-Shun Wang,et al.  Investigating the determinants and age and gender differences in the acceptance of mobile learning , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[28]  H. G. Osburn,et al.  Coefficient alpha and related internal consistency reliability coefficients. , 2000, Psychological methods.

[29]  Anne Nortcliffe,et al.  Considering the Smartphone Learner: developing innovation to investigate the opportunities for students and their interest , 2012 .

[30]  Diana Adler,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 2016 .