Measuring Reliability of Metacognitive Strategies in Reading Comprehension Questionnaire: A Pilot Study on First Year Engineering Students in Pakistan

This study aimed to investigate the reliability (psychometric properties) of the metacognitive strategies questionnaire piloted on Pakistani engineering students of QUEST, Nawabshah. The questionnaire had four parts including demographic, reading comprehension, metacognition, and scaffolding having 53 questions that were tested on 37 first year engineering students. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability was measured through SPSS 17. The results showed that the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability concerning reading comprehension ranged from .826-.842, metacognitive strategies ranged from.830-.839, and the reliability of scaffolding ranged from .829-.837. Therefore, the results from the pilot study showed that the questionnaire needed to be used without any modification in the actual study.Keywords: metacognition; cognition; thought processes; meta-comprehension

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A Quantitative Research for Improving Reading Comprehension of First Year Engineering Students of QUEST, Pakistan Through Metacognitive Strategies

International Journal of English Linguistics ◽

10.5539/ijel.v8n4p73 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 73

Author(s):

Zaimuariffudin Shukri Nordin ◽

Mansoor Ahmed Channa ◽

Abdul Malik Abassi

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Quantitative Research ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Reading Proficiency ◽

Metacognitive Strategies ◽

First Year ◽

Course Material ◽

The Mean ◽

Effective Reading Strategies ◽

Scaffolding Strategies

This quantitative research investigates first year engineering students’ reading comprehension using the different metacognitive strategies and scaffolding strategies. The research was undertaken at QUEST, Nawabshah, Pakistan. The respondents of this research were taken from four engineering departments including Mechanical Engineering, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer System Engineering. A set of questionnaire was used among 311 respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to analyze research variables through SPSS 17 for producing the Percentages, Mean and Standard Deviation of the data. The results acquired from data suggested that the engineering respondents used their metacognitive strategies in order to make their comprehension easy to apprehend the meaning of reading passages. This research also revealed the average uses of twenty important categories on metacognitive strategies as reported by engineering respondents. The mean score for ‘I often find that I have been reading for class but don’t know what it is all about’ category (M = 2.65) was rated by the respondents of this research as the highest; while the mean score for ‘reading instructions carefully before beginning a task’ (M = 1.54) was rated as the lowest. The results also showed that the respondents of this study revealed the average uses of the twelve important categories of scaffolding. However, the mean score for ‘When studying this course I often set aside time to discuss the course material with a group of students from the class’ category (M = 2.29) was the highest for all respondents; whereas, the mean score for ‘I ask teachers/students for help when they do not understand’ (M = 1.37) was the lowermost. However, no category of metacognitive strategies and scaffolding fell into low level of usage. To sum up, results are presented for developing effective reading strategies for engineering students to improve their reading proficiency.

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Reading Comprehension and Metacognitive Strategies in First Year Engineering University Students in Pakistan

International Journal of English Linguistics ◽

10.5539/ijel.v8n6p78 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 78

Author(s):

Mansoor Ahmed Channa ◽

Abdul Malik Abassi ◽

Stephen John ◽

Jam Khan Mohammad ◽

Masood A. Memon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Classroom Practice ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Metacognitive Strategies ◽

First Year ◽

Reading Practice ◽

Focus Group Interviews ◽

Reading Text ◽

Group Interviews ◽

Main Ideas

The paper investigates the use of metacognitive strategies by first year engineering students at the time of classroom practice on reading text. The study was conducted in four engineering departments of a university in Pakistan. Data was collected through focus group interviews of first year engineering students. The researchers developed interview questions which were validated by two experts at university Malaysia Sarawak. Students were divided into 8 groups and each group had 5 informants. The data was recorded in audio-tape and organized gathered data through NVivo version 8 for interpretation of the results. The most important themes were generated through data analysis including thinking through images of the texts, selecting the main ideas, selecting the topic sentences, scanning of the texts, summarizing of the texts, and Questioning. The study contributed theoretically by giving the most promising results which showed that more than half of these groups used metacognitive strategies in classroom reading practice while less than half of groups did not use strategies and remained poor in reading comprehension. This study proposed to develop reading comprehension courses and syllabus based on reading strategies for engineering students.

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Pinch Techniques and their Effects on Pinch Effort: A Pilot Study

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.465-466.1165 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 465-466 ◽

pp. 1165-1169 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Poh Kiat Ng ◽

Meng Chauw Bee ◽

Qiao Hui Boon ◽

Ka Xuan Chai ◽

Shiong Lung Leh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Small Sphere ◽

Manual Work ◽

Manufacturing Firm ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Preliminary Information ◽

Alpha Reliability ◽

Different Shapes

Hands are important tools for manual work. Although researchers have identified factors that influence the grip efforts of an entire hand, there appears to be limited research concerning the use of different pinch techniques and how they affect the performance of pinch effort. Therefore, the aim for this pilot study is to determine the effects of different pinch techniques on pinch effort. A total of 110 manual workers from a wooden pallet manufacturing firm participated in this study, which involved an experiment and survey to investigate the most preferred pinch technique applied on screw knobs. The techniques used were the 3-jaw chuck, pulp-2 and lateral pinch. A total of 6 screw knobs of different shapes and sizes were used. After the data were collected, descriptive and Cronbach's alpha reliability analyses were carried out. The results show that the preferred pinch technique for the small cylindrical knob, small sphere knob and all large knobs is the lateral pinch. However, the 3-jaw chuck pinch is preferred for the small 5-lobes knob. This study provides preliminary information for further research on pinch techniques and their influences on the pinching outcomes of individuals.

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A school-based educational on-site vaccination intervention for adolescents in an urban area in Germany: Feasibility and psychometric properties of instruments in a pilot study

10.21203/rs.2.21059/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Norma Bethke ◽

Paul Gellert ◽

Nina Knoll ◽

Niklas Weber ◽

Joachim Seybold

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Easy Access ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Vaccination Rates ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

School Based

Abstract Background: Vaccination rates for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio (Tdap-IPV) are not optimal in German adolescents. Education in combination with easy access vaccination may be a promising approach to improve vaccination rates. In a planned cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT), we aim at improving MMR and Tdap-IPV rates together with knowledge and self-efficacy in a school setting, the present paper describes the pilot study of this trial.Methods: Within this pilot study, 863 students from 41 school classes from four schools were included. Optimization and feasibility of the access to schools, recruitment strategies, intervention, and assessment procedures are examined. The course and content of the educational unit was evaluated with a mixed-methods approach. A pre-post measurement design was applied for the vaccination rate in all schools. Additionally, at two schools improvement on vaccination-related knowledge and perceived self-efficacy were measured pre- (n=287) and post- (n=293) educational unit by questionnaire. The remaining two schools provided data only post intervention. Finally, we evaluated the psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, retest reliability, change rates) of the questionnaire, applying Cronbach’s alpha, factor analyses, Generalized Estimating Equations and Linear Mixed Models.Results: Findings of the pilot study indicated good feasibility. Of the total sample, 437 students (50.9%) brought their vaccination cards to school, 68 students were vaccinated with Tdap-IPV, 11 with MMR. Out of 6 knowledge questions, on average students had M=2.84 (CI 2.69/3.10) correct answers before and M=4.45 (CI 4.26/4.64) after class. Ranging from 1 to 4, self-efficacy scale shown a change of 0.3 points (p <.001) and Cronbach’s alpha was .67 and .76 for pre- and post-educational unit respectively and a one-factor solution was found. Content analysis of the five semi-structured group interviews (n=12, 58.3% female) showed that the length of the intervention was felt by all students to be appropriate. The teaching methods including interactive and social media components were perceived as very good.Conclusion: A school-based educational and on-site vaccination intervention appears to be feasible in terms of procedures and the adequacy of the instruments for the adolescent target group.

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Attitudes of the Turkish University Students and Staff Toward Sexual Harassment and Assault: Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/21582440211050374 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 215824402110503

Author(s):

Diğdem Müge Siyez ◽

Gülsüm Songül Ercan ◽

Erol Esen ◽

Yağmur Soylu ◽

Bahar Baran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Reliability Coefficient ◽

Second Phase ◽

Item Pool ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Alpha Reliability ◽

The University

The aim of this study was to develop a scale to measure the attitudes of the university academic and administrative staff and students toward sexual harassment and assault, and examine its psychometric properties. After the development of the item pool and examination of the content validity of the intended items, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and parallel analysis was conducted and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was calculated collecting data from 150 participants (54.7% of female and 45.3% of male) for the initial version (comprised of 12 items) of the Attitudes Toward Sexual Harassment and Assault Scale (ATSHAS). In the second phase, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted with 354 participants (54% of female and 46% of male) for the revised version (10 items) of the ATSHAS. Additionally, Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was calculated with second sample. After developing the item pool, the completion of the first phase of the study took 5 months, and the second phase took 4 months. The final version of the ATSHAS consisting of nine items demonstrated sufficient psychometric properties for measuring attitudes toward sexual harassment and assault in the university environment.

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Investigating Metacognitive Strategies for overcoming Barriers to Reading Comprehension: Insights from a Pakistani Context

Journal of Language and Cultural Education ◽

10.2478/jolace-2018-0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 37-52

Author(s):

Mansoor Ahmed Channa ◽

Abdul Malik Abassi ◽

Zaimuariffudin Shukri Nordin ◽

Jam Khan Muhammad ◽

Rubina Shaheen Arain

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Focus Group ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Focus Group Interview ◽

Research Work ◽

Metacognitive Strategies ◽

First Year ◽

Reading Practice ◽

Audio Tape ◽

First Year Students

Abstract The main aim of this research was to investigate metacognitive strategies through reading comprehension practice by first year students of engineering departments. The students of four engineering departments were selected as the participants in this research work. The qualitative instrument based on focus group interview was used for collecting data from first year students of four engineering departments to know the perceptions and their needs to develop reading comprehension through metacognitive strategies. The researchers developed interview questions for this study. These questions were validated by two experts of faculty of cognitive science and human development at university Malaysia Sarawak. The researchers obtained permission from the chairmen of four departments at a university in Pakistan. Almost 8 groups consisting of 5 informants in each participated in this research. The data was documented by using audio-tape; NVivo software, version 8 was used to organize data for obtaining main themes of the study. This research generated the most important themes for the interpretation of the results. The study contributed the most promising results which revealed that more than half of these groups used metacognitive strategies in classroom reading practice while less than half of groups did not use strategies and remained poor in reading comprehension. This research suggested administrators, teachers, and curriculum designers to design and implement reading comprehension courses and syllabus for first year engineering students.

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A school-based educational on-site vaccination intervention for adolescents in an urban area in Germany: feasibility and psychometric properties of instruments in a pilot study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-12443-8 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Norma Bethke ◽

Paul Gellert ◽

Nina Knoll ◽

Niklas Weber ◽

Joachim Seybold

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Easy Access ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Main Trial ◽

Vaccination Rates ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

School Based

Abstract Background Vaccination rates for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio (Tdap-IPV) are not optimal among German adolescents. Education in combination with easy access to vaccination may be a promising approach to improve vaccination rates. The present paper describes a pilot study of a planned cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) in which we aim to improve MMR and Tdap-IPV vaccination rates together with knowledge and self-efficacy in a school setting. Methods The study covered 863 students from 41 classes of four schools. The optimization and feasibility of access to schools, recruitment strategies, intervention, and assessment procedures were examined. The course and content of the educational unit were evaluated with a mixed-methods approach. A pre-post measurement design was tested for the vaccination rate in all schools. Additionally, at two schools, improvement in vaccination-related knowledge and perceived self-efficacy were measured by questionnaire pre-educational unit (n=287) and post-educational unit (n=293). The remaining two schools provided only postintervention data. Finally, we evaluated the psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, retest reliability, and change rates) of the questionnaire, applying Cronbach’s alpha, factor analyses, generalized estimating equations and linear mixed models. Results The findings of the pilot study indicated good feasibility. Of the total sample, 437 students (50.9%) brought their vaccination cards to school, 68 students received Tdap-IPV vaccinations, and 11 received MMR vaccinations. Out of six knowledge questions, on average, the students had M=2.84 (95% CI [2.69, 3.10]) correct answers before and M=4.45 (95% CI [4.26, 4.64]) after the class. Ranging from 1 to 4, the self-efficacy scale changed by 0.3 points (p <.001); Cronbach’s alpha was 0.67 and 0.76 pre- and post-educational unit, respectively, and a one-factor solution was found. Content analysis of the five semistructured group interviews (n=12, 58.3% female) showed that all students found the length of the intervention to be appropriate. The teaching methods, including interactive and social media components, were perceived as very good. Conclusions A school-based educational and on-site vaccination intervention appears to be feasible in terms of procedures and the adequacy of the instruments for the adolescent target group. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN18026662. Pilot study for main trial registered 8 December 2017.

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The 8-item Morisky medication adherence scale: validation of a Portuguese version in HIV patients

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.669 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

A Aguiar ◽

C Piñeiro ◽

R Serrão ◽

R Duarte

Keyword(s):

Medication Adherence ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Reliability Analysis ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Portuguese Version ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Adherence To Medication ◽

Morisky Medication Adherence Scale ◽

Adherence Scale ◽

The Mean

Abstract Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has the most effective treatment for people with HIV, but its effectiveness depends on the individual medication adherence. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) is one of the most widely used scales to assess patient adherence. Thus, we aimed to validate a Portuguese version of MMAS-8 and determine its psychometric properties in HIV positive patients. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João (Porto, northern Portugal) at the infectious diseases department. After authorization to use the scale - granted by the author - and, a standard forward-backwards procedure to translate MMAS-8 to Portuguese, the questionnaire was applied to 233 patients with HIV doing ART. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability. Three levels of adherence were considered: 0 to < 6 (low), 6 to < 8 (medium), 8 (high). Results In the studied sample, the mean age was 45.03 years (SD = 11.63), 80.3% men, 19.3% women and 1 transgender, and 53.8% had ≤9 years of education. The mean number of prescribed ART per patient was 1.76. The mean score for the medication adherence scale was 7.29 (SD = 6.74). For the reliability analysis, 12 patients were excluded due to missing data (n = 221). Regarding the level of adherence, 22.5% were low adhering, 71.6% medium and 5.9% high. Corrected item-total correlations showed that 1 item does not correlate very well with the overall scale and was dropped. Scale reliability analysis for the remaining 7 items revealed an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.661. Women had a protective effect on adherence (OR = 0.31;95%CI:0.15-0.66). Number of years doing ART, age of participants, and type of residence didn't show to be correlated with adherence. Conclusions MMAS-8 is a reliable and valid measure to detect patients at risk of non-adherence. A satisfactory Cronbach's alfa (0.661) was obtained. In general, adherence to medication was medium or high. Key messages This scale can be applied nationwide in other different hospitals, as it could serve as a tool for measuring adherence to ART that can allow for better health care to the ones that are low adhering. A Portuguese version of the MMAS-8 was created for measuring adherence to ART that maintained a similar structure to the original MMAS-8 and good psychometric properties.

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Scale of Assessment of Self-Care Behaviors with Arteriovenous Fistula in Hemodialysis: A Psychometric Study in Brazil

Clinical Nursing Research ◽

10.1177/1054773821989800 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 105477382198980

Author(s):

Marta Nunes Lira ◽

Clemente Neves Sousa ◽

Maria Carolina Medeiros Wanderley ◽

Natália Ramos Costa Pessoa ◽

Kelly Cristiane Rocha Lemos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Arteriovenous Fistula ◽

Content Validity ◽

Self Care ◽

The Self ◽

Expert Committee ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Confirmatory Factor

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Scale for the Assessment of Self-Care Behaviors with Arteriovenous Fistula in Hemodialysis. Cross-sectional validation study, followed the recommendation provided by Sousa and Rojjanasrirat. Content validity, explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses used to check validity and Cronbach’s alpha was the reliability measure. Three hundred hemodialysis patients with arteriovenous fistula were included in the study. The expert committee assessed the content validity. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the same two-factor structure found for the original scale, explaining 60.10% of the variance. Such solution was checked by confirmatory factor analysis with Cronbach’s alpha equal to 0.920, 0.810, and 0.884 for the overall scale, the self-care in management of signs and symptoms and the self-care in prevention of complications subscales respectively. The scale has good psychometric properties to assess self-care behaviors and can be used with Brazilian patients on hemodialysis with arteriovenous fistula.

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Psychometric Properties of the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure With Japanese Sojourners

Assessment ◽

10.1177/1073191115601208 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 104-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Makoto Miyoshi ◽

Kimberly Asner-Self ◽

Sheng Yanyan ◽

Jennifer M. Koran

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Ethnic Identity ◽

Construct Validity ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Factor Structure ◽

Japanese Version ◽

The United States ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure

The current study examined psychometric properties of the Japanese version of Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AMAS-ZABB-JP) and the 20-item Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM-JP) with 273 Japanese sojourners and immigrants to the United States. The theoretical six-factor structure for the AMAS-JP and two-factor structure for the MEIM-JP was consistent with the literature. The subscales of the AMAS and MEIM showed expected patterns of correlation with each other and with additional variables (i.e., number of years in the United States), providing evidence for construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha reflected high levels of reliability for both scales. Despite strong psychometric findings, there were translational and cultural-based findings that suggest the need for further research.

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