Journal of Nursing & Care

Development and Validation of a Student Self-efficacy Scale

Abstract

Melodie Rowbotham and Gerdamarie S Schmitz

The study was designed to address the reliability and validity evidence that supports the Student Self-Efficacy scale. The scale measures student self-efficacy related to didactic course work. Face and content validity were measured by expert educators and researchers with the feedback that the questionnaire was clear and addressed the skills needed to measure student self-efficacy in the classroom. The scale was administered to 65 nursing students in two courses, one sophomore level and one junior level. The Student Self-Efficacy (SSE) Scale was compared to the well established General Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale to assess the concurrent criterion-related validity. A highly significant correlation of r = 0.70 was found between the two scales. The scores of both questionnaires were also compared with demographic variables and no correlation or significant difference was found with the exception of lower student self-efficacy in male students. A Principal Component Analysis of GSE and SSE and a comparison with a larger U.S. sample on GSE delivered first indication of a one-dimensional construct. The findings indicate the SSE does in fact measure the construct under study and is a reliable and valid scale. Implications for further research and fields of applications are discussed.