Evaluating a measurement model of lecturers' self-efficacy

Abstract

Lecturers’ self-efficacy is the lecturers’ perceived ability to successfully complete tasks assigned to them according to job specifications at Teacher Education Institute. Research over the past few decades has shown that self-efficacy is the main predictor of performance, motivation and productivity. Lecturers with strong sense of self-efficacy are vital to improve the quality of education, to produce quality teachers, to face current challenges in teacher education and to improve the ranking of Teacher Education Institutes globally. However research on Teacher Education Institutes lecturers’ self-efficacy is inadequate and there is a lack of psychometrically sound instrument to measure these TEIs’ lecturers’ self-efficacy. The study was conceived to add to the existing knowledge on lecturers’ self-efficacy construct and the measurement of the construct. Three objectives of this study are; to develop and evaluate the measurement model of lecturers’ self-efficacy in order to identify the underlying dimensions of lecturers’ self-efficacy, to develop a psychometrically sound Lecturers’ Self-Efficacy (LSE) instrument for the Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) in Malaysia, and to assess the adequacy of the structural model for self-efficacy and spirituality in explaining the observed causal correlational relationship. This study employed a non-experimental cross sectional survey design involving 680 respondents who were solicited through quota sampling. An exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a five-factor measurement model of LSE fits the data collected from the LSE instrument. The five underlying dimensions of lecturers’ self-efficacy are teaching, research, service, publication and management. The analyses provided evidence for the convergent, and discriminant validity of LSE, which extent current understanding about an important attributes of lecturer variable. The results indicate that the structural model of self-efficacy and spirituality adequately explains the observed causal correlational relationship. This study provide evidence for proposing spirituality as a source for self-efficacy which warrants further assessment for educational institutions.