Second-year undergraduate student engagement scale development: a proof-of-concept study

This article reports on the Second-Year Undergraduate Student Engagement Scale (SU-SES), developed during a mixed-methods study of second-year undergraduate students. The SU-SES comprises 50 statements measuring five dimensions of engagement: (1) personal growth, (2) class engagement (CE), (3) beyond class engagement (BCE), (4) relational engagement (RE) and (5) preparedness and transition engagement. Scale development was informed by a review of the literature, eight focus groups with second-year students (n = 19) and the professional expertise of the author team. Following focus groups, a sample of 415 second-year students completed the SU-SES. Cronbach’s alpha (α) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were used to test the reliability and validity of the SU-SES. Cronbach’s alpha indicated moderate to high reliability of SU-SES items. EFA was conducted with the items using Principal Axis Factoring extraction and Promax rotation. Findings indicated that the SU-SES demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, with factor analytic procedures supporting the retention of 42 items across five dimensions of engagement and reliability coefficients indicating moderate to high internal consistency, indicating that the SU-SES appears to be a reliable and valid measure of engagement among second-year undergraduate students. A more robust study is needed to confirm this and further explore the SU-SES.