Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide an exploratory investigation of faculty member's efficacy inventory in higher education. Review of the literature showed a few studies about this subject and current instruments did not consider the theoritical foundations of faculty member efficacy. Moreover, most researches were limited to schools area and K-12. After an extensive review of the literature, first, a set of items to operationalize faculty perceptions and beliefs of efficacy in their tasks was developed. At second stage, higher education colleagues who were working in our university and other nearby universities examined the items for critique, and consulted with their colleagues about content and face validity. Third, a pilot study was initiated to map the domain of the construct and refined the measure and the meaning of faculty efficacy through the statistical methods. The instrument was field-tested and refined using a representative sample of universities faculty. Fourth, a factor analysis was utilized to identify factors related to efficacy scale of faculty members. Fifth, we reduced items and agreed about 18. Four factors were appeared in the factor analysis consisting of teaching competencies, research competencies, social competencies, and personal competencies. We insured all four sources of efficacy (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and emotional arousal) were represented in each efficacy components (teaching competencies, research competencies, social competencies and personal competencies). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for each factor and in overall the instrument was a reliable scale 0.83. Finally, differences between faculty members were studied based on some demographic variables such as gender and academic ranking. Results showed that there were not significant differences between all female and male faculty members efficacy and so based on academic ranking.

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