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January 22, 2026

University Students’ Sense of Education Acquisition: Structural Dimensions and Characteristic Analysis

Key Points

To develop a reliable scale measuring university students' sense of education acquisition (SEA) and analyze its characteristics.
Open questionnaire used to create a preliminary scale with 120 students from 10 universities.
1358 students tested via stratified random sampling across 17 universities for the formal scale.
Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted on a sub-sample of 701 students.
Reliability and validity testing performed on a second sub-sample of 657 students.
Analysis of SEA characteristics was carried out using the entire sample.
Preliminary scale consisted of 65 items; final scale refined to 39 items across seven dimensions.
Good psychometric properties: Cronbach's α between 0.66-0.94; split-half reliability from 0.66-0.89; retest reliability ranging from 0.79-0.87.
Overall SEA level of college students scored above the middle level; significant gender differences noted, with females scoring higher than males.
Scores varied by academic grade; regular college students scored higher than those from 'double first-class' institutions.

Abstract

In order to construct the structural dimensions of university students' SEA, develop the test with good reliability and validity indexes, and analyze the characteristics of university students’ SEA, Open questionnaire was used to develop the preliminary scale in 120 students of 10 universities, and then 1358 students were tested with stratified random sampling in 17 universities of nationwide. The whole sample was divided into two sub-samples randomly, the sample 1 (n=701) was used to carry out item analysis and EFA to determine the scale’s dimension structures, and the sample 2 (n=657) was used to test reliability and validity to formulate the formal scale. The total sample was used to analyze the characteristics of college students' SEA. The results showed that the preliminary scale of SEA had 65 items; All of the 65 items had good discrimination; The formal scale of SEA had 39 items, including seven dimensions: social responsibility, interpersonal relationship, professional accomplishment, self-growth, emotional management, practical ability and academic achievement, the total variance was 53.9%. The formal scales’ Cronbach's α were 0.66-0.94, split half reliability were 0.66-0.89, retest reliability were 0.79-0.87, Synthetic reliability were 0.78-0.93. The seven-factor structural model of the formal scale was stable, the goodness of fit were better, indicating the structure validity were good; the scale’s criterion validity were 0.23-0.64. The total scale and dimension score of SEA of college students were above the middle level; Female students scored significantly higher than male students; Different dimensions of college students' SEA showed different developmental trends with the increase of grade; The score of regular college students' SEA was significantly higher than that of "double first-class" college students. University students' SEA is a multi-dimensional construct, the formal scale of SEA have good psychometric indexes and can be used in university students as a tool for further research. The overall level of college students' SEA is higher; there are significant differences in gender, grade and school type of college students’ SEA.

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Cite This Study

Yong et al. (Tue,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6971be8d642b1836717e33de https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.57237/j.ssrf.2026.01.001

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