Quality of Student Experiences at University: A Rasch Measurement Model Analysis

Abstract

The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire from the United States of America (Friedlander, Pace, & Lehman, 1990) was revised and rewritten for Australian university students. The Australian Quality of Student Experiences Scale comprises 60 items relating to student expectations and, in direct correspondence, 60 items relating to their experiences. The items are based on a model involving academic, personal and group experiences for eight areas: My Course, The Library, My Lecturers, Student Acquaintances, The Arts, Writing, The Sciences and Vocations. The convenience sample was 305 first year students and the data were analysed with a Rasch measurement model. Fifty-eight items did not fit the model and were discarded. Most of these items came from the sub-scales: The Arts, The Sciences and Writing. The final scale of 62 items had excellent psychometric properties. Expectations are easier than experiences, as conceptualised, and the conceptual design of the scale is confirmed.