The validation of the Teachers’ Goal Orientations for Professional Learning Scale (TGOPLS) on information technology

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Teachers’ Goal Orientations for Professional Learning Scale (TGOPLS) in the context of learning and using information technology. The participants were 866 kindergarten teachers from 58 kindergartens in China. Based on a randomly split sample, the authors used Group 1 (n = 433) for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Group 2 (n = 433) for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Both EFA and CFA results showed that the TGOPLS was composed of three subscales: mastery-approach, performance-approach and work-avoidance. In addition, latent factor means for the TGOPLS were invariant across age (less than 30 years vs. 30 years and more) and education level (high school vs. bachelor’s or beyond). Finally, the authors investigated the TGOPLS’ validity evidence, by examining and finding that the relations between the TGOPLS and three external measures (task interest, effort and adaptive help seeking) were consistent with theoretical expectations.