Reliability and Validity of an Abbreviated Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire in Student Pharmacists

OBJECTIVE: The study examined the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) among a cohort of student pharmacists using the Rasch rating scale model. METHODS: The modified MSLQ consisted of 51 self-report questions (items) assessing 4 motivation-based domains and 5 learning strategy domains. The assessed domains consisted of 3 to 12 items per domain and were scored on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ("not at all true of me") to 7 ("very true of me"). MSLQ data for 66 students were evaluated in Winsteps (Version 5.6.0, Portland, Oregon), where the Rasch rating scale model was selected to ascertain the instrument's validity, scale performance, and reliability. RESULTS: All 9 domains were unidimensional and measured a unidimensional construct of interest, but the 7-point Likert scale did not function optimally and needed to be adjusted for all domains except self-efficacy for learning and performance. Acceptable estimates of reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) were observed for all domains, but the person-item maps indicated a mismatch between the instrument's item difficulty and students' ability levels. CONCLUSION: An adjusted 4-point Likert scale is suggested for the extrinsic goal orientation, elaboration, organization, test anxiety, and cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies domains. Items at the same difficulty levels for the elaboration, extrinsic goal orientation, peer learning, self-efficacy, organization, cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and test anxiety domains should be considered for removal, and more difficult items are needed to bridge content gaps for all 9 domains to match the ability levels of student pharmacists.