Production Engineering students’ perceptions about the use of RStudio in the Quality Engineering course: a questionnaire development

The use of technology in the classroom has intensified, expanding the teaching-learning possibilities. This study aims to develop and validate an instrument to measure the perceptions of undergraduate Production Engineering students on the use of software in the Quality Engineering course. The specific data underlying this instrument corresponds to the application in RStudio. The sample consisted of 61 students from a public university. The items were analysed using Content Validity and Item Response Theory through Samejima’s Graded Response Model. Full-information factor analysis was used to assess dimensionality. The theoretical analysis discarded four items from the initial questionnaire, and three items were eliminated after the statistical analysis, resulting in a final questionnaire with 14 items. The results indicate that the validation process provided evidence of the quality of the questions, unidimensionality, and reliability. The application of the questionnaire showed that the students acknowledged the potential of using RStudio in the learning process, but reported problems related to its user interface. The developed questionnaire enables the identification of students’ perceptions and, thereby, drives reflections on the teaching and learning process. This paper can also guide the development of instruments on the perceptions of the use of software for engineering students in general.