TY - JOUR
T1 - A Commentary on Construct Validity When Using Operational Virtual Learning Environment Data in Effectiveness Studies
AU - Huggins-Manley, A. Corinne
AU - Beal, Carole R.
AU - D’Mello, Sidney K.
AU - Leite, Walter L.
AU - Cetin-Berber, Dyugu Dee
AU - Kim, Dongho
AU - McNamara, Danielle S.
N1 - Funding Information:
construct validity measurement virtual learning environments educational technology Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education R305C160004 The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C160004 to the University of Florida. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2019/10/2
Y1 - 2019/10/2
N2 - Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are increasingly used at-scale in educational contexts to facilitate teaching and promote learning, and the data they produce can be used for educational research purposes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology has repeatedly emphasized the importance of using evidence to validate claims from VLE-based educational research. Although VLE data can provide some affordances for conducting educational research, we argue that many challenges can arise with respect to providing evidence for construct validity. The objective of this commentary is to encourage educational researchers using operational, at-scale VLE data to align their data and intended constructs to a theoretical framework of construct validity threats in order to develop a comprehensive set of actionable solutions. We use examples from our research project as a demonstration resource for performing such an alignment.
AB - Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are increasingly used at-scale in educational contexts to facilitate teaching and promote learning, and the data they produce can be used for educational research purposes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology has repeatedly emphasized the importance of using evidence to validate claims from VLE-based educational research. Although VLE data can provide some affordances for conducting educational research, we argue that many challenges can arise with respect to providing evidence for construct validity. The objective of this commentary is to encourage educational researchers using operational, at-scale VLE data to align their data and intended constructs to a theoretical framework of construct validity threats in order to develop a comprehensive set of actionable solutions. We use examples from our research project as a demonstration resource for performing such an alignment.
KW - construct validity
KW - educational technology
KW - measurement
KW - virtual learning environments
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U2 - 10.1080/19345747.2019.1639869
DO - 10.1080/19345747.2019.1639869
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076397934
SN - 1934-5747
VL - 12
SP - 750
EP - 759
JO - Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness
JF - Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness
IS - 4
ER -