Development and validation of scores on a measure of six academic orientations in college students

This article describes the development and score validation of a 36-item me asure of six academic orientations in college students: structure dependenc e, creative expression, reading for pleasure, academic efficacy, academic a pathy, and mistrust of instructors. Results from three studies indicate tha t the measuring instrument, the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO), has six factorially distinct scales (Study 1) whose scores are stable across di fferent semesters, yielding test-retest coefficients that range from .63 to .86 (Study 2). Also, each of the six scales relates in expected ways to ba sic personality traits, yielding validity coefficients of .30 to .69 (Study 3). Scores on the six scales are internally consistent, yielding coefficie nts alpha that range from .59 to .85 (Studies 1-3). Scale scores and a summ ative score of all 36 items, called the Adaptiveness index, are examined fo r their potential in predicting a variety of important student outcomes.