Measuring Teacher Attitudes Toward Instructional Technology: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the TAC and TAT

Abstract

In this article the authors present a confirmatory factor analysis of the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) and the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Information Technology (TAT) scales by Christensen and Knezek (1996, 1998) using large samples from three states. The TAC was reduced from 98 items and nine factors to 35 items and eight factors, while maintaining superior psychometric properties. The TAT was reduced from 50 items and five factors to 20 items measuring five factors, similarly maintaining excellent psychometric properties. The authors also developed a combined short form of both instruments using 42 items to measure 11 factors for use in situations where parsimony is critical.

Acknowledgments

An early version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA, April 2006. The authors would like to thank Amy Overbay, Ellen Vasu, and Ashley Seaton for contributions to this project, and Frances Bradburn and Wynn Smith of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for their support. This work was partially supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind), Title II, Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology, S318×020033 and U.S. Department of Education grant R303A990301.