African Educational Research Journal - Full Length Research Paper - Scale Development and Validation Study on the Use of YouTube as a Learning Environment in Secondary Education According to the Technology Acceptance Model

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates secondary school students’ attitudes toward using YouTube for learning, emphasizing the growing role of social platforms, especially during the pandemic and distance education. A YouTube Usage Scale (YUS) is developed to measure behavioral intentions and the factors influencing them. Participants include 644 students from Malazgirt district; expert review supports content validity, while EFA and CFA establish construct validity. Results show a four sub-dimension, 25-item structure with strong reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.91).

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

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Abstract

Introduction

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 11(1), pp. 1-20, January 2023 DOI: 10.30918/AERJ.111.22.061 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Scale development and validation study on the using YouTube as a learning environment in secondary education according to the technology acceptance model Fatih Doğan1* and Merve Balkaya2 1 Faculty of Education, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100 Çanakkale, Turkey. 2Ministry of National Education, Malazgirt, Muş, Turkey. Accepted 4 November, 2022 | ABSTRACT
In today's technologies, in line with the needs of the age, social platforms have taken their place in education with increasing importance day by day. Especially in the pandemic process, which requires distance education, the tendency to social media has increased. Therefore, the attitudes of secondary school students towards the use of YouTube for learning purposes have gained importance. For this reason, it is aimed to develop the YouTube Usage Scale (YUS), which can be used to determine secondary school students' attitudes toward YouTube use. Thus, in the study, it was foreseen to determine the behavioral intentions of secondary school students to use YouTube as a Learning Resource and to reveal the factors affecting this behavioral intention. The research population consists of all secondary school students studying in the Malazgirt district of Muş province, located in the eastern part of Turkey, in the 2018-2019 academic year. The sample of the study is represented by 644 students selected by the random sampling method. The content validity of the YUS was provided by expert opinion. The construct validity was validated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) . For content validity, a 47-item draft YUS was submitted to the opinion of a group of 14 experts in the field. The content validity of the 42-item YUS was ensured. In the construct validity studies of YUS, EFA was performed with a total of 644 secondary school students studying in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. CFA was carried out with the participation of 311 secondary school students excluding the EFA sample group. EFA showed that YUS consisted of 4 sub-dimensions and 25 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.91 in the reliability analysis of YUS. Also, in reliability studies, it was determined that the subscales had summability and no response bias. The fit-order between the four-factor structure determined as a result of EFA and the sample data was examined using the AMOS 24.0 program within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) . First-and second-order confirmatory analysis models were used in the data-model fit calculations. As a result of the study, the validity and reliability of the 24-items YUS scale were produced. Thus, the structures explaining the behavioral factors of secondary
school students were defined, and the relationship of these structures with other factors was determined. Keywords: Secondary school, YouTube, scale development, technology acceptance model. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. E-mail: [fatihdogan@comu.edu.tr](fatihdogan@comu.edu.tr) . | INTRODUCTION The world is changing and developing day by day, just like a living creature. Due to the nature of change, many areas of life have been affected and renewed and different phenomena have arisen. Adapting to the developments in the world has become an indispensable part of life for individuals. The fact that technology and Afr Educ Res J 2 the internet are indexed to daily life has made them the most important element of these changes. These changes have led to new horizons in education, as in many areas, and have affected not only the lifestyle but also the way of learning (Dominici and Palumbo, 2013) . The growing popularity of the Internet and rapid updatesin web-based technologies have expanded the pedagogies of teaching and learning (Cheng and Chau, 2016) . In this framework,

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To develop and validate the YouTube Usage Scale (YUS) for determining secondary school students’ attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding YouTube as a learning resource.

How were validity and reliability evaluated for the YUS?

Content validity was checked via expert opinion on a draft scale, while construct validity was tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and additional reliability checks for subscales.

Who participated in the research and how were samples selected?

The study used a population of secondary school students in Malazgirt, Muş, during the 2018–2019 academic year. A sample of 644 students was selected through random sampling, with CFA conducted using 311 students excluding the EFA group.

Oct 15, 2026

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