Adaptation of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory: A Validity and Reliability Study for Turkish Medical Students

Objective: The aim of this study is to carry out the validity and reliability of ASSIST (Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students) by adapting to Turkish for the sample of medical students. Materials and methods: The original scale consists of 52 items rated on the five-point Likert type, and the deep, strategic and surface approaches of the learners are determined according to the data obtained here. In order to adapt the scale, a permission was obtained from those who developed the tool. The translation steps were carefully conducted. The scale applied to 373 medical students in a state university in Turkey. The study group consist of 186 female and 187 mail students with the mean age of 20.30(+/- 2.78) years. There are 90 students from Year-1; 83 students from Year-2; 64 students from Year-3; 51 students from Year-4; 62 students from Year-5, and 23 students from Year-6. The data were analyzed by using first and second order confirmatory factor analysis to verify the original factorial structure. Results: Four items and one sub-dimension were subtracted from the scale. After the subtraction, the results were consistent with the original factor structure. The model fit and error variances were acceptable (GFI=0.84; RMSEA=0.069; CFI=0.94; NNFI=0.93; SRMR=0.072). The adapted scale includes 12 sub-dimensions under three main dimensions. The scores obtained from this scale determine the predominant approach and study skills. Conclusion: The 44-item adapted version of ASSIST, which is determined as a valid and reliable scale for medical students can be used with other variables in further studies.