DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF SCALE FOR MEASURING ACCEPTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (SMATS)

Abstract

This study investigates undergraduate students' acceptance of technology through a gender-based lens using the newly developed Scale to Measure Acceptance of Technology Students (SMATS). The research aims to identify key factors influencing technology acceptance. The SMATS originally comprised 40 items across five factors: awareness of use, attitude towards use, willingness to use, satisfaction with technology, and social influence, initially validated by 14 experts. Following expert evaluation, 10 items were discarded due to a content validity ratio below 0.42. A pilot study was conducted to ensure construct validity, with data collected via Google Forms distributed through WhatsApp groups, yielding 107 responses. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation confirmed the scale's validity, converging on three factors over five iterations. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91). To further validate the internal structure, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed using AMOS-21. The CFA results indicated that while some fit indices (CMIN/df, PNFI, and PCFI) met recommended thresholds, others (IFI, NFI, CFI, and RMSEA) suggested the need for model refinement. Overall, the findings provide significant insights into technology acceptance among undergraduates and present a robust tool for further research in educational technology acceptance.