Development of Life Skills Assessment Criteria for Vocational Students: A Multilevel Model Analysis Using Mixed Methods
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Abstract
The objectives of this research were: (1) to develop a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis model of vocational student life skills; (2) to validate the developed model; and (3) to develop life skills assessment criteria for vocational students using a multilevel mixed method design. A five-level rating scale questionnaire was used for collecting data. The sample consisted of 540 vocational students in academic year 2016 derived from multistage random sampling. Data were analyzed by multilevel confirmatory factor analysis using Mplus 7.31. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth interviews.
The results were as follows: (1) the multilevel confirmatory factor analysis of life skills for vocational students consisted of two main components 1) Critical cognitive skills: decision making, problem solving, creative thinking, critical thinking and effective communication. 2) Social emotional skills: interpersonal relationship, self-awareness, empathy, coping with emotions and coping with stress. (2) The developed model was consistent with empirical data. Goodness of fit statistics were: chi-square test ()=55.336, df=46, P=.163, TLI=.995, CFI=.998, SRMRW=.011, SRMRB=.031, RMSEA=.019 and relative Chi-square (
/df)=1.203) and (3) The developed life skills assessment criteria for vocational students was found to be comprised two main components, ten subcomponents, forty-nine indicators and sixty assessment criteria. Life skills assessment was categorized into five levels from 1 (strongly needing improvement) to 5 (excellent).
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