Issues in Measuring Generic Skills Using Self-Administered Questionnaire in a Community College in Hong Kong

Abstract

In this study, we evaluate the reliability and validity of Self-Assessment of All-Round Development (SAARD) Questionnaire developed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University when applied to two cohorts of students in Hong Kong Community College. Despite of the drastic changes in the educational system in Hong Kong, the SAARD questionnaire can still maintain a similar level of reliability as compared to the pilot study carried out a decade ago. However, this study reveals that there are too many items in the questionnaire and fatigue effect is affecting the reliability of items near the end of the survey. In addition, three of the items in the questionnaire have extremely large variations, implying potential problems in the wording of questions corresponding to these items. Remedies are also proposed in this study to alleviate the problems identified in the SAARD questionnaire.