College students' attitudes toward web-based forums and communities

In this study, author developed a Web-based forum and community scale (hereinafter referred to as WFCS). Based on related studies, author adapted five factors pertaining to attitudes toward Web-based forums and created two factors pertaining to attitudes toward communities. The seven factors of the WFCS are usefulness, confidence, advantage of use, intention of use, willingness to share, a sense of belonging, and group identity. In the first step, 38 questionnaires were dispatched to students who attended a course taught by the author; the course involved the use of a Web-based forum to facilitate students' learning and group work. All 38 questionnaires were returned. To analyze the reliability and validity of the WFCS, author employed Cronbach's alpha and independent external criteria. The results of the first data analysis showed that the WFCS is reliable and valid. In the second step, author employed a Web-based questionnaire and recruited 132 students who had used a Web-based forum to facilitate their own learning and group work; however, only 116 questionnaires were returned. The results of a further analysis revealed that a sense of belonging and group identity play an important role in learning through a Web-based forum.