Development and validation of the clinical educator self-regulated learning scale (CTSRS): insights from faculty development.

backgroundEffective faculty development is crucial for improving clinical teaching methods, especially in the context of educational changes and public health crises. Many current programs do not have personalized assessment instruments, which diminishes their potential impact. This research employed Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning (SRL) model to develop a tool that evaluates clinical educators’ capacity to adjust and regulate their teaching approaches. The aim of this research was to develop and validate a Clinical Educator Self-Regulation Scale (CTSRS) designed for clinical faculty, with the goal of identifying and addressing deficiencies in clinical teaching approaches through customized faculty training initiatives.

methodsThe development of the CTSRS involved multiple stages, starting with the review of an established Chinese teachers’ SRL scale, alongside narrative interviews with 52 clinical faculty members. This process resulted in 78 preliminary items, which were then refined by a panel of experts to produce 35 items. Pilot testing involving 25 experienced clinical educators led to additional adjustments and culminated in a final set of 35 items. The validation study included 378 clinical educators from five medical institutions and utilized confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the structure of the scale. Item retention was based on standardized loadings ≥ 0.50 and theoretical relevance.

resultsConfirmatory factor analysis indicated that the scale had an optimal eight-factor structure, including past teaching experiences, intrinsic interest and engagement, self-adjustment during the teaching process, teaching opportunities, resistance to change in teaching methods, peer comparison and self-evaluation, help-seeking and peer collaboration, and application of learning from faculty development. The model demonstrated good fit (χ² = 1116; p < .05; CFI = 0.90; TLI = 0.89; NFI = 0.86; RMSEA = 0.07) and strong convergent validity (all items had standardized factor loadings above 0.60 and average variance extracted (AVE) above 0.50). The final scale model consists of 30 items.

conclusionsThe CTSRS offers a reliable instrument to identify and improve self-regulatory teaching skills in faculty development programs. Its psychometric characteristics suggest potential for broader implementation, with the prospect of meaningful enhancements in clinical education practices. Subsequent research will focus on cross-cultural validation, linguistic adaptation, and the design of interventions informed by the scale to support improvements in clinical teaching. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: N/A. This is a scale development and validation study. There is no healthcare intervention involving human participants.