Because it is continuously developed, the TICS will have several versions available for download on the left.
Please refer questions and comments to Jeremy Browne at jbrowne@brockport.edu.
What does the TICS measure?
Which standard of "technology integration" was used to build the TICS, or did you use your own?
Do I need permission to use the TICS?
How is the TICS administered?
How is the TICS scored?
Why not score TICS responses with a Rating Scale Model or another more complex analysis, rather than a simple average?
Should TICS users worry about respondents dishonestly reporting (inflating) their confidence level?
Why aren't there any published standardized score for the TICS?
What validity evidence has been gathered to support the use of the TICS?
Is the TICS still under development?
Are there any known issues with TICS v2?
What does the TICS measure?
The TICS measures self-efficacy as defined by Bandura (1977, 2006), which is a well-defined psychological trait, similar to the vernacular term confidence. Self-efficacy is task-specific, meaning that a person may exhibit high self-efficacy on one task, and low self-efficacy on another. The tasks presented in the TICS concern effective technology integration (students and teachers using technology during instruction).
Which standard of "technology integration" was used to build the TICS, or did you use your own?
The tasks presented in the TICS are aligned with the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), as published by the International Society for Technology in Education.
Do I need permission to use the TICS?
No. The TICS has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike license. This means that you can reproduce and use the TICS as much as you like. You can even make changes to it. However, the license stipulates two things: 1) You must give attribution to Jeremy Browne as the original creator of the scale, and 2) if you alter the TICS, the resulting scale must be released under the same license. (It would also be good of you to let me know how you're using the TICS and what I could do to make it better.)
How is the TICS administered?
The TICS can be administered in a paper or electronic format. The participant reads a series of tasks and rates how confident they are that they could accomplish each. The rating scale ranges from "Not confident at all" to "Completely confident." Native English speakers routinely complete the TICS in less than 15 minutes.
How is the TICS scored?
There are six standards that make up the NETS-T. Therefore, the TICS has six subscales, one for each NETS-T standard.
| NETS-T Standard | TICS Items (in TICS v2) |
| I - Technology Operations and Concepts | 1-8 |
| II - Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences | 9-15 |
| III - Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum | 16-20 |
| IV - Assessment and Evaluation | 21-24 |
| V - Productivity and Professional Practice | 25-29 |
| VI - Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues | 30-33 |
The simplest scoring method is to convert the categorical responses ("Not confident at all," "Slightly confident," etc.) to an equal-interval numeric scale ranging from zero to six. For each TICS subscale, the average of these numeric responses indicates the participant's level of self-efficacy.
Why not score TICS responses with a Rating Scale Model or another more complex analysis, rather than a simple average?
TICS scores from a relatively large sample (N = 200) were analyzed using RSM, but the resulting scores correlated highly (r > .90) with average subscale scores. Therefore, the more complex scoring systems were deemed unnecessary.
Should TICS users worry about respondents dishonestly reporting (inflating) their confidence level?
Users of any self-report scale should wonder about issues of socially-desirable responses (SDR), and there is quite a bit of empirical research on the issue. Because SDR may be a factor in the TICS, it is not recommended that you use it to judge individual respondents. The TICS is better suited for program monitoring, program evaluation, and prescreening to identify respondents who may need extra help.
Why aren't there any published standardized score for the TICS?
There are three reasons for which it would be inappropriate to publish standardized scores for the TICS. First, SDR (discussed in the previous question) and standardized scores don't mix well. Second, the purposes for which the TICS is best suited (program monitoring and evaluation) do not require standardized scores. Third, the TICS has not yet been standardized against a large, nationally representative sample.
What validity evidence has been gathered to support the use of the TICS?
I'm glad you asked that. My dissertation was entitled Evidence Supporting the Validity of Inferences Required by the Intended Uses of the Technology Integration Confidence Scale, and I present much evidence in that work. Specifically we have evidence that:
- The TICS response categories function properly. A rating scale model analysis showed that the response categories function appropriately (except in Subscale I).
- The TICS is reliable. All TICS subscales demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability (α was between .80 and .90).
- The TICS subscales are unidimensional. Principle component analyses resulted in single-factor solutions for each subscale. The factor accounted for more than 60% of each subscale's variance.
- The TICS items are relevant and represent the NETS-T well. A panel of in-practice teachers, administrators, and teacher educators (who were selected for their reputation as technology integration specialists) rated the TICS items as relevant and representative of the domain as defined by the NETS-T.
- The TICS measures a trait distinct from "general self-efficacy." TICS subscale responses intercorrelate at .38 < r < .85 but correlate with responses to the New General Self-efficacy Scale (Chen et. al, 2001) at r < .05.
- TICS scores can increase through intervention. Repeated measures analyses showed that preservice teachers' TICS scores improved between the first and last week of the semester during which they were enrolled in a technology integration course.
- TICS scores may predict in-course performance. When TICS scores were combined with basic demographic information, they explained between 14% and 30% of variance in scores on major assignments in a preservice technology integration course. However, this relationship was dependent on the course structure.
- Scales similar to the TICS have predicted a variety of behaviors. Although no longitudinal studies have yet used TICS data, the research literature is rife with examples of self-efficacy scales that predict desirable behavior.
Is the TICS still under development?
All good psychometric scales undergo continuous development, so, yes, the TICS is still under development, but this should not discourage you from using its most recent version.
Are there any known issues with TICS v2?
Yes. The items that align with NETS-T I have shown some psychometric malfunctioning. It is believed this is because the tasks presented in Items 1-6 are far too easy for the TICS' target population. These items will be revised in TICSv3.