ABSTRACT
The most frequently used measure of students’ affect toward learning in the communication literature is the semantic differential scale developed originally by Scott and Wheeless and later revised and extended by Andersen. The Affective Learning scale has demonstrated consistently high reliability across secondary and college student samples. Unlike other available measures of affective learning, this particular assessment attempts to reflect the full conceptual range of the construct by including items that measure both lower-order affect and higher-order learning. Construct validity is evidenced by its continued positive association with other affective-based measures. More recently, Richmond and Gorham added a third subscale (i.e., taking another course from the same teacher) to the Behavioral Commitment dimension of Affect. The Andersen scale has been used over and over again to assess students’ affective learning. Moreover, the consistent use of this particular measure has been useful in researchers’ attempts to make comparative claims across studies that examine the same variable.
