Academic satisfaction of students in a public university. Validity of an instrument

Abstract

The objective was to validate an instrument to measure academic satisfaction in students of a state public university under a competency-based model, considering five dimensions: planning, academic content, educational technology, teaching and student performance, and satisfaction. The methodology was quantitative, with a cross-sectional and correlational design. A 34-item Likert scale questionnaire was applied to 337 randomly selected students. Validation included content analysis by experts, exploratory factor analysis (KMO = 0.975, Bartlett p < 0.05) and Cronbach's alpha (0.983). The results revealed a technological gap, with a predominance of mobile devices over computers, limiting complex academic activities. Teacher performance influenced academic satisfaction, highlighting the need for pedagogical and technological training. The instrument is valid and reliable, useful for improving the quality of education and guiding policies towards technological equity and innovative strategies.