Development and validation of the Paperless Examination Attitude Scale (PEAS) for digital assessment in higher education

Abstract

Paperless examinations are now part of assessment practice in several Indian higher education institutions. However, institutions still have limited validated evidence on how students view compulsory digital examinations. This gap is important because examination use is different from ordinary technology use. Students cannot opt out, and their marks depend on the system working fairly and reliably. At MIT Vishwaprayag University, Solapur, tablet-based paperless examinations have been conducted since 2023. This local experience created the need for a scale that could capture students’ confidence, ease of use, and trust in institutional support. This paper reports the development and validation of the Paperless Examination Attitude Scale (PEAS). PEAS is a Likert-type scale designed for paperless examinations in higher education. The initial items were prepared from TAM literature, earlier work on digital assessment, and feedback from students and faculty who had direct experience of the examination system. After expert review and pilot testing, 26 items were administered to 283 students for the exploratory phase. The analysis produced three meaningful dimensions: Confidence, Operational Efficiency, and Institutional Support. Seven items were removed because of weak loading, cross-loading, or unclear factor alignment, resulting in a 19-item scale. The 19-item scale was then tested with an independent validation sample of 324 students from the 2025-26 academic cohort. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling supported a higher-order three-factor model. This model retained the three subscales and also allowed an overall PEAS score (CFI = 0.917, TLI = 0.905, RMSEA = 0.094, overall alpha = 0.964). A key finding is that Institutional Support emerged as a separate attitudinal dimension. PEAS can therefore help institutions assess student readiness, identify support needs, and monitor student experience across paperless examination cycles.