Considering and measuring student perceptions on the role of using social media as an educational tool in science courses

• The new Perceptions of Social Media instrument was built upon the social presence theory framework. • This study investigated student perceptions about using social media as an educational tool. • Exploratory factor analysis supported four reliable factors within the instrument. • Students held mostly negative perceptions about using social media in science courses. • Negative perceptions of social media use in courses contradicts prior research. Social media has become a major force in the internet age and has gained much interest as a potential new educational tool. Currently, many instructors assume that students have positive perceptions of using social media in their courses. However, there is no instrument that can assess student perceptions of social media use in academic courses. We created and tested the perceptions of social media (POSoM) questionnaire and determined its factorability through an exploratory factor analysis. Using Cronbach's alpha, we confirmed the reliability of our four factors. We found that the POSoM questionnaire contained four reliable factors: Academic Perceptions, Academic Usage, Academic Communication, and Personal Usage. Using the POSoM questionnaire, we found that students do not want to communicate in academic settings through social media and are apathetic to use of social media for other academic uses. Our results provide a new reliable instrument that can be used to further explore students’ perceptions of social media in science courses.