Validity and reliability of attitude scale towad science and technology course [Fen ve teknoloji dersine yönelik tutum ölçe?inin geçerlilik ve güvenirlik çalişmasi]

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a Scale of Attitude towards Science and Technology Course (SATSTC) which is designed for primary students. The sample of study consisted of 400 primary students in Izmir. In order to examine construct validity of SATSTC, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. For the reliability of SATSTC, corrected item-total correlations were used. The corrected item-total correlations ranged from .45 to .85. Secondly t-tests between items' means of upper 27% and lower 27% points were used. For each item, the differences between mean scores of upper 27 % and lover 27 % groups are significant. Croanbach alpha correlation coefficients were used. Also, the test-retest reliability of the SATSTC is checked. Finally, as a part of the scale development effort, a research study was carried out for the criterion-related validity. SATSTC has four factors: "Enjoyment of Science and Technology Course", "Anxiety toward Science and Technology Course", "Interest in Science and Technology Course", "Enjoyment of Science and Technology Experiments". The scale may be used to determine primary school' students' attitudes toward science and technology course and also used to examine the effect of different teaching methods on students' attitudes toward science and technology course.