The Psychometric Evaluation of a Three-Dimension Elementary Science Attitude Survey

Abstract

This study describes the development of an instrument to investigate elementary students attitudes toward science. As a result of the instrument development process employed, the finalized instrument consisted of 28-items separated into three dimensions. The instrument was found to exhibit acceptable ranges of internal consistency. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed three factors that clustered into the three dimensions of attitude identified and concurrent validity was evidenced as correlations were found when comparing attitude measures with the instrument to students’ perceptions of their science classrooms. Based on the analyses completed, the instrument appears to be useful for assessing student attitude toward science.

Keywords:

• Elementary science
• Student attitudes
• Instrumentation