Development of Ability in Construction of Mathematical Skill and Process Instruments for Students in the Faculty of Education

Abstract

The measurement instruments are part of assessment the teacher uses in assessing the learner’s learning process and outcomes. So, it is very necessary to prepare teacher students for their future as teachers. The objectives of this research were 1) to develop guidelines on construction of mathematical skill and process instruments, 2) to develop ability of construction of mathematical skill and process instruments of teacher students to meet the 70 percent criterion. The target group of the focus group discussion consisted of 4 experts in mathematics study. The experimental group consisted of 48 4th year students in the Faculty of Education, Mahasarakham University, obtained through cluster random sampling. The instruments used in the research were focus group issues, guidelines on construction of instruments, and an assessment form for ability of construction of mathematical skill and process instruments. The analysis of data employed content analysis and one sample t-test analysis. The research results were as follows: 1) The guidelines on construction of mathematical skill and process instruments emphasized enabling students to design instruments by themselves, by answering the following questions: “What is measured?” (What), “Why is it measured?” (Why), “When is it measured?” (When), “Who measures it?” (Who), and “How is it measured?” (How). The instruments constructed were various. 2) The ability of construction of mathematical skill and process instruments of the teacher students met the 70 percent criterion, with statistical significance at the .05 level (t=7.06, df=47). The research results, apart from being able to be used with teacher students, can also be used with in-service teachers.