Visualised Scale of Attitude Towards Mathematics: A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

This study was conducted to develop an instrument with good psychometric properties to measure primary school students' attitudes towards mathematics. For this purpose, the screening model was utilised in the research. The form was prepared in the form of a five-point Likert scale (Very Unhappy, Unhappy, Neither Happy nor Unhappy, Happy, Very Happy). Visuals were used to determine the students' responses on the developed scale, thus making the measurement process more fun and interesting for students. We administered the scale to two groups of primary school students and applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to the data obtained from the first group (n = 576). The results of the EFA revealed that the scale has a one-dimensional structure consisting of 14 items. The scale was then applied to the second group of elementary school students (n = 347) to confirm the single-factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The fit indices calculated during the CFA indicated an excellent model fit of the scale. Finally, Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega and item-total correlations were calculated for the reliability analysis of the scale, and the results yielded considerably high values. The analysis results indicate that the developed visual mathematics attitude scale is a highly valid and reliable measurement instrument.