Development and validation of laboratory assessment tools for science educators
Paper Details
Development and validation of laboratory assessment tools for science educators
Abstract
The study aimed to develop and validate a tool for evaluating and enhancing the practices and challenges faced by chemistry educators in laboratory instruction, grounded in Piaget’s Theory of Constructivism. The instrument assesses cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains through rigorous item generation, expert validation, and pilot testing with chemistry and science teachers. It comprises two main components: teaching practices and teaching challenges, categorized into five factors. The appropriateness of factor analysis was confirmed by Keiser–Meyer Olkin (KMO) measures of sampling adequacy (.652 for Parts II and IV, .863 for Part III) and Bartlett’s test (df = 1035, p < .000 for Parts II and IV; df = 300, p < .000 for Part III). Items with factor loadings over 0.40 were retained. The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was 1.000, and the overall Content Validity Index (CVI) was 1.000 for seven experts. The percentage of variance was 56.80% for Parts II and IV (three factors) and 64.16% for Part III (two factors). Eigenvalues for the five factors ranged from 1.172 to 21.135. Reliability analysis demonstrated strong internal consistency, with an overall Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93 and subscale alphas from 0.87 to 0.96. The identified factors include Instructional Design and Delivery, Classroom Laboratory Management, Assessment and Feedback, Supervision and Safety Management, and Teaching Resources and Support. This instrument provides a valuable framework for optimizing chemistry laboratory instruction.
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