Development and validation of process skills test in physics for high school students

• Main Author: Nicolas, Elizabeth S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Motor ability > Testing; Science > Study and teaching (Secondary) High school students; Physics; Examinations > Validity
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3182; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/10020/viewcontent/CDTG003715_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The outcome of this study is a forty-item, four-option multiple-choice type of test. The validated test is known as Process Skills Test in Physics (PSTP) for High School Students. The test included seven science process skills, namely: measuring, identifying variables, observing, inferring, formulating hypothesis, graphing and interpreting data, and testing hypothesis. Three hundred eighty-one fourth year high school students were included in the study. These students were randomly selected from eight private high schools in Metro Manila and selected provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Cebu. The study also identified relationship of science process skills to some selected students' variables. The students' variables were sex, membership in science club, number of experiments performed on Mechanics and Heat, grade in Chemistry, and language of instruction used. The characteristics of the test were established by computing the following: mean score, standard deviation, difficulty index, discrimination index, coefficient of reliability, and standard error of measurement. Standard error and percentile ranks of the raw scores for the entire sample were also computed. Multiple regression analysis was applied to correlate the criterion measure (PSTP scores) with other selected variables and the prediction equation was determined. The results revealed that the 40-item validated Process Skills Test in Physics for High School Students has content validity and is reliable. It has a range of difficulty indices between 0.27 to 0.78 and an average difficulty index of 0.56, which is closer to the ideal value of 0.5. It has discrimination indices between 0.1 to 0.4 and an average discrimination index of 0.24. Thus, the test can be considered a good test for a teacher-made test. The mean score is 22.72, which is good enough for a validated test. The reliability coefficient (KR 20) of the whole test found to be 0.76. Five experts in the field of physics established content validity. The 40-item validated Process Skills Test in Physics for High School Students, may be considered valid and reliable, can be used as valuable instrument for both instructional and research purposes. Thus, it will merit the attention of the people concerned for the welfare of the students and for the up-liftment of the quality of science teaching.