Development and Validation of an Instrument to Evaluate Ninth-Grade Students' Context-Based Chemistry Problem-Solving Skills

• In Event: Project-Based, Problem-Based, and Justice-Based Pedagogies Supporting Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable context-based assessment instrument to provide comprehensive and in-depth insights regarding ninth-grade student context-based problem-solving skills. After two rounds of testing involving 219 ninth-graders (pilot testing) and 493 ninth-graders (field testing) from Jiangsu, China, multiple empirical evidence generated from partial credit Rasch analysis supported the validity and reliability of the measurement instrument. The results revealed that ninth-grade students had unbalanced context-based chemistry problem-solving skills. Skills of Context Explanation were more difficult than skills of Context Analyzation, followed by skills of Context Integration and Context Extraction. The results also showed that student performance was influenced by the increasing complexity of three context characteristics: context abstractness, information richness, and familiarity with the context.

Authors

• Shaohui Chi, East China Normal University

• Zuhao Wang, East China Normal University