Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to adapt the Competence Scale for Learning Science (FOBO; Chang et al., 2011) and examined the validity and reliability of the Turkish version. It consists of two subscales, namely scientific inquiry and communication, and totally 29 items. With the help of the experts the scale was translated into Turkish. The Turkish version of the scale was administered to 593 pre-service science teachers between the ages of 18 to 26. Item-total correlations were calculated and the correlation values were found to be between .42 and .70. For item discriminations, upper and lower 27% for group averages were compared with independent t-test and p value was found to be significant for all items. The correlation between scientific inquiry subscale and communication subscale is .77 and p value was determined to be significant. The result of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that fit indices values are within the limits of acceptable criteria. For the scale's internal consistency, Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were calculated for the scientific inquiry subscale, communication subscale and total scale and found to be .88, .89, .93 respectively. As a result, the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Competence Scale for Learning Science were satisfactory and can be used to measure scientific inquiry and communication skills of students through primary to university level in Turkey.

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