Diagnostic Test to Assess Misconceptions on Photosynthesis and Plant Respiration: Is It Valid and Reliable?

Abstract

High percentage of secondary school students was found that they were lack of understanding of the relationship between photosynthesis and respiration in plants. They did not fully understand the importance and function about plant respiration. Thus, this study designed to develop a valid and reliable instrument in two- tier multiple choice questions format which called Photosynthesis and Plant Respiration Diagnostic Test (PRDT) to assess the common types of misconceptions related to this topic among form four students (Grade 10) in Malaysia. Survey research method was applied in this study. There were 500 participants from 15 secondary schools were involved. 45 minutes were given to the participants in answering 18 two- tier diagnostic test items. The psychometric properties of the instrument had been tested using Rasch analysis. The result found that the newly developed instrument was valid and reliable. It brought the significant contribution in teaching and learning, especially classroom assessment practice in Biology subject.

Adaptation and evaluation of psychometric properties of HELAM using the Rasch model in the Indonesian context

“…on the acceptance range indicates that all items function in the same direction to predict the latent nature of the HELAM scale [58]. This contributes to a good level of construct validity [32].…”

“…In the Rasch model, the raw data obtained are transformed into interval data [30]. Furthermore, Rasch analysis produces a smaller standard error and allows estimation of reliability and validity that is independent of item-dependent and person-dependent properties [31], [32]. The results of the analysis of the Rasch model are able to explain the quality of the scale to the level of individual items [33], [34].…”

Diagnosing Elementary School Students' Representation of Light Concept Through the Five-tier Diagnostic Test

“…Teachers must effectively identify students' science learning difficulties at the beginning of learning (Akkus, Kadayifci, & Atasoy, 2011;Dewi, Lidyawati, & Destiansari, 2022). So, there is a need for more valid and reliable assessment techniques for students' conceptual understanding (Aydeniz, Bilican, & Kirbulut, 2017;Lim & Poo, 2021). Interviews, open-ended or freeresponse questionnaires, word associations, multiple-choice tests, and multiple-tier tests with two-tiers, three-tiers, and four-tiers are the most commonly used diagnostic instruments to diagnose students' conceptions of science (Kaltakci-Gurel, Eryilmaz, & McDermott, 2017).…”