Turkish adaptation of the Mathematics Teachers Beliefs Scale

Abstract

Mathematics education research often emphasizes beliefs as a key construct. Accordingly, beliefs about mathematics are significantly associated with difficulties encountered during the process of teaching and learning mathematics. The current study aims to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs Scale [MTBS], which was developed by Xie and Cai (2021). In addition to encompassing five distinct types of beliefs about mathematics, the scale is designed specifically for the beliefs of mathematics teachers in regard to mathematics. Using a 4-point Likert scale, a 26-item belief survey was administered to 259 middle and high school mathematics teachers. This scale was subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis to verify its underlying factor structure. Six items were subsequently removed for lack of validity and reliability based on the collected data. Therefore, a final version of the MTBS with 20 items was developed. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the structure of the scale was acceptable as measured by the Cronbach alpha internal consistency value and goodnessof-fit indices. As a result of the research findings, the Turkish version of the MTBS can be considered a valid and reliable measurement tool. Adapted scale may be able to measure five types of beliefs by Turkish mathematics teachers. Taking gender and years of teaching experience into consideration, the results indicated that teachers' mathematical beliefs didn't change significantly.