Developing and Validating an Instrument to Measure Students’ Experiences in a Further Mathematics Classroom

Developing and Validating an Instrument to Measure Students’ Experiences in a Further Mathematics Classroom

Osei Yaw and Haadi Agani

Issue: Vol.4 No.5 May 2023 Article 5 pp.550-559
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20234535 | Published online 5th May, 2023
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring students’ perception of teaching and learning variables in a Further Mathematics classroom with high psychometric properties of internal-consistency reliability and construct validity. A survey research design was used involving 318 students randomly selected from senior high schools. Enhancing Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ) was used to solicit students’ responses on the issues they experienced during lessons for Further Mathematics. Principal component factor analysis with Promax as an oblique rotation and using a factor loading of 0.40 as a cut-off was further conducted on the data to record a more accurate representation of the relationship among the factors to establish the construct validity and the internal reliability of the instrument. The 26 items resulted in a four-factor solution produced based on the parallel analysis. The four factors together accounted for a total of 54.543% of the variance. The Cronbach’s alpha of the reduced 26 items is equal to 0.806. The subscales had acceptable internal consistency, as Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.696-0.893. The study reliability coefficient is high. The instrument will be useful for mathematics educators and researchers in Ghana and the world at large for measuring students’ perceptions of teaching and learning variables in a classroom. And the study recommends this instrument for use to measure the experiences of senior high school students in the classrooms.

Keywords – Validation, Learning experiences, Teaching, Further Mathematics, Senior High School

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Dr. Osei Yaw is currently a Principal Tutor at the Tamale College of Education, Northern Region Ghana. He holds a Bachelor of Education, MPhil and PhD in Education. He is an experienced Educator with a passion for teaching. Throughout his career, he has helped countless students achieve their academic goals while ensuring that they receive the support and guidance they need to succeed. His dedication and commitment to education are reflected in the success of his students and the positive impact he has had on the College community. He has also contributed to the field of research by making numerous publications in reputable journals.

Mr. Haadi Agani is currently a teacher at the Business Senior High School, Northern Region Ghana. He holds a Bachelor of Education degree and an MPhil in Education. He has a strong academic foundation in teaching and learning. He is passionate about education and has several years of experience providing quality education to students. He holds a teaching license in Pre- tertiary Education with a focus on Mathematics and ICT and has successfully taught in this field for the past 10 years.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Osei, Y. & Agani, H. “Developing and Validating an Instrument to Measure Students’ Experiences in a Further Mathematics Classroom.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 4, no.5 (2023): 550-559. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2023455