Development of a Scientific Explanation Competency Test on Sound Waves for Upper Secondary School Students
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The objective of this research was to develop a scientific explanation competency test on the topic of sound waves for upper secondary school students. The development process comprised five stages: 1) defining the operational definitions of scientific explanation competency regarding sound waves; 2) conducting content analysis and determining the test structure and number of items; 3) constructing test items and specific scoring rubrics; 4) evaluating the validity and suitability of the instrument; and 5) refining the test for pilot testing to determine its psychometric properties, including difficulty, discrimination, reliability, and the quality of the scoring rubrics.
The results indicated that the developed extended-response subjective test possessed content validity and was suitable for implementation. The instrument was pilot tested with a sample of 40 Grade 11 students from a large secondary school in Phrae Province, who had previously studied sound waves but had no formal training in constructing scientific explanations. The analysis revealed that the difficulty index ranged from 0.469 to 0.500, and the discrimination index ranged from 0.325 to 0.363. The test achieved a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.719, while the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for inter-rater reliability of the scoring rubrics ranged from 0.766 to 0.913. Consequently, the developed test is an effective tool for assessing the scientific explanation competency of upper secondary school students regarding sound waves.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The content and information contained in the published article in the Journal of Educational Measurement Mahasarakham University represent the opinions and responsibilities of the authors directly. The editorial board of the journal is not necessarily in agreement with or responsible for any of the content.
The articles, data, content, images, etc. that have been published in the Journal of Educational Measurement Mahasarakham University are copyrighted by the journal. If any individual or organization wishes to reproduce or perform any actions involving the entirety or any part of the content, they must obtain written permission from the Journal of Educational Measurement Mahasarakham University.
References
Alameh, S., Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Brown, D. (2022). The nature of scientific explanation: Examining the perceptions of the nature, quality, and “goodness” of explanation among college students, science teachers, and scientists. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 59(10), 1833–1873.
Andrade, V., Freire, S., & Baptista, M. (2019). Constructing scientific explanations: A system of analysis for students’ explanations. Research in Science Education, 49, 1323–1349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-017-9648-9
Bajpai, N., Bajpai, R., & Chaturvedi, K. (2015). Role of scientific explanation in science education. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 4(11), 1431–1434.
McNeill, K. L., & Krajcik, J. S. (2008). Scientific explanations: Characterizing and evaluating the effects of explicit instructional support on student learning. Science Education, 92(1), 53–87.
Murphy, P. K., Greene, J. A., Firetto, C. M., Hendrick, B. D., Li, M., Montalbano, C., & Wei, L. (2018). Quality Talk: Developing students’ discourse to promote high-level comprehension. American Educational Research Journal, 55(5), 1113–1160. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218771303
Ningsi, S., Sappaile, B. I., & Darsikin, D. (2019). The effect of discovery learning model on the ability of scientific explanation of students in class XI SMA Negeri 1 Marawola. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1157(3), Article 032013. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1157/3/032013
Ruiz-Primo, M. A., Li, M., Tsai, S. P., & Schneider, J. (2010). Testing one premise of scientific inquiry in science classrooms: Examining students’ scientific explanations and student learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(5), 583–608.
Sari, B. K., Sahyar, & Sani, R. A. (2021). The development of physics objective tests based on PISA for sound wave topics in high school. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1811(1), Article 012027. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1811/1/012027
Secolsky, C., & Denison, D. B. (2017). Handbook on measurement, assessment, and evaluation in higher education. Routledge.
Sener, N., & Tas, E. (2017). The analysis of the scientific explanation levels of the primary school teacher candidates. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(8), 1311–1319.
Tang, K. S. (2023). The characteristics of diagrams in scientific explanations: Multimodal integration of written and visual modes of representation in junior high school textbooks. Science Education, 107(3), 741–772.
Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology. (2023). Results of PISA 2022: Reading, mathematics, and science. Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology. (in Thai)
Janto, N., Kitkeunggul, S., & Chapu, S. (2020). Development of argumentative learning management using forensic science issues to promote scientific explanation construction abilities of 10th grade students on human homeostasis. Journal of Education Naresuan University, 24(1), 176–187. (in Thai)
Lertdechapat, K., & Limpanont Promrat, P. (2018). The effects of collaborative inquiry on lower secondary school students' scientific explanation certificates. Journal of Education Studies, 46(2), 174–191. (in Thai)
Pinchai, J., & Seetee, N. (2025). Development of a Scientific Explanation Test on the topic of Gases for Upper Secondary School Students. Journal of Educational Measurement Mahasarakham University, 31(1), 121–137. (in Thai)
Srisa-ard, B. (2017). Introduction to research. Suwiriyasan. (in Thai)
Suwannahong, P., Seetee, N., & Khumwong, P. (2025). High school students’ construction of scientific explanations on the circulatory system. Journal of Education Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 53(3), 1-18. (in Thai)
Veeraphan, D., Wuttisela, K., Khampu, C., Thanaheuang, C., & Wuttiprom, S. (2025). Inquiry-based physics learning on force in everyday life to enhance scientific argumentation skills. Journal of Research Unit on Science, Technology and Environment for Learning, 16(2), 143-155. (in Thai)
Wannathai, P., & Pruekpramool, C. (2021). Comparing the efficiency between ability in constructing scientific explanation restricted- and extended-response subjective tests for Mathayom Suksa 4 students. Journal of Graduate Research, 12(2), 118–132. (in Thai)
Yohyong, S., & Pitiporntapin, S. (2019). Development of grade 10 students' argumentation skills through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by the 6E learning cycle in the topic of environmental conservation mission. Journal of Research Unit on Science, Technology and Environment for Learning, 10(2), 183–200. (in Thai)
