DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN ANALYTICAL THINKING TEST IN ECONOMICS USING ITEM RESPONSE THEORY FOR UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64186/jsp3429Keywords:
Economic analytical thinking , Test development , Upper secondary educationAbstract
This study aimed to: (1) develop an economic analytical thinking test for upper secondary school students aligned with the learning objectives of the economics curriculum, and to examine its psychometric properties in terms of content validity (Index of Item-Objective Congruence: IOC), item difficulty, and discrimination indices; and (2) determine the reliability of the developed test for practical implementation. A quantitative research design was employed, grounded in Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive processes and principles of educational measurement and evaluation. The sample comprised 33 upper secondary school students who had completed an economics course, selected through stratified random sampling. The research instruments consisted of three components: (1) an IOC evaluation form used by experts to assess the content validity of 40 test items; (2) a pilot multiple-choice test comprising 40 items; and (3) the finalized version of the test. Data analysis involved calculating item difficulty, discrimination indices, and reliability coefficients. The findings indicated that the developed test consisted of 40 items that adequately covered the course content and learning objectives. The IOC values for all items were 1.00, demonstrating excellent content validity. The item difficulty indices ranged from 0.33 to 0.75, while the discrimination indices ranged from 0.33 to 1.00, both of which fall within acceptable criteria. Furthermore, the reliability coefficient of the test was 0.92, The economics analytical thinking test was found to have a reliability of 0.92, indicating that the test is reliable enough to be used. In summary, the economic analytical thinking test developed in this research can be used after teaching economics at the upper secondary level, covering topics such as finance and public finance, economic liberalization and trade and investment, and international economic integration. This test, which measures analytical thinking skills in the classroom, can serve as a guideline for teachers in creating tools for teaching economics.
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