Developing a Four-Tier Diagnostic Test to identify students’ conception on light and optic topic

Abstract

Students’ conception affects students’ understanding, achievement, and how they relate the concept to others in science. The aim of this study is to develop a four-tier test to diagnose students’ conception on light and optic topics. It is a multiple choice question consisting of the main question, certainty index for the answer, reason, and certainty index for the reason. Light and optic topic is chosen because it is very close to students daily life and is an essential topic at school. This study involves 114 students of grade 10. The instrument was developed from a list of indicators. Once the instrument was constructed, it was tested and analysed using SPSS. The instrument undergoes two stages of validity and reliability test. The first test showed there are 13 out of 19 questions that are valid and reliable with 0.740 Cronbach’s Alpha. The remaining 6 questions were then revised and retested to 21 students of grade 10. The result showed the 6 questions are valid and reliable with 0.829 cronbach’s alpha. Students has medium level misconceptions and they have more scientific knowledge than misconception. In conclussion, 19 questions that are feasible to diagnose students’ conception on light and optic topic.