Development and Validation of a Physics Concept Test in Kinematics for Senior High School Students

Abstract

Kinematics, a fundamental structure in Mechanics is a critical concept that needs to be realized by students for a more complex analysis of subsequent topics in Physics. One way to determine the effectiveness of Physics teachers in teaching at these trying times is to measure the conceptual understanding of Grade 12-Senior High School (SHS) students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) track. With the goal of establishing a valid and reliable test questionnaire in Kinematics that can be administered either in a paper-and-pencil approach (asynchronous learning) or online approach (synchronous learning); this study focused on the development and validation process of a 45-item conceptual test in Kinematics. Adhering to the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) set by the Department of Education (DEPED), the initial pool of items was pilot tested using a Google form to 110 SHS students after the items had undergone face and content validation by a panel of experts. Furthermore, Classical Item Analysis by calculating the difficulty and discrimination indices was examined to establish test validity. Reliability analysis was also conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha ( =0.758) and the Kuder-Richardson formula, (KR-20 = 0.761) which resulted in a deletion of 15 items. In general, this Physics concept test in Kinematics showed an acceptable standard of measurement for classroom use which can be utilized by teachers as a form of diagnostic, formative, and summative tests.