Abstract
<p style="text-align:justify">The aim of the study is to adapt Preschool Children’s Science Motivation Scale (PCSMS) developed by Oppermann et al. into Turkish and conduct the validity and reliability analyses. This scale is considered important in terms of evaluating the science motivation of preschool children through the science concepts they are familiar with, based on their daily life experiences. The research data were obtained from 303 children attending preschool education in central districts of Adana. The findings of exploratory factor analysis, a two-factor structure named self-confidence and enjoyment consist of 28 items was determined in accordance with the original structure of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that this two-factor structure showed good fit. Subsequently, the study proceeded to reliability analyses and Cronbach’s α and Composite Reliability values were calculated. In consequence of the study, it was seen that the original form of the scale and the goodness of fit and internal consistency values obtained within the scope of the adaptation form coincided. The findings of the study indicate that the Turkish version of the PCSMS is valid and reliable for Turkish preschoolers.</p>
Highlights
Children are born with a natural curiosity and an inner motivation to explore the environment in which they live (Jirout & Klahr, 2012)
In order to ensure the linguistic equivalence of the scale, the scale was translated from English to Turkish independently by a professional translator, researcher and two preschool education experts who have command of English
With the inclusion of preschool education experts in every step of the translation process, it was aimed to move away from mechanical translation and to include the expressions that exist in the Turkish preschool education program, which are thought to be understood by children
Summary
Children are born with a natural curiosity and an inner motivation to explore the environment in which they live (Jirout & Klahr, 2012). Preschool science education is a very suitable discipline for children who tend to explore the natural environment and enjoy observation (French, 2004; Patrick et al, 2009). In the study conducted by Andre et al (1999), it was revealed that the science competencies perceived by primary school-age children were lower than their proficiency in reading and mathematics classes and they gave less importance to science. These findings obtained as a result of different studies are alarming.
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