Validating the Indonesian Version of Reflective Thinking Questionnaire and Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Thinking and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Teacher training process must stimulate reflective thinking skill because this skill is crucial to improve teaching and learning capability. Indonesian version of standardized instrument to assess the development of reflective thinking skill in teacher training program is still limited. This research aimed to adapt Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ) to Indonesian version, investigate its quality, probe pre-service chemistry teachers’ level of reflective thinking, investigate relationship between reflective thinking and GPA, and compare between 1st year and 4th year pre-service chemistry teachers’ reflective thinking skill. RTQ is a 16 items 5 point Likert scale questionnaire purposed to measure reflective thinking in 4 subscale levels: Habitual Actions (HA), Understanding (U), Reflection (R), and Critical Reflection (CR). Each subscale was assessed by 4 questionnaire items. With the help of four science education experts who are fluent in both languages, RTQ was first translated into Indonesian and then its empirical result was substantiated. The translated RTQ was given to 147 pre-service chemistry teachers from Department of Chemistry Education, Raja Ali Haji Maritime University, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using Rasch model method. Result indicated that the instrument and all 16 items nicely fit the Rasch model. The data also showed good reliability (Cronbach alpha .84). Result of this research also indicated that Understanding received the highest mean (17.70), followed by Critical Reflection (16.50), Reflection (16.48), and the lowest mean was Habitual Action (14.60). Non-parametric analysis was used because normal data distribution is not observed. Based on Wilcoxon Test result, significant difference between all subscales levels were detected, except for CR-R. Spearman Correlation result indicated that correlation between reflective thinking and GPA was not significant. Based on Mann-Whitney Test result, significant difference between 1st year and 4th year college students’ reflective thinking was only detected in CR. The implications relate to reflective thinking skill were discussed to improve the quality of learning process and its’ evaluation.