Addressing the Lack of Measurement Invariance for the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution

Autor/inn/en	Wagler, Amy; Wagler, Ron
Titel	Addressing the Lack of Measurement Invariance for the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science Education, 35 (2013) 13, S.2278-2298 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0950-0693
DOI	10.1080/09500693.2013.808779
Schlagwörter	Evolution; Theories; Measures (Individuals); Preservice Teachers; Nonmajors; Science Education; Elementary School Teachers; Factor Analysis; Item Response Theory; Goodness of Fit; Hispanic American Students; Test Validity; Test Reliability; Case Studies; Educational Research; Construct Validity; Test Bias + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Theory; Theorie; Messdaten; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Faktorenanalyse; Item-Response-Theorie; Hispanic; Hispanic Americans; Student; Students; Hispanoamerikaner; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Testvalidität; Testreliabilität; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Bildungsforschung; Pädagogische Forschung; Testkritik
Abstract	The Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) was constructed to be a single-factor instrument that assesses an individual's overall acceptance of evolutionary theory. The MATE was validated and the scores resulting from the MATE were found to be reliable for the population of inservice high school biology teachers. However, many studies have utilized the MATE for different populations, such as university students enrolled in a biology or genetics course, high school students, and preservice teachers. This is problematic because the dimensionality and reliability of the MATE may not be consistent across populations. It is not uncommon in science education research to find examples where scales are applied to novel populations without proper assessment of the validity and reliability. In order to illustrate this issue, a case study is presented where the dimensionality of the MATE is evaluated for a population of non-science major preservice elementary teachers. With this objective in mind, factor analytic and item response models are fit to the observed data to provide evidence for or against a one-dimensional latent structure and to detect which items do not conform to the theoretical construct for this population. The results of this study call into question any findings and conclusions made using the MATE for a Hispanic population of preservice teachers and point out the error of assuming invariance across substantively different populations. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10