Development and Validation of A Critical Thinking Assessment on Temperature and Heat for Secondary Physics Education

Background/purpose. Critical thinking (CT) is fundamental in science education, but instruments to measure CT in specific domains, such as physics, are still limited. The present study aims to develop and validate the Critical Thinking Test in Temperature and Heat (CTTH), an instrument designed to measure critical thinking skills in the topic of temperature and heat in physics. Methods. The development of CTTH refers to a common critical thinking test framework. The validation process involved expert review from seven experts in physics education, a small-scale pilot test with 33 students, and final validation with 720 secondary school students, ensuring the test items' clarity, relevance, and psychometric quality. Instrument reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency and Fleiss' kappa for inter-rater reliability. Results. The CTTH exhibits adequate reliability, with internal consistency and inter-rater reliability, confirming the instrument's effectiveness in measuring critical thinking skills in the context of physics. CTTH is a measurement instrument that can measure critical thinking skills related to temperature and heat in physics learning. Conclusion. The CTTH instrument offers a resource for further research on the integration of critical thinking in physics education. Future research is suggested to expand the critical thinking assessment framework and answer research questions for wider application in science education.