Assessing Decision-Making Skills in Electricity: Rasch Analysis

Decision-making is an essential 21st-century skill, and this is evidenced by the fact that the skill has increasingly gained attention in the current educational landscape. Accordingly, among the various competencies assessed by PISA, decision-making has been observed to be at the top of the list. This skill is particularly important, especially considering the fact that it provides college graduates with a competitive edge in the current workforce. Despite its significance, little work has been carried out to measure decision-making in the context of physics education using Rasch analysis. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the decision-making skills of prospective science teachers, with particular attention to differences based on gender and domicile. In order to achieve the stated objective, a quantitative study method was adopted, with the inclusion of 172 prospective science teachers who had received basic physics. Accordingly, data were collected using a paper-based test technique, which included six questions related to decision-making skills. The physics material utilized during the course of the study includes dynamic electricity, and in terms of the determination of validity and reliability, as well as item difficulty and differences in decision-making skills based on gender and domicile of the prospective science teacher, the Rasch measurement approach was adopted. The obtained results showed that no items could be reviewed based on gender and domicile of the observed prospective science teachers. However, a significant difference was found between the decision-making skills of participants based on gender. Following the observations, the decision-making skills of females were better than those of males, regardless of domicile. In conclusion, the decision-making skills instrument was observed to be valid and reliable. Additionally, the investigation possesses some implications for science educators in the aspect of determining differentiated physics learning designs that accommodate the abilities of students based on gender.