Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin Program Dışı Etkinliklere İlişkin Algılarını Belirlemeye Yönelik Bir Ölçek Geliştirme Çalışması

Extracurricular activities are important educational opportunities that contribute to students’ academic, social and emotional development. Students’ perceptions of these activities directly affect their motivation to participate and the gains they will achieve. The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool that measures middle school students’ perceptions of extracurricular activities. The item pool of the scale, which was developed based on Self-Determination Theory, was created and organized in line with expert opinions. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis performed with the data collected from middle school students (n=294), a single-factor structure with 10 items explaining 54.4% of the variance was obtained. Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega reliability coefficients of the scale were found to be 0.91. Confirmatory factor analysis with data collected from a different sample group (n=196) showed that the single-factor structure was confirmed and the reliability coefficients were 0.85. The one-factor structure is compatible with the developmental characteristics of middle school students and reflects the interrelated and holistic nature of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). The developed scale is a useful tool for the evaluation and improvement of extracurricular activities at the secondary school level and for planning activities in accordance with student needs.