Exploring the Psychometric Properties of Mathematics Homework Scales in the Turkish Educational Context

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Expectancy Value Scale, Students' Motivation for Homework Scale, Homework Interest Scale, Homework Affective Attitude Scale, Math Homework Purposes Scale into Turkish and to develop the Homework Self Efficacy Scale. 1555 middle school students of 5th and 8th grades participated in the study. The students were enrolled in 66 classes in eight schools located in a large metropolitan city in northwestern Turkey. 48.35% of the students were female and the mean age was 11.94 years. For the convergent validity of the scales, the variables of homework completion,  homework time, and academic achievement were preferred. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the construct validity of all scales. Only the students' motivation for homework scale was found to form a third dimension different from the original. The validity and reliability analyses demonstrated that the five scales are suitable for use in homework research at the middle school level. Moreover, according to the results of psychometric evaluation, the developed Homework Self-Efficacy Scale proved to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring middle school students' self-efficacy perceptions toward mathematics homework.