Developing a Spatial Thinking Skills Test in Geography Teaching

Authors : Atakan Yalçın, Cennet Şanlı, Adnan Pınar

Pages : 280-301

Doi:10.30831/akukeg.1581042

View : 103 | Download : 110

Publication Date : 2025-04-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study aimed to develop a test to measure university students’ spatial thinking skills. The research was conducted using a survey design, with a sample of 260 undergraduate students from geography teaching and geography departments. GIS software was used to incorporate maps and satellite images, enhancing the spatial representation in the test. The test was administered online.. Item analysis was conducted for each question item, and items with a difficulty index above 0.70 and a discrimination index below 0.19 were removed from the test. Additionally, the scores of the lower and upper groups were compared using an independent samples t-test. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on the tetrachoric correlation coefficient was performed to assess the construct validity of the test. This analysis yielded a single-factor structure that accounted for 30% of the total variance. Items with unsatisfactory factor loadings were also removed. The internal consistency coefficient calculated using the KR20 formula yielded a value of 0.83. . The stability of the test was assessed using the test-retest method, confirming its stable structure. With these refinements, the test was finalized with 26 items. The study concluded that the developed test is a valid and reliable tool for measuring spatial thinking skills among undergraduate students studying geography or geography teaching.
Keywords : coğrafya eğitimi, mekânsal düşünme, mekânsal düşünme becerisi, test geliştirme