Developing the Diagnostic Test of Misconceptions of Fractions

This research aimed to develop a valid and reliable test to be used to detect sixth grade students' misconceptions and errors regarding the subject of fractions. A misconception diagnostic test has been developed that includes the concept of fractions, different representations of fractions, ordering and comparing fractions, equivalence of fractions, representation of fractions on the number line, and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. Studies in the literature on misconceptions in fractions were examined and 22 misconceptions were listed. An open-ended test consisting of 23 questions was created in which students justified their answers to the questions. The developed test was applied to 215 sixth grade students studying in a public secondary school in Istanbul. The average item difficulty index of the test was calculated as 0.37. The test was found to be of average difficulty. The average discrimination index of the test was measured as 0.69. This value shows that the test items are quite successful in distinguishing between students who know and those who do not. In addition, when the discrimination values of the test items were taken into consideration separately, there was no need for item removal or item change since there were no items below 0.30. The KR-20 reliability coefficient was calculated for the first stage of the test and was calculated as 0.93. A graded classification system was used for the first part and second part of the test. To determine that the two stages work in harmony, the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated and found to be 0.95. These results prove that the developed test is highly valid and reliable. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 255-272.]