Constructing Reliable and Valid Assessment Tool for Measuring Competencies in Educational Psychology

Abstract

This study focused to develop and validate a criterion tool for assessing deep knowledge on Educational Psychology among student teachers. The tool was designed based on key topics in Educational Psychology, including Maslow’s Theory of Motivation, Piaget’s Cognitive Theory, Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning, Skinner’s Operant Conditioning, and Social Learning Theories etc. Content validity was ensured through expert reviews, and reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, which improved from 0.720 before item analysis to 0.91 after refinement. The final tool consisted of 60 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) selected after item analysis based on discriminative and difficulty indices. The results demonstrated high reliability and validity, suggesting the tool effectively measures knowledge, understanding, application, and skills. This research provides an innovative and robust approach to assessing Educational Psychology in teacher education programs.