Abstract

This study aimed at auditing the quality of inspirational test in learning situational science for junior high school students using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Second Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Mixed methodology was used in this study. The sample was divided into 2 groups: (1) qualitative sample of 9 experts who were lecturers in the Department of Educational Psychology, educators or scientific experts who possess published academic work, and experts in religion, and sample of 6 students in Princess Chulabhorn's College Buriram and (2) quantitative sample of 2 student groups, that is, 450 students for Exploratory Factor Analysis and 709 students for Second Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The results can be presented based on 3 steps. In step 1, employing quantitative methodology to synthesize literature and related research, 6 factors and 30 indicators were found. Then the outline obtained from the synthesis was applied to in-depth interview with the experts and the students, and the result showed that there were 6 factors and 30 indicators. In step 2, the result obtained from the Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed that there were 6 factors found in the inspirational test, that is, (1) intrinsic motivation, (2) positive effect, (3) confidence, (4) creativity, (5) commitment, and (6) faith. In step 3, the result gained from the Second Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated that the model showed its construct validity according to consideration of statistical validity test (e.g.  = 368.876,  df  = 339,   p-value = 0.1270,  CFI = 0.991,  TLI = 0.988,  RMSEA  = 0.011,  SRMR  = 0.026, and /df = 1.088). The standardized factor loading of measurement model of all indicators showed statistical significance of 0.05.

Key words: Inspiration in learning science, mixed method research.