DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY TEST FOR MATHAYOMSUKSA 1 STUDENTS UNDER SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE BUENGKAN THROUGH 3PL IRT MODEL

Abstract

               The objectives of the research article were to construct the critical thinking ability test for Mathayomsuksa 1 students in the schools under Secondary Educational Service Area Office Buengkan by applying the three Parameter Logistic (3PL) Item Response Theory (IRS) Model, and to discover the quality of the critical thinking ability test. The population of the research was a total of 3,702 Mathayomsuksa 1 students in the schools under Secondary Educational Service Area Office Buengkan, studying in the first semester of the academic year 2564; 738 research samples were selected through the multi-stage sampling. The construct validity of the test was investigated by the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the quality analysis of the test based on the 3PL IRS model. The research result revealed that the 39-item critical thinking ability test for Mathayomsuksa 1 students in the schools under Secondary Educational Service Area Office Buengkan was the four-choice situational measure, consisting of five factors: seven-item inference, seven-item recognition of assumption, eight-item deduction, nine-item interpretation, and eight-item evaluation of argument. According to the examination of the test quality, the item-objective congruence (IOC) of the test was between 0.80 – 1.00; its construct validity was available. The model was consistent with empirical data (GFI = 0.90, AGFI = 0.89, CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.025), the item discrimination ranged from 0.93 to 2.31, the item difficulty ranged from -0.90 to 1.37, and the guessing parameter or the pseudo-chance score level ranged from 0.10 to 0.28. The item information function was mostly peak at the moderate level of critical thinking ability, and the test information function was peak at the moderate level of critical thinking ability.