Investigating Psychometric Characteristics of Mathematical Beliefs Scale

Researches has shown that the addition of intelligence, other variables such as student’s beliefs about mathematics effect on their academic performance and progress. Therefore, investigate of the psychometric characteristics of commonly tools such as mathematical beliefs scale is important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of native version of the mathematical beliefs scale (Ladder and Helen, 2002) for use in the Iranian educational culture, that scale is a part of the questionnaire Sherman & Fennema Mathematics Attitudes (1976). the sample of the study was 250 students from junior high school math students that selected based on cluster sampling and responds to mathematical beliefs scale. Factor analysis using principal component confirmed there are three factors to measure beliefs about Education mathematics which explained the first 20/17, the second 10/97, and the third 7/93 of the total variance. For the convergent validity of the scale, we use relationship between the mathematical beliefs Scale and mathematics scale of students in final exam at school. A result showed that the correlation between the scale and test is 72/0 that significant is in level p< 0/001. So, reliability of mathematical beliefs Scale with Coefficient Alpha, 0/83, which is acceptable and satisfactory. The results of the psychometric mathematical beliefs Scale showed the scale should be able to measuring mathematical beliefs of high school students in mathematics and it can be used in future mathematics education research.