Adaptation of the science situational interest scale to Turkish and examining the situational interest of middle school students in science classes

The primary aim of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the "Science Situational Interest Questionnaire" (SSIQ) developed by Potvin et al. (2023) by adapting it to Turkish as the "Fen Durumsal İlgi Ölçeği" (FDİÖ). The other aim of the study is to examine the changes in the science situational interests of middle school students with FDİÖ according to gender and science subjects. The research was conducted according to the survey design and the study group consists of middle school students. Data were collected from 381 middle school students for the adaptation of FDİÖ to Turkish and 308 middle school students for the survey study. Results in terms of reliability and validity in the process of adaptation of FDİÖ; It shows that the language compatibility of the items is high, the consistency of the item analysis and the scale items is good, the internal consistency reliability coefficient is Cronbach's Alpha 0.786, and the factor structure of the scale is confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis. FDİÖ was created with 20 items and 6 Likert type. The dimensions of FDİÖ were determined as entertainment, attention and usability. With the results of the survey study, the science situational interests of middle school students; 5th grade "Destructive natural events and protection methods", 6th grade "Control and regulatory systems", 7th grade "Reproduction, growth and development in plants and animals" and 8th grade "Matter cycles and environmental problems" were determined. Significant differences were found in the science situational interests of secondary school students in terms of different science subjects. On the other hand, it was revealed that there was no significant difference in the science situational interests of the students in terms of gender.