An investigation of secondary school 5th grade students' self-efficacy toward fractions

Fractions in Mathematics is one of the abstract concepts that is difficult and hard to comprehend and one which constitutes the basis of issues that deal with daily life such as rational numbers. The sturdy foundations of the concept of fractions are formed when the different meanings of fraction are concretized in the student's mind. In relation to that, the student's high level of self-sufficiency towards a given concept has a crucial impact on comprehending the concept and develop permanent learning on it (Pajares, 2002). The aim of this study is to develop a valid and reliable scale that measures the self-sufficiency of Middle Schoolers towards the subject of fractions. First, a 24-items outline scale was formed with the help of the relevant literature and expert opinion. The scale was then applied to 300 5th graders in İzmir. As a result of the analyses that were made, 3 items were removed from this scale and 21-items version of it was applied to 400 5th graders studying in different schools in İzmir province. For the construct validity of the scale, Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to the acquired data. At the end of the Factor Analysis 3 more items were removed from the scale; it was determined that the remaining 18 items explained 48.557 % of the total variance and combined in 4 factors. Cronbach's Alpha index was calculated for the reliability of the 18-items scale whose validity had been approved and it was found 0,812 for the entirety of the scale. The analyses that were made indicate that the Fractions Self-Sufficiency Scale that was developed in this study is a valid and reliable measurement instrument. In conclusion, it has been found that there is a moderate, positive and meaningful relationship between the scores the Middle School 5th graders got from the Fractions Self-Sufficiency Scale and their success in Mathematics class. However, no statistical difference has been confirmed between the scores the students attained from this scale and their genders. Key Words: Fractions, 5thgrade of middle school, self-sufficiency, developing scale.