A scale development study on assesessment of the project preparation and writing awareness of social studies teachers

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to measure social studies teachers' awareness levels regarding project preparation and writing processe Since the study aims to develop a scale, it was conducted using the survey models, one of the quantitative research method The study was carried out in the fall semester of the 2024–2025 academic year, and data were collected online from social studies teachers working throughout Turkey. A total of 690 teachers participated in the study, with 420 participating in the first application and 270 in the second. The scale development process was systematically structured based on the literature, and the data collection and analysis stages were planned in a multi-step manner. In the first step of the scale development process, a pool of 80 items was created by reviewing the literature on PTÖ, scientific research processes, teacher competencies, and project preparation and writing. The prepared item pool was presented to a group of 12 experts from different disciplines to ensure content validity. Based on expert opinions, 5 items were revised and 7 items were removed from the scale. The Item-Level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) and Scale-Level Content Validity Index (S-CVI/Ave) were calculated, with the S-CVI/Ave value found to be .91, indicating high content validity. To determine the construct validity of the scale, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was first conducted, followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The analysis of the data used in the study was performed using the Jamovi 2.6.26 program. As a result of EFA, 21 items with eigenvalues below 0.50 were removed, and the analysis was continued with the remaining 52 item In the EFA conducted using the Promax rotation method, a five-factor structure was obtained, which explained 63.60% of the total variance. The factors were named according to their conceptual and theoretical content and expert opinions as "Project Management and Methodology Processes," "Contribution of Projects to Education and Training," "Project Preparation Process," "Project Dissemination," and "Project Idea Development." A DFA analysis was conducted with a different sample to validate the five- factor structure. The results of the analysis yielded χ²/df = 3.59, RMSEA = .079, SRMR = .059, CFI = .828, and TLI = .820. The fact that the RMSEA and SRMR values are below .08 indicates that the model generally fits the data well. Although the CFI and TLI values are below .90, they are considered to be within acceptable limit In reliability analyses, the overall Cronbach's alpha value of the scale was found to be .969, and McDonald's omega value was .974. The alpha values of the subfactors ranged from .745 to .969. These results indicate that the developed scale has a high level of internal consistency and reliability. In conclusion, the developed 52-item, five-factor scale has taken its final form as a psychometrically sound tool capable of validly and reliably measuring social studies teachers' awareness levels regarding project preparation and writing processe Based on the results obtained, it is recommended that the scale be used with teachers selected from various regions of the country and at different level Keywords: Project Preparation, Social Studies, PBL, Teacher, Scale Development