Math homework purpose scale for preadolescents: a psychometric evaluation
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Math homework purpose scale for preadolescents: a psychometric evaluation Meilu Sun 1 & Jianxia Du 2 & Jianzhong Xu 3
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract The current study validated the Math Homework Purpose Scale (MHPS) for preadolescents. Having randomly split participants into two subsamples, we conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on subsample 1 (n = 293) and subsample 2 (n = 292), respectively. Both EFA and CFA indicated that the MHPS consisted of three factors: Academic, Self-regulatory, and Approval-seeking Reasons. Given an adequate level of measurement invariance, we further examined the latent mean difference across gender. Results revealed no statistically significant mean differences in Academic, Self-regulatory, and Approval-seeking Reasons across gender. Finally, consistent with theoretical expectations, Academic and self-regulatory Reasons were positively correlated with homework effort, homework completion, and math achievement. Keywords Homework purpose . Math . Preadolescent . Scale development
Much of literature on homework purposes tends to focus on homework purposes viewed as important by researchers, educators, and parents (Cooper 1989; Coutts 2004; Warton 2001; Xu 2010). Van Voorhis (2004), for example, identified three types of homework purposes: (a) instructional (preparing for class, practicing skills, participating in learning, and developing study habits), (b) communicative (promoting parentteacher, parent-child, and peer interactions), and (c) political (fulfilling policy directives, promoting public relations, and punishing students). Similarly, Cooper et al. (2006) identified two types of homework purposes: (a) instructional (preparation, practice, review, extension, and integration), and (b) noninstructional (communication among students, parents, and school administrators, public relation, and punishment). Less attention, however, has been paid to homework purposes from students’ perspectives (Xu 2010). This is disturbing, as (a) certain homework purposes such as fulfilling policy directives bear no direct relevance to students (Warton
* Jianzhong Xu [email protected] 1
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
2
University of Macau, Macau, China
3
Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Foundations, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 9727, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA
2001; Xu 2010), and as (b) the importance students ascribe to academic tasks affect their effort, task completion, and academic achievement (Eccles and Wigfield 2002). Indeed, students’ own attitudes play a more important role in homework completion and academic achievement (Cooper et al. 1998; Xu 2005). Several previous studies have shed lights on students’ views of homework purposes. Xu and Corno (1998) investigated homework purposes from the perspectives of six 3rd graders, along with their teachers and parents. The teachers and parents had similar views about homework: (a) homework for
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