Measuring Mechanical Aptitutde
Development and Psychometrics of a Freely Available Mechanical Aptitude Test (2019)
Mechanical aptitude refers to individual differences in understanding and learning how simple machines work. Tests of mechanical aptitude are predictive of performance in engineering jobs and aptitude for learning mechanical processes and tasks. The advancement of technology has led to existing mechanical aptitude tests becoming dated. Commonly used tests are known to be gender-biased, limited in use (diagnostics tests), and are not freely available for use in educational settings. This work presents the development of a Mechanical Aptitude Test (MAT). The mechanical aptitude items were designed and tested across four phases in large samples of engineering and non-STEM students across four U.S. universities (N = 1,718). An item analysis was conducted to screen questions not meeting established criteria for item difficulty and item discrimination. After, a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis was run with diagonalized weighted least squares. The one-factor confirmatory factor analysis fit well with, exceptional fit indices (CFI = 0.994, TLI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.02 90%CI[0.004,0.3], SRMR = 0.059), albeit a rejected model chi-square, χ2(34) = 146.939, p = 0.042. The current MAT scale consists of 17 multiple choice items, narrowed down from a larger bank of 68 items, covering topics related to mechanical insight, mechanical knowledge, shop geometry and measurement, and tool knowledge. (Pre-print from International Journal of Engineering Education)
Citation: Bairaktarova, D. & Reeping, D. (2019). Development and psychometrics of a freely available mechanical aptitude test. International Journal of Engineering Education. 35(6A), 1839-1850.
Mechanical aptitude refers to individual differences in understanding and learning how simple machines work. Tests of mechanical aptitude are predictive of performance in engineering jobs and aptitude for learning mechanical processes and tasks. The advancement of technology has led to existing mechanical aptitude tests becoming dated. Commonly used tests are known to be gender-biased, limited in use (diagnostics tests), and are not freely available for use in educational settings. This work presents the development of a Mechanical Aptitude Test (MAT). The mechanical aptitude items were designed and tested across four phases in large samples of engineering and non-STEM students across four U.S. universities (N = 1,718). An item analysis was conducted to screen questions not meeting established criteria for item difficulty and item discrimination. After, a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis was run with diagonalized weighted least squares. The one-factor confirmatory factor analysis fit well with, exceptional fit indices (CFI = 0.994, TLI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.02 90%CI[0.004,0.3], SRMR = 0.059), albeit a rejected model chi-square, χ2(34) = 146.939, p = 0.042. The current MAT scale consists of 17 multiple choice items, narrowed down from a larger bank of 68 items, covering topics related to mechanical insight, mechanical knowledge, shop geometry and measurement, and tool knowledge. (Pre-print from International Journal of Engineering Education)
Citation: Bairaktarova, D. & Reeping, D. (2019). Development and psychometrics of a freely available mechanical aptitude test. International Journal of Engineering Education. 35(6A), 1839-1850.
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