DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPATIAL ABILITY TEST FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS 1

The purpose of this study was to develop a test to determine spatial ability of middle school students. The participants were 704 middle school students (6th, 7th and 8th grade) who were studying at different schools from Istanbul. Item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis were used to analyse the data. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors: spatial visualization, spatial orientation, and spatial relations in accordance with the determined theoretical framework. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that these three factors constituted a model-with good fit. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the whole of the scale was found to be .802. The findings obtained showed us that the test which was composed of twenty three items was a valid and reliable measuring instrument.