Reflective Thinking; Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Although many educational programs aim to promote reflective thinking، there are few instruments for assessment and evaluation of it. The purpose of this study was to investigate psychometric properties of Persian form of Reflective Thinking Scale in order to prepare an applicable instrument for educational research. To do so exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. A sample consisting of 332 students (176 female، 156 male) was selected from the State Universities of Tehran، using multistage cluster sampling. Results of exploratory factor analysis by using principal component analysis، led to four factors، namely habitual action، understanding، reflection، and critical reflective thinking which were similar to the results of research conducted in the primary culture. In order to determine validity and reliability of the scale، respectively confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were used. Results of confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the proposed four-factor structure. More- over، Cronbach’s alpha coefficient indicated that the scale has acceptable reliability. The results of the present study suggest that this scale can be used as a valid and reliable instrument in assessing students’ reflective thinking.