Abstract

• This study was to develop basic knowledge test of educational psychology for student teachers by applying the two-parameter logistic Item Response Theory (IRT) model. In this study, educational psychology textbooks of B.Ed. program (1st year – 5 th year) from Yangon University of Education were used for constructing the test. The test covered the content areas of introduction to educational psychology, physical development, intellectual development, emotional development, social development, moral development, theories of learning, memory, intelligence, motivation, self-esteem, and personality. For field testing, the test consisted of 100 multiple choice items. A total of 845 student teachers from 4th year and 5th year of B.Ed. (Direct and Bridge) programs in Yangon University of Education participated in this study. Results of IRT item analysis indicated that the test had average difficulty but could fairly discriminate. The test can be suitable to measure the basic knowledge of student teachers who have θ=-0.1. Results indicated that there were significant gender differences of basic knowledge in the content areas of physical development, intellectual development, emotional development, social development, moral development, theories of learning, memory, intelligence, motivation, self-esteem, and personality. Findings revealed that there were significant grade differences in the content areas of introduction to educational psychology, emotional development, social development, moral development, theories of learning, memory, intelligence, motivation, and personality. Moreover, student teachers (Direct Intake Program) had higher score than student teachers (Bridge Program) in the content areas of introduction to educational psychology, social development, moral development, theories of learning, memory, intelligence, motivation and personality.