| Summary: | 博士 === 國立中山大學 === 教育研究所 === 102 === The study aims to validate Teacher Scientific Imagination Scale (TSIS) developed based on the Scientific Imagination Model (Cheng &; Lin, 2013; Wang, Ho, &; Cheng, 2013) and to further investigate scientific imagination among elementary and junior high school teachers in Taiwan. Participants were 1765 elementary and high school teachers recruited from Kaohsiung City and Pingtun City. The Teacher Scientific Imagination Scale (TSIS), two-dimensional Teacher Scientific Imagination Scale (2-dimensional TSIS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSS) and Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS) were administered to the participants. Multiple dimensional Rasch techniques, descriptive statistic, t test and one way MANOVA were applied to assess model-data fit, provide the validity evidence of the TSIS, and the possession and value of TSIS were aligned on the interval logit scale to yield four quadrants. The results indicated that TSIS exhibited good model-data fit and met the content of the Scientific Imagination Model. All items had no significantly differential item functioning between genders and the study also provided multiple sources of validity evidence for TSIS. The correlations among TSIS, GSS and RIBS were .21-.83. In this study, we also conducted a cross-analysis on the scientific imagination characteristics possessed by teachers and valued by teachers. The analyses revealed that in terms of personal traits, the qualities valued and possessed by teachers were “trying hard to overcome barriers”, “exploring knowledge of different fields, “ eager to know why”, “meticulous to details”, “trying something new”, “finding different uses for an object”, and “fully immersed in imagination and lost track of time flow”. The characteristics which teachers rated important but still lacked were “observant to one’s surroundings”, “sparing no efforts”, “seeking pleasure in one’s work”. In terms of mental imagery, the qualities which subjects valued and already owned included “giving a sketchy outline for an object” and “imagining the shape of an object in details”. On the other hand, the characteristic which teachers valued but needed to cultivate was “finding links between irrelevant objects”. In terms of surroundings, conditions regarded as essential and existent by subjects included “interacting with people from different disciplines”, “gaining travel experiences”, “participating activities in unfamiliar areas” and “ receiving support and resources from schools”. The conditions which subjects valued but lacked were “openness atmosphere” and “participating science-related activities”. In addition, there were no significant differences in teacher scientific imagination across gender and teachers instructing different subjects. However, there were significant differences in teacher scientific imagination with respect to their experiences of participating scientific competitions and of winning scientific competition awards. Suggestions for further development and application of the study were discussed.
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