5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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Three changes were made for the purpose of the study. Firstly, a five point rating system
was adopted for 8^th graders, although SDQ-II adopted a six-point rating system. This
was because the pilot study showed that a five-point rating system, which contained a
central option, was more acceptable for 8^th graders. SDQ-I adopted a five-point rating
system, and this rating system remained for 5^th graders. Secondly, SDQ-I for 5^th graders,
originally, included some negatively worded items in order to avoid positive response
biases, although the SDQ-I manual suggested that these negatively worded items were
not included in the self-concept scores due to the low validity of responses, especially for
low achievers (Marsh, 1986a). In the current study, these items were omitted altogether.
The negative items in SDQ-II for 8^th graders were retained. Thirdly, both SDQ-I and
SDQ-II, originally, arranged the questions across a wide range of scales in a mixed
manner. While this can be beneficial for reducing biases such as the halo-effect,
whereby the respondents rate their general feelings on all the items rather than
assessing the items separately (Oppenheim, 1996), many teachers reviewing the pupils’
questionnaire survey in the pilot studies mentioned that pupils were confused as to
whether questions in the General-Self Scale were limited to self-concepts in
mathematics classes. Therefore, it was decided to arrange the items belonging to the
General-Self Scale and the Mathematics Scale separately in the questionnaire design
for both 5^th and 8^th graders. Table 3.2.2 below contains the questions of SDQ I adopted
in the questionnaire for 5^th graders in this study. Table 3.2.3 below contains the
questions of SDQ Il adopted in the questionnaire sheet for 8^th graders in this study.

Table 3.2.2: General-Self Scale and Mathematics Scale of SDQ-I for 5^th graders

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