An analysis of the factorial structure of the Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire with Brazilian high school science students

Abstract

The Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ) has been used at different levels of education in many countries to measure students' perceptions of their science teachers' communication behavior. The TCBQ was translated into Portuguese in accordance with ITC test adaptation standards. Validity evidence for the Brazilian version of the TCBQ was obtained with a sample of 414 secondary students. The internal consistency of the TCBQ was satisfactory and an adequate fit of the original factor model was found through confirmatory factor analysis. The Brazilian data exhibited inter-factor correlations similar in value and direction to those of previous international studies. Statistically significant differences were found between school type and subject matter, which is consistent with previous studies.