The SIT-Figural was designed to measure students’ scientific imagination through four types of tasks: A, B, C, and D. Additionally, these assignments in the scientific imaginative process comprised three dimensions: brainstorming, association,

and transformation/elaboration. The Rasch partial credit model was used to assess the model–data fit; differential item functioning (DIF) analysis was conducted to examine the consistency of the ratings by gender and college.

 

The results of DIF demonstrated that some items in the SIT-Figural showed a significant difference. Moreover, the three dimensions in the SIT-Figural indicated a positive model-data fit. The reliabilities of three subtests were 0.85, 0.84, and 0.83. The correlation coefficients between scientific imagination and mental imagery ranged from low to medium. Furthermore, a significant difference was found between scientific imagination and gender, grade, and college. In terms of scientific imagination, female students performed better than male students. Third-year students displayed better scientific imagination than freshmen and sophomores. Students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Digital Design possessed better abilities than those from the College of Engineering and the College of Business. Finally, suggestions for revising and applying the SIT-Figural were proposed for future research.