Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 14, Issue 1, Article 7 (Jun., 2013) Nilüfer Cerit BERBER Developing a physics laboratory anxiety scale Previous Contents Next

Results

EFA, CFA and reliability analyses were performed on the collected data. The physics laboratory-orientated item pool became a scale with 16 items and four sub-dimensions comprising 'Anxiety about finishing the experiment', 'Anxiety about doing the experiment as intended', 'Constant anxiety towards the physics laboratory' and 'Anxiety related to the use of materials in the laboratory'. Three of the items contained positive judgements and 13 of the items involved negative judgements. The items and dimensions formed by the items belonging to the developed 'Physics Laboratory Anxiety Scale' are shown in Table 6.

Table 6. Items and dimensions formed by the items belonging to the developed 'Physics Laboratory Anxiety Scale'

Anxiety about finishing the experiment

I am afraid of not being able to draw a conclusion from the data that I collect. I am afraid that the data that I collect disagree with the physical hypothesis.

Not being able to reach the correct conclusion causes me stress.

I shrink from answering the questions related to the conclusion of the experiment.

I feel anxious about preparing a graphic with the data that I collect.

Being late with the experiment because of spoilt materials in the laboratory stresses me.

Anxiety about doing the experiment as intended

I am worried about determining the material required for the experiment.

I feel anxious about not being able to do the experiment appropriately.

I feel nervous about not being able to understand the purpose of the experiment clearly.

I feel worried as I am not sure whether I can do the experiment correctly or not.

Constant anxiety towards the physics laboratory

I would not take physics laboratory lessons if I were not forced to.

I shrink from the questions asked by the teacher.

I feel anxious while doing the experiments.

Anxiety related to the use of materials in the laboratory

I can easily install the experimental set-up.

I am relaxed when I use the laboratory equipment.

I can easily comment on graphics.