Predicting physics achievement: attitude towards physics, self-efficacy of learning physics, and mathematics achievement

In this study the participants’ attitude towards physics, self-efficacy of learning physics, and mathematics achievement significantly predicted their physics achievement. First of all, whether the students’ attitude towards physics and self-efficacy of learning physics explained their physics achievement was explored. Considering attitudes toward physics the dimensions ‘comprehension’ and ‘requirement’ could positively and significantly explain the students’ physics achievement but ‘importance’ and ‘interest’ could not explain it. The dimensions ‘importance’ and ‘interest’ were also tested by Gungor et al. (2007) and they could not find any relations between them and physics achievement. Willson et al. (2000) also could not find any relations between students’ physics achievement and their attitude towards physics. In addition, Çapri (2013) found that students’ attitude towards physics little predicted their physics achievement. Similarly, in this study, students’ physics achievement was not strongly explained by their attitudes. However, Chang and Cheng (2008) also found that students’ physics achievement was positively and significantly correlated with their interest in science. The instruments used in the studies to measure the attitudes and achievements and the education systems of the countries could cause these contradictory results. Although in some of the studies (e.g., Çapri, 2013) students’ physics achievement was not predicted or little predicted by their attitudes toward physics, some theorists (e.g., Eccles et al., 1983; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) claimed that there should be close relationship between attitude and behavior. When the students’ physics achievement is considered as a result of their some behaviors such as studying physics, significant and positive strong relationships between students’ attitude towards physics and physics achievement have also been expected in this study. Mismatches between what is done in the schools and what is expected in the curricula can cause the insignificant or weak relationships between attitudes and achievements. For example, in Turkey, teachers are required to teach physics considering physics and daily-life relationships and making students active in learning. It is thought that these can also develop students’ attitudes, achievements and study habits (MoNE, 2013a). Implementation problems of the curriculum or not implementing it in desired manner could cause the weak predictions in this study. Encouraging students to involve in more hands-on or laboratory activities as well as motivating them to study physics more can increase their both attitude towards physics and physics achievement. In this regard, there may be stronger relationship between students’ attitude towards physics and their physics achievement.

The students’ self-efficacy of learning physics was also positive and significant predictor of their physics achievement in this study. Students’ attitude towards physics and self-efficacy of learning physics together explained the 12.5% variance of their physic achievement. This finding was consistent with the findings of Çapri (2013), and Yerdelen-Damar and Peşman (2013). They also found that students’ self-efficacy of learning physics was positive and significant predictor of their physics achievement. Contrary to these findings, Gungor et al. (2007) found insignificant relationship between students’ self-efficacy in physics and their physics achievement. The positive and significant relationship between self-efficacy and achievement was also theoretically an expected result. For example, the close relationship between self-efficacy and achieving some goals were widely discussed by Bandura (1997). The positive and significant relationship between students’ self-efficacy of learning physics and physic achievement in this study may imply that self-efficacious students can have higher physics achievement. Therefore, improving students’ self-efficacy of learning physics can also improve their physics achievement.

The positive stronger predictor of students’ physics achievement was their mathematics achievement in this study. In the final model of this study, this contributed to additional 18.8% variation in physics achievement. In fact, the strong positive correlations between students’ success in physics and mathematics were indicated (Marsh et al., 2015; Meltzer, 2002; Veloo et al., 2015). However, how students’ mathematics achievement predicts their physics achievement was not deeply discussed in these studies. This finding indeed reveals that students’ success in physics is mostly predicted by their achievement in mathematics rather than their attitudes and self-efficacy. Therefore, more importance should be given to students’ mathematics achievement within the variables if teachers or researchers want to increase students’ physics achievement.

These findings may also give researchers some clues about the current physics education in the classrooms. This study showed that the psychological constructs the attitudes and self-efficacy were not as effective as the mathematics achievement in explaining the physics achievement. For example, although serious reforms were put into practice in Turkey to develop students’ attitude towards science/physics considering the attitudes’ positive influence on students’ behavior, some attitudes cannot predict physics achievement in this study. One of the reasons of such a result can be related to implementation of current science/physics curricula. Teachers could not implement the curricula according to the necessities of these curricula as discussed before. For example, they could not make students active in learning using some hands-on or laboratory activities. Instead, they could frequently solve physics problems including too much mathematics and teach physics based on more memorization of formulas and rules. Therefore, they may have had to test students’ physics achievement with the physics questions aiming to measure only their problem solving skills. These skills can be composed of putting some values into the memorized formulas, solving some mathematical equations and making some calculations. These could all cause positive stronger relationships between mathematics achievement and physics achievement. Espousing the learning methods or strategies that will provide students more opportunities to develop their attitude towards physics, self-efficacy of learning physics, and mathematics achievement can result in higher physics achievement. Therefore, teachers should be more careful in designing students’ learning environments and implementing their lessons. They should choose the learning methods or strategies that will provide students to have better performances in mathematics and physics, higher attitude towards physics and self-efficacy of learning physics. More interdisciplinary learning for mathematics and physics should also be adopted in the curricula.