Physics anxiety, habits of mind and self-efficacy as predictors of students academic performance

Abstract

The study is descriptive-correlational in nature and aimed to determine the level of physics anxiety, self-efficacy, and habits of mind and its relationship to student's performance on selected public high schools in the Division of Bacolod City during the academic year 2017-2018. The participants of the study were 310 randomly picked students from four participating schools. This study used several adapted questionnaires such as Physics Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS), Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Habits of Mind Inventory and researcher-made test to measure the levels of physics anxiety, self-efficacy, habits of mind and performance of students, respectively. The research instruments underwent face and content validation by a panel of three (3) physics experts and one (1) psychologist before pilot testing. The researcher conducted pilot testing among Grade 9-Diamond students of Bata National High School, Cronbach's alpha coefficient -was used to get the reliability of the instruments. The pilot testing revealed that all items in Physics Anxiety Rating Scale and Self-Efficacy were all reliable while 29 out of the 30-item Habits of Mind Inventory and 50 out of the 60-item Physics Performance Assessment were found to be reliable. A survey technique was employed to gather the necessary data needed for the study. Means and standard deviations were used for descriptive data analyses and the Pearson's Product-Moment Correlations and Multiple Linear Correlation for inferential data analyses, all set at 0.5 level of significance. Results of the study revealed that the students have physics performance, high level of self-efficacy and habits of mind and a moderate level of physics anxiety. The investigation also revealed that habits of mind, physics anxiety, and self-efficacy are positively related. It also concluded that habits of mind could confidently predict students' performance in physics. Furthermore, the study concluded that managing impulsivity, persisting, thinking independently, responding with awe and questioning and posing questions are important habits of mind characteristics that influence students' performance in physics.