A Structural Equation Modeling on Relationship Between Self-Efficacy, Physics Laboratory Anxiety and Attitudes

Abstract

The success of the students in the physics lab depends on their general physics achievement, the physics lesson performance in high school and the test scores. In addition, the success of students in the physics lab was influenced by the students’ physics lab attitudes and non-cognitive variables such as anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to indicate structural equation modeling on self-efficacy, physics lab anxiety and attitudes. In this research, 513 university students participated, and three scales were used to data collection including Self-efficacy Scale, Physics Lab Anxiety Scale (P-LAS), and Physics Lab Attitudes Scale. In correlation analysis, physics lab anxiety was found negatively related to physics lab attitudes and self-efficacy. According to path analysis results, physics lab attitudes were predicted positively by self-efficacy. Furthermore, self-efficacy and physics lab attitudes were predicted by physics lab anxiety in a negative way. The study revealed that high self-efficacy and positive attitudes toward physics decreases physics lab anxiety. The findings were discussed using the literature in this field.