Psychological Variables among Physics Students in Senior Secondary Schools in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated levels of psychological variables of academic stress, anxiety and self-efficacy among physics students in senior secondary schools in Osun State, Nigeria. It further examined differences in psychological variables of academic stress, anxiety and self-efficacy between male and female Physics students towards learning of Physics. A descriptive survey research design was employed. A sample of 400 Physics students from 20 senior secondary II (SS2) selected through multi-stage sampling procedure was used for the study. A researcher- designed and validated questionnaire was administered to the respondents. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question while the null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance, using t-test. The findings indicated that physics students had moderate level of academic stress, anxiety and self-efficacy. However, there were no significant differences between males’ and females’ psychological variables of academic stress, anxiety and self-efficacy in the learning of physics in senior secondary schools in the study area. Consequently, it was recommended that Physics teachers should try as much as possible to reduce academic stress and anxiety and enhance academic self-efficacy by carrying out formative assessment frequently to discover the challenged and emotional students for further help and girls’ fear should be allayed though encouragement. Besides, the teaching of Physics should be done interestingly