Abstract
<p>The present study intends to explore the level of practical examination anxiety<br />among secondary and higher secondary school students and its causes and<br />remedies. A self-developed Perceived Science Practical Anxiety Scale (PSPAS)<br />was used to collect quantitative data from 900 science students of two districts of central Punjab: Sargodha and Faisalabad. Moreover, 50 students were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the causes of science practical examination anxiety and the remedies to reduce it. All students had recently taken science practical examination and therefore had first-hand vivid experience of science practical examination anxiety. The analysis of responses in the questionnaire revealed that on an average more than half (61.50 %) of the students experienced anxiety during practical examination. Fourteen sources of anxiety during practical examination were ranked and synthesis of qualitative data from interviews recorded five categories of anxiety causes: shortage and unavailability of the materials, lack of practice, harsh behaviour of laboratory personnel, over loaded syllabus and lack of guidance. The students’ opinion regarding reducing anxiety was synthesized into four themes: relaxation during practical examination, individual level preparation, completion of practical syllabus well before time and training of laboratory personnel. The findings of the study may be beneficial for teachers, school mangers and policy makers and those who are responsible for the preparation and execution of examination policies, to reduce anxiety among students.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> high stake examinations, higher secondary schools, laboratory work examinations, self-assessment, student anxiety</p>
Highlights
Practical work in laboratory is the essence in the learning of science and is a compulsory component of science education (Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004)
The results showed prospective teachers feel anxiety in physics laboratory examination
Part II was concerned with the causes of anxiety during practical examinations and part III included the suggestions to reduce anxiety during practical examinations
Summary
Practical work in laboratory is the essence in the learning of science and is a compulsory component of science education (Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004). Examination of practical work in laboratory is part of the overall evaluation of students’ academic achievement. Level of anxiety up to certain limit contributes positively, but beyond its threshold it usually affects students’ performance negatively. Various factors may make students anxious leading to their low performance during practical examination (Al-Abri, 2010); these factors include physical conditions of the laboratory, shortage of equipment, shortage of chemicals, student’s past laboratory experiences and laboratory safety rules. Trait anxiety refers to the anxiety that is chronic and pervasive across situations and is not triggered by an event. State anxiety refers to the anxiety that occurs in specific situations and usually has a clear trigger. Practical examination (state) anxiety may affect negatively the performance of those students who are used to experience (high) trait anxiety
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