The Abbreviated Science Anxiety Scale: Psychometric properties, gender differences and associations with test anxiety, general anxiety and science achievement.

Ahmed M Megreya,Ahmed A Moustafa,Denes Szűcs,Dalton Müller Pessôa Filho

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245200

Ahmed M Megreya, Ahmed A Moustafa + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245200

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Abstract

Science anxiety refers to students’ negative emotions about learning science. Across two studies, we investigated the psychometric properties of the newly developed Abbreviated Science Anxiety Scale (ASAS), which was adapted from the modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS) (Carey E., 2017). Using a sample of students in grades 7 to 10 (N = 710), Study 1 reported a two-factor structure of the ASAS (learning science anxiety and science evaluation anxiety) and negative associations between the ASAS factors and science achievement. Study 2 replicated this two-factor model in students in grades 11 and 12 (N = 362) and found that students in the “Arts” track were more anxious about science than those in “Sciences” track. Both studies consistently reported positive inter-correlations between the ASAS factors, with good internal reliabilities and modest meaningful associations with test anxiety and general anxiety, suggesting that science anxiety might be a distinct construct. Further, female students had higher science anxiety (especially science evaluation anxiety) than male students, even when test anxiety and general anxiety were considered in models. In summary, the ASAS is a brief, valid, and reliable instrument that can be used to guide and improve science education.

Highlights

It is well-established that emotions exert significant impact on students’ learning and achievement [1, 2]
Fit indices reported good to generally acceptable fit: Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .955; TLI = .938; SRMR = 0.075; and Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.083
There were positive associations between science anxiety factors and test anxiety and general anxiety. This finding converges with the results of previous studies reporting that math anxiety positively associated with test anxiety and general anxiety [32,33,34,35, 44]

Summary

Introduction

It is well-established that emotions exert significant impact on students’ learning and achievement [1, 2]. Emotions can “control the students’ attention, influence their motivation to learn, modify the choice of learning strategies, and affect their self-regulation of learning” [3, p.6]. Some of the well-investigated emotions in education are different forms of anxiety such as test anxiety, math anxiety and general anxiety [4]. Test anxiety refers to the cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms of anxiety associated with taking tests [5]. Math anxiety refers to the feelings of fear, tension, and apprehension accompanying learning math [6]. General anxiety refers to “feelings of nervousness, tenseness, or panic in reaction to diverse

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