Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course

Rex Taibu; Franca Ferrari-Bridgers

doi:10.29333/ejmste/111993

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Rex Taibu ¹ ^* , Franca Ferrari-Bridgers ¹

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¹ Queensborough Community College of The City University of New York, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

In this research an instrument was developed to measure students’ anxiety about the jargon of physics. Levels of anxiety were then compared with student content performance and general classroom anxiety. Anxiety levels were also compared based on students’ language of origin (native vs. nonnative English speaking students). Statistical analyses indicated that the created instrument was reliable and that a larger percentage of students admitted that the vocabulary of physics creates anxiety in their physics learning and that fear of communication apprehension was prevalent than fear of peer evaluation. There was a negative but small correlation between anxiety about physics vocabulary and student course performance. The correlation between anxiety about physics vocabulary and general classroom anxiety was moderate. There was no significant difference in levels of anxiety between native and nonnative English-speaking students. A comparison between results of this research and previous studies (theories) sheds more light into the implications for conducting studies relating to academic anxiety.

Keywords

introductory physics
scientific language
vocabulary anxiety

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 16, Issue 4, April 2020, Article No: em1835

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

Publication date: 25 Jan 2020

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Article Downloads: 2816

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How to cite this article

APA

Taibu, R., & Ferrari-Bridgers, F. (2020). Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(4), em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

Vancouver

Taibu R, Ferrari-Bridgers F. Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(4):em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

AMA

Taibu R, Ferrari-Bridgers F. Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(4), em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

Chicago

Taibu, Rex, and Franca Ferrari-Bridgers. "Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2020 16 no. 4 (2020): em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

Harvard

Taibu, R., and Ferrari-Bridgers, F. (2020). Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(4), em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993

MLA

Taibu, Rex et al. "Physics Language Anxiety among Students in Introductory Physics Course". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 16, no. 4, 2020, em1835. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/111993