STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS

Introduction

Everybody recognizes the importance of Physics in everyday living and in the

development of modern technological gadgets such as smart phones, tablets, etc; however, only a

few really appreciate the subject. It is quite ironic how something vital is hated, feared and

reviled by the students.

If issues regarding students’ attitude and anxiety in Physics are left unattended, colleges

and universities shall generates who are unprepared to join the world of business that is highly

dependent on technology that necessitates comprehension of Physics and its applications. Thus,

this study looked into the students’ perceptions about Physics that gathered baseline data that led

to understand their attitudes and anxiety in Physics providing the necessary remediation to the

next generation of learners.

There was a significant relationship between students’ study habits in Physics and their

attitude towards the subject. Borro (2007) found that students’ study habits when they were taken

as a whole group was fairly good and when they were classified according to categories of

variable such as gender and type of school, it was found fairly good.

Pintrich and Schunk (2002) as cited by Kahyaoglu (2011), task difficulty is a common

accepted attribution about failure of students in the subject. Validity of attributions in reflecting

the real situation becomes not important when their motivational effects are considered because,

not the real situation affect one’s affective characteristics and behaviors but the believed

situation that the individual is in. Asking high school students for their achievement and failure
in Physics would be meaningful to provide basis for real working solutions for the problem of

low achievement in Physics.

Physics is perceived as a course which students fear. This fear or anxiety is heightened

even more in a testing situation in which the scores students receive have the most tangible

impact on their academic career. Additionally, added anxiety and fear can often prohibited

students from performing their best (Meyers, 2007).

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the expectations and achievement of the fourth year

students in Physics at the St. William’s Institute, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of respondents in terms of:

a. age,

b. sex,

c. place of residence,

d. parents’ educational attainment, and

e. parents’ occupation?

2. What is the level of expectation of fourth year students of St. William’s Institute in

Physics?

3. What is the level of Physics achievement of the respondents along the following content

areas:

a. Mechanics,

b. Thermodynamics,
 c. Electromagnetism,

d. Wave and Motion, and

e. Modern Physics?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the Physics achievement of the respondents

and their expectations in Physics?

Conceptual Framework

Independent Dependent

Profile of the Respondents

a. Sex
b. Age
c. Place of Residence
d. Parents’ Educational
Physics Achievement along
Attainment
the Content Areas of:
e. Parents’ Occupation
a. Mechanics
b. Thermodynamics
c. Electromagnetism
d. Wave and Motion
Students’ Expectation in e. Modern Physics
Physics

The paradigm shows that the Physics achievement of the respondents maybe affected by their

profile, classroom learning environment that exist in the classroom and their attitudes towards Physics.

Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between the Physics Achievement and Expectations

of the respondents.
Methodology

Research Design. This study will be using descriptive-correlational method of research to

describe the profile, expectations and the Physics achievement of the fourth year high school

students of St. William’s institute during the school year 2013-2014. The profile and

respondents’ expectations will be correlated with Physics achievement of the respondents.

Population. The data that will be needed in this study will be gathered from the 96 fourth

year high school students of the St. William’s Institute. The two sections are considered in the

study – St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Distribution of Respondents in the Study

Section Male Female Total

IV - SFA 20 28 48

IV - SIL 23 25 48

Total 43 53 96

Data Gathering Instrument. The researcher will use adopted instruments in gathering the

data for this study: the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey and Physics Achievement Test.

The Maryland Physics Expectations Survey will be used to gather the different views of

students in Physics. This was adopted by the researcher from the work of Alegre (2010).The

survey is composed of 34 statements. Respondents will be asked to rate each statement by

circling a number between 1 and 4 where the numbers mean the following:

1 - Strongly Agree

2 - Agree
 3 - Disagree

4 - Strongly Disagree

The Physics Achievement Test (PAT) will be used to assess students’ achievement in

Physics. The researcher adopted the Physics achievement test developed by Ragonton (2004). It

consisted of 55 multiple-choice items.

The following norms will be used for the interpretation after transforming the scores to

percentage scores of the students’ achievement.

PERCENTAGE RATING DESCRIPTIVE RATING

80.01 – 100 - Outstanding

60.01 – 80.00 - Very Satisfactory

40.01 – 60.00 - Satisfactory

20.01 – 40.00 - Needs Improvement

0.00 – 20.00 - Failure

Data Gathering Procedure. Prior to the administration of questionnaires, the researcher

will ask permission from the principal of the school covered by this study. When permission will

be granted the researcher will personally administer the questionnaire to the 96 student-

respondents of St. William’s Institute.

Statistical Treatment of Data. This study will utilize several statistical procedures

appropriate to the problems under study.

1. Frequency distribution and percentages. These will be used to describe the profile of

the respondents.

2. Mean. This will be used to describe the expectations and Physics achievement of the

respondents.
3. Simple Correlation Analysis. This will be used to determine the significant

relationship between the Physics achievement of the respondents and their profile and

expectations in Physics.
STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS

A Title Proposal

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Subject
RS 299b: Research Methodology

Presented to:
Dr. Evangeline Solita Bañez
Professor

Presented by:
Edward Henry Caoile
MST Physics Student

October, 2013