Causes, Effects and Management of Science Anxiety Among Senior High School Students in Old Tafo Municipality of Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated causes, effects and management of science anxiety among senior high school students in the Old Tafo Municipality of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The descriptive survey research design was adopted. The sample was made up of 337 students selected from a population of 2700 students from Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School and Al Azhariya Islamic Senior High School, using stratified random sampling procedure. Data were collected through Science Anxiety Scale (Güzeller & Doğru, 2012) and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the respondents had moderate level of science anxiety in relation to doing science homework, getting low position in class, the attitude of the science teacher, entering science class and solving problems related to science. The study also revealed that the causes of science anxiety revolve around the demands of the content and the lack of infrastructure and teaching materials to make the content practical and easy to understand. The study showed that science anxiety affects performance negatively, reduces interest of students in science, prevents students from pursuing science subjects in future and affects school attendance. Finally, the strategies which can help reduce science anxiety included providing facilities and infrastructure and teachers making the study of science easier and interesting. From the findings, it was recommended that school counsellors in various schools should conduct science anxiety assessments for their students to identify the level of science anxiety of individual students so that measures can be taken to assist individual students