Majors’ gender-based affective states toward learning physical chemistry

Abstract

This study examines the affective states of students who are chemistry majors at the junior and senior levels, in the context of a Physical Chemistry II (PChem II) course. The study relies on students' self-reflections while they respond to an online survey system. The online survey includes three sections: Demographics, Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), and Modified Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales (mFSMAS). The RTOP instrument is used by the students to describe the teaching in the PChem II class. The mFSMAS was chosen to measure attitudes from the gender differences point of view. Internal consistency analyses indicate that the instruments are reliable. The findings reveal that females do not perceive themselves as being disadvantaged when it comes to learning PChem II topics. The same conclusion is valid for their male counterparts. In addition, RTOP, as rated by students, describes the nature of the PChem II as traditional, lecture-based instruction. A significant correlation coefficient between the composite scores of RTOP and mFSMAS indicates that the use of inquiry-based teaching strategies correlates to positive student affective states toward learning physical chemistry. Accordingly, in the case of the specific PChem II course examined in this study, the dominance of lecturing led to low to moderate positive attitudes toward the course.