An Analysis of High School Students’ Academic Achievement and Anxiety over Graphical Chemistry Problems about the Rate of Reaction: The Case of Sivas Province

Abstract

The study deals with the evaluation of the achievement of high school students concerning such topics as “reaction rate, reaction order, factors affecting reaction” which are included in the unit of “Reaction Rate and Chemical Equilibrium”, a part of chemistry program. To this, three measurement tools used as data collection tools; the “Achievement Test on Reaction Rate” (RRAT), the “Graphical Test on Reaction Rate (RRGT) and the “Anxiety Scale on the Use of Graphics” (ASUG) in chemistry problems. The participants of the study were 129 eleventh graders attending four Anatolian high schools in the province of Sivas. The study was carried out on one group. The findings obtained showed that the participants had higher mean scores in RRAT in contrast to those in RRGT. It was further found that the anxiety of the participants in regarding to the problems with graphics is higher. It was also determined that there is a statistically significant, negative and weal correlation between the student achievement in RRGT and the anxiety levels in regarding to the problems with graphics.