The relationship of students' self-efficacy, attitudes toward science, perceptions of the laboratory environment, and achievement with respect to the secondary science laboratory

This study examined affective aspects of the secondary science laboratory and added to the emerging literature on the role of self-efficacy in the laboratory teaching environment. Measures of students' self-efficacy, attitudes toward science, and perceptions of the science laboratory environment were correlated with achievement and further examined with multiple regression, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. One-way ANOVA measured the differences between science courses (Honors Biology, College Prep Biology, and Chemistry) and gender.; Science grade self-efficacy and science laboratory skill self efficacy proved to be separate constructs, with science grade self-efficacy having a direct effect on the science grade, while mediating the effect of science laboratory self-efficacy on the grade earned by the student.; The Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI) was used to gauge students' views of the science laboratory environment. All observed variables (student cohesiveness, open-endedness, integration, rule clarity, and material environment) of the SLEI were found to be part of the same construct except open-endedness. Science laboratory environment perceptions had a direct effect on science laboratory self-efficacy.; Attitude toward science was measured using the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Factor analysis demonstrated the presence of factors: attitude toward the "doing" of science and attitude toward "thinking" about science. "Thinking about science" had a direct effect on the attitude toward "doing" science, which in turn had a direct effect on students' perceptions of the science laboratory environment.; Science course differences were manifested by greater cohesiveness and clearer interpretation of laboratory rules for Chemistry students. Biology Honors students experienced a greater connection between the lecture and laboratory and had greater laboratory grade self-efficacy than Biology CP students; they also had greater laboratory self-efficacy for grades 5--8 laboratory skills than Chemistry students.; Males were shown to have greater self-efficacy in the laboratory than females, while females earned higher grades. Science grade self-efficacy was the best predictor of science grades, while structural equation modeling indicated self-efficacy in the science laboratory had a direct effect on grade self-efficacy.