Assessing student perspectives of the laboratory, self-efficacy in chemistry, and attitudes towards science in an undergraduate first-semester general chemistry laboratory

Research is lacking in the general chemistry laboratory that explores the concerted affective predictor variables of student perspectives of the laboratory, self-efficacy in chemistry, and student attitudes towards science. There is little research on the assessment of variables in the affective domain to determine student experiences in the chemistry laboratory. Student experiences in this study were assessed by determining congruence between student perspectives of their actual and preferred general chemistry laboratory environment using the SLEI, and student attitudes towards careers as a scientist using the SAI II. Correlations between scales from the SLEI, SAI II along with the CCSS that measures self-efficacy in college chemistry were identified. A sample of eighty college students enrolled in a first-semester general chemistry laboratory responded to the SLEI, SAI II, and CCSS. A t test indicated there were no significant differences with student cohesiveness, integration, material environment, and rule clarity between the actual and preferred SLEI signifying congruence. There were significant differences between students actual and preferred perception of open-endedness (t = -3.59, df = 28, p = 0.00). Student attitudes towards careers as a scientist could not be determined using pretests and posttests of the SAI II due to a ceiling effect. There were positive significant correlations found between the scales of material environment, integration from the SLEI and the scale of student attitudes towards careers as a scientist using the SAI II. There were also positive significant correlations between self-efficacy for everyday applications, and self-efficacy for cognitive skills from the CCSS with the scale of student attitudes towards careers as a scientist.;This study is of significance since it is the first study exploring congruence between the actual and preferred student perspectives of the laboratory using the SLEI in a first semester general chemistry laboratory. It is also the first to report correlations between combined affective variables of student perspectives of the laboratory using the SLEI, student attitudes towards careers as a scientist with the SAI II, and self-efficacy in chemistry with the CCSS. Understanding student experiences through the assessment of these affective variables can help educators modify first-semester general chemistry laboratory activities to create a positive experience for students.