Whether they’re facing biology, chemistry or physics classes, not all students feel assured they’re a “science person” and can build enough competence and understanding to succeed, according to a former president of the National Science Teachers Association.
“I do think some students likely experience ‘science anxiety’ for a variety of reasons,” said Christine Royce, who’s also an education professor at Shippensburg University and co-director of the master’s in STEM education program.
One proximate cause is the high-stakes assessment system in the U.S., which instills a belief that there’s always one right answer to any given question, Royce said.
“That becomes problematic in science even more so, because while there are ‘more’ correct answers, science is also about exploration and experimentation,” she said. “They’re looking for, ‘What is the answer I’m supposed to give you?’ The problem is, depending on what data you’ve collected, that’s open to interpretation.”
But that open-endedness is often counterintuitive to how students have been prepared to face the “assessment era,” which can produce cognitive dissonance and result in anxiety, Royce said.
“If you’re looking at strategies to try to reduce science anxiety, one of the best things teachers can do is start to normalize the idea that productive struggle is part of the process,” she said. “They can learn from mistakes and move forward. That’s one of the best ways teachers can support students in science education.”
To strengthen that link, science teachers should help students recognize how what they’re learning about in the classroom is connected to the real world, Royce said.
“If they have a more grounded understanding of what’s going on because they can see it as part of their environment, they can see it as concrete, they will have a better ability to work through the connections,” she said. “If there’s no connection, students are, perhaps, guessing at answers."
On the other hand, "if there’s a connection, they’re using the information they already know to make predictions and draw conclusions,” Royce said.
Another method Royce recommends for helping students better understand science and reduce their anxiety around the topic is to encourage working with peers or in groups, to develop a wider notion of potential discoveries and answers they could gin up.
The dialogue between peers can help students make sense of what they're learning, she said. “That also helps them to realize that it’s OK to struggle. And while they may identify as not being ‘science people,’ science is part of our world, and it’s important for them to recognize that with science knowledge, they’re going to be better-informed about any field they go into.”
