As described by Albert Bandura, self-concept represents a person's domain-specific beliefs about their abilities based on past performances in that domain. Research has shown that in a school setting chemistry self-concept is tied to students' performance in chemistry. This aligns with Bandura's Social Learning Theory, which states that there are reciprocal relationships among the personal, behavioral, and environmental determinants. In this longitudinal repeated-measures study in high school chemistry classrooms, the personal determinant is represented by students' chemistry self-concept, the behavioral determinant is represented by students' chemistry achievement, and the environmental determinant is represented by the instructional methods used in the chemistry classroom. To measure the determinants the Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory, chemistry content quizzes, and the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol, respectively, are used. In a pilot study using these measures in 2 classrooms with 180 students over a school year, it was found that extremely teacher-centered instruction led to a decrease in students' chemistry self-concept scores. Also, in one of the classrooms it was found that the female students had significantly lower chemistry and math self-concept than male students. Results informed procedural modifications to the next phase of the study, which has been scaled up to 7 teachers and 500 students. Results from the scaled study along with implications for research and teaching will be presented.

Chemistry self-concept: Understanding the determinants of Social Learning Theory in high school chemistry classrooms

247th National Meeting (2014)

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