Date of Award

9-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Tanya Vest

Second Advisor

Mitch Nasser

Third Advisor

Dr. Johnson

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed-method study is to examine the effect of a variety of factors on student success in College Physics I. These factors include the transfer of knowledge from both high school physics and prerequisite mathematics courses for use in physics as well as anxiety, academic confidence, physics confidence, and methods designed to address these. The experiment occurred in a medium-sized midwestern university in two different classrooms. The results of this experiment showed that there is a direct correlation between mathematics confidence and physics confidence and therefore between these and student success. The study found that students who had a high school physics class were more likely to be confident in their physics skills and more successful. The results, with college preparedness in general, were conflicting in that the students were more confident but were less likely to succeed in physics.

There was no significant link between the four teaching methods and reduced anxiety, increased confidence, or student success. Although the participants highly lauded the mathematical review and peer review methods.

Research Highlights

  • The Problem: The researcher addresses the factors causing low academic confidence and high anxiety in College Physics I students and evaluates the impact of prerequisite mathematics transfer and high school preparedness on overall academic success.
  • The Method: The mixed-method study evaluated 39 College Physics I students during the fall 2023 semester at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri; the research compared a control group receiving traditional instruction against an experimental group subjected to praise, goal attainment, peer feedback, and mathematical review interventions using pre- and post-surveys alongside pre- and post-tests.
  • Quantitative Finding: The control group's test scores increased by 17.4% over the semester compared to a 6.3% increase for the experimental group; 47.8% of the control group had taken a high school physics class prior to enrollment versus 31.57% of the experimental group; the control group reported a 32% decrease in anxiety when answering a trigonometry problem on a 5-point scale, while the experimental group reported a 21.6% decrease.
  • Qualitative Finding: The four experimental teaching methods failed to produce a significant link to reduced anxiety, increased confidence, or higher student success; participants highly lauded the mathematical review and peer review methods for building a solid foundational understanding and simplifying difficult concepts.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Download

Share

COinS