The Self-efficacy and Proficiency of Freshmen Students to General Chemistry Course

This study sought to determine the level of self-efficacy and proficiency of college freshmen in a general chemistry course. This study was prompted by concerning reports on science education in the Philippines. For instance, the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report from the OECD showed the Philippines scoring 357 in Science, ranking it second-to-last among participating countries. Similarly, the 2018 National Achievement Test for Grade 12 students revealed a “Low Mastery Level” with an overall Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of 31.94, which is significantly below the acceptable national standard of 75%. A descriptive correlational design was employed for this study. A descriptive part of the self-efficacy formative questionnaire assessed the relationship between the two (2) key self-efficacy factors: intellectual and educational self-efficacy. The level of proficiency of the respondents in a general chemistry course was also identified for the six (6) learning topics: atoms, molecules and ions, stoichiometry, gases, electronic structure of atoms, chemical equilibrium and acid-base equilibria, and salt equilibria. This study also correlated the level of self-efficacy and level of proficiency with a general chemistry course. The subjects of this study were 100 Information Technology students for school year 2019-2020 who took general chemistry (1 and 2) during their senior years. Results revealed that the respondents obtained an overall high self-efficacy level towards general chemistry. The results per learning topic revealed that only the scores of the students in atoms, molecules and ions and electronic structure of atoms had a significant relationship, while respondents’ scores in stoichiometry, gases, chemical equilibrium, and acid-base equilibria and salt equilibria had no significant relationship to self-efficacy.