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Module: Responding Mindfully to Challenging Behaviour
EDUC- 4113
Course: Master of Education (Flexible)
Reflecting on Ways of Mitigating Student Stress and Anxiety in the Secondary Science
Classroom
Raymond Hee Kok Keong
Tutor: Edward Sellman
Word count: 5756
Table of Contents Page
Introduction 3
Science is Tough or Just a Myth 4
Literature Review 4-6
Mental Health Disorder 6
(i) Stress 6-7
(ii) Anxiety and Depression 7-8
(iii) Changes in Personality 8-9
Burnout is the product of stress 9-10
Academic Performance 10-13
Ways of mitigation 13-17
Laboratory Experience 17-18
Intrinsic Motivation 18
Further Research Opportunities 19
Conclusion 19-20
References 21-23
2
Introduction
As a secondary and high school Chemistry teacher, I have always felt myself highly
responsible in disseminating accurate and tangible science knowledge to my curious learners
in a variety of angles, whether in a school setting or during one-to-one tutorial classes. My
teaching approach has been trained to be very holistic (which is my aim rather than
obligatory) and usually not the monotonous memorisation of science facts thanks to a few
workshops and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCEi) course I have attended in my
teaching career. I have always been an advocate for creative learning for STEM subjects like
chemistry, similar on how Rogers & Freiberg (1994) suggestive analogy of ‘teach students
how to learn so they become producers of ideas rather than consumers of information’.
However, despite of me trying my level best of teaching Chemistry by using various
technology and interactive methodologies and apply them to my students, I still find my
learners have a lot of difficulty in learning the subject on a broad scale. Now, Chemistry is a
heavy content-based subject which requires regular memorisation ability and progressive
problem-solving skills as well as some Mathematical knowledge like Algebra to fully
understand the subject. Students normally must put in a lot of effort which includes good
physical (laboratory work) and mental capacity to excel. All these subsequently lead to some
not very pleasant experience faced by many secondary and university students undertaking
this subject. I personally often witnessed the high drop-out rate of students taking Chemistry
as a core subject or the bumping down from the HL (High Level) to SL (Standard Level) of
the Chemistry International Baccalaureate (IB) course. Similarly, there are always many
students changing science courses midway of the semester (Mahendru, 2017) as students
were confused or have no prior understanding and knowledge on the correct stream before
enrolling in their respective program either at school or Pre-University. And as reality sets in,
many found themselves confused and helpless, and the melancholy feeling seeps in
thereafter. This assignment explores my views and reflections on my students taking Science
particularly Chemistry as their core subject and the relationships between studying Science
and their social behaviour like stress and anxiety commonly faced by my students and few
suggestive methods to combat these negative effects in the classroom. I will also comment on
few reviews proposed by some researchers and do comparison with my own teaching
reflection in the classroom.
3
Science is Tough or Just a Myth
Highly considered to be one of the most challenging subjects for learners (Caduceus Int.
Publishing, 2022), learning science places high expectations on both cognitive and
psychological on students.
Tobias (1986) made a study on the topic “Are the sciences inherently more difficult than the
humanities?”
The investigation of the basis for the above perception were done extensively, however the
results were inconclusive as the perception of ‘difficulty’ varies between people to people.
In this assignment, I aim to explore on how to lessen the various negative psychological
effects like anxiety, depression, and sudden loss of interest in the subject face by my students
on a day-to-day basis based on my own experience teaching the subject. In addition, this
assignment is also made to focus on some of the factors identified mentioned above and
suggestion on several ways to mitigate them.
Literature Review
The learning behaviour of individuals normally differ in many ways. There is a study by
Mitchell (1992a, p.28) on good learning behaviours in schools where students use
metacognitive strategies in their everyday learning process (Borkowski, 1987). Educators
start the ball rolling by applying metacognitive skills to their learners in a science classroom.
Examples of metacognitive are like using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a
particular problem (very common in science where questions are often application-style).
Students would then apply self-assessment and self-correcting techniques and thence evaluate
the progress towards completion of the given task by the teacher (Fogarty, 1994). However,
not all students are able to follow such technique, and many may end up feeling non-
productive or even a burden to their learning process and some may even doubt their own
capabilities. Sense of anxiety starts and certain behaviour like, ‘telling the teacher what they
do not agree’ or ‘suggesting a new activity’ (Boyle, S., Fahey, E., 2001) may occur. The
usual commanding character of an educator in front of the class may get irritated by these
uncompromising behaviours and subsequent teacher-student’s relationship may turn sour
ultimately.
4
A typical classroom scenario:
Year 12 A- Level Chemistry
10 minutes into the lesson, I summoned the entire class to solve a mathematical-related
science problem which I have previously shown the exemplary method on the white board
before the task. The majority of the students seemed either working silently behind their desk,
some were discussing and whispering to their friends while some were just staring blankly
over the ceiling.
5 minutes later, few gave up citing too difficult to solve, then one student voices out the
answer orally which was surprising to me as this student rarely contributes during class
discussion.
One student threw this pen onto the floor, crumpled his writing paper.
One student asked for toilet break.
These are few of my student’s reactions in a typical classroom, and through my personal
observations, I can also conclude there were few traits and behavioural patterns I could see
from my students. Most were passive learners; some were pro-active while one or two
learners demanded attention and wanted my guidance. My original intention is to allow my
students to explore the answers themselves, I encouraged creativity and independent thinking
of my learners instead of constant giving help when help is required. Scaffolding in teaching
is essential to promote independent learners (Mullings, 2022). We can support our learners by
offering ideas and support to our students as they learn and develop a new concept or skill,
however, I normally do not encourage spoon-feeding. The question is “will my action
contributes to unwanted stress and anxiety along the way?”
I felt some of my learners have anxiety whenever I pose a question in class for them to
answer. The brighter students would be in no hesitation to answer them, but most would
struggle. There is a feeling that I am putting the students in a stressful dilemma in addition to
the strain they are already getting from choosing Science in their high school subjects.
Diagram next page shows the relationships between a typical study anxiety faced by high
school students that would branch out to few reasons.
5
Figure 1.1 shows the physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety during study process
(Prima, V.; Wahab, M. & Awang, G., 2010)
Kyriacou (2001) and Maslach (1981) both agreed that stress and burnout can be
distinguished. Some of my students displayed very similar symptoms as indicated by these
two researchers like getting agitated easily, fidgety, and even poor attendance on certain
lecturing days.
Mental Health Disorder
(I) Stress
Academic expectations from parents and people surrounding including peers are main
contributors to stress. Personal and environmental events that cause stress are known as
stressors (Lazarus, 1990). Stress is also known as emotional disturbances or change that
resulted from external factors like stressors. Rosenham and Seligman (1989); Selye (1974)
made some study on stress, and they mutually agreed that stress can also be defined as body’s
non-specific response or reaction to demands made on it; in this case would be students
facing a lot of academic problems in a highly competitive world today like exam stress or
problem understanding or absorb certain theoretical facts in certain subjects. Stress or other
types of mental health disorders are often gone by untreated and unnoticed. According to
Broderick (2022), the rise of stress in schools can be categorised into three types:
6
Study
Anxiety
Exam
Presentaon &
Language/Humanies
Social &
Science
subjects
Acute stress
Episodic acute stress
Chronic acute stress
Acute stress is the most common but also diminishes quickly as well as it has little impact on
mental and physical means (Tiwari, 2021). It occurs daily in the life of a typical student as
well as adults. Episodic stress, meanwhile, happen repetitively over an extended period
(Greene, P.,2020). Episodic stress normally leads to migraine and other types of headaches.
The cognitive flexibility is perceived to be affected if episodic stress is not treated urgently.
(Hassin, R. R. et al., 2009). Lastly, chronic acute stress is when an individual has prolonged
stressful situations caused by stressors like examination or academic-related panic anxiety
which may cause eating and sleeping disorder in students (Knauft et al., 2021). Meanwhile,
academic stress is our center of discussion in this assignment which involves certain
psychological impact on the brain which can leads to many negative effects like academic
failure or even poor relationships with parents and peers. Since school education plays a vital
role in shaping an individual’s life which eventually determine the pathway of a learners’
future career, excessive academic stress could lead to unwanted adverse effects (Thakkar,
2018) in a long term.
(II) Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety is another disorder largely seen in about 80% of adolescents and children worldwide
(Thakkar, 2018). Students undertaking science courses like Physics, Biology or Chemistry
have reported to be particularly more stressful (Hanson, 2009; Koul et.al., 2012) as compared
to other non-Science related subjects. One of the common reasons that causes these anxiety
episodes were found to be the rigor and difficulty of the subject (Mallow, 2006; Udo et.al.,
2004). Research has also found that science courses are known to be competitive and can
foster ‘chilly’ and ‘hostile’ environments which ultimately caused students to experience
higher levels of anxiety (Brainard, 1998).
Personally, I have seen my own learners showing signs of mild agitation and nervousness
during occasional Q & A sessions in the classroom. Students who are not able to answer
certain questions often looked dejected, frustrated, and the feeling of being humiliated of not
knowing the correct answer can have a negative impact on their personal confidence level
being dented especially in front of their peers. I understand, I should not be conducting Q &
7
A session in class where some students may feel very uncomfortable, but my teaching
methodology is based on ‘speaking up’ rather than ‘die in silence’. I strongly believed in
mutual learning as a collaborative system. Classroom learning that involves collective ideas
amongst every learner regardless of subject can produce effective results in long term
especially to the not very academic-gifted students as proven by study done by (Brusilovsky,
P., 2017). Students can identify their own strengths and weaknesses of themselves and their
peers through active learning channel; in this context would be classroom discussion. I often
disseminate tasks between groups and encouraged pair work rather than individual. I believed
in accountability for their own actions and keen to promote responsibilities and confidence
especially when speaking up. Unfortunately, all these could lead to unnecessary stress and
anxiety. I would normally see the more ‘introverted’ student or the quieter ones which are not
so sociably adaptable with others labelled as being less able, at least in the context of less
outgoing but not necessarily in academic terms. The entire Science department once did a
survey on the effectiveness of our teaching protocols like encouraging students to speak up in
class to promote holistic learning environment, but the results came back inconclusive. Not
all students are able to adapt to such teaching approach so some will end up feeling anxious
and apprehensive.
(III) Changes in Personality
Some studies have demonstrated that personality disorder and stress are related (Williams et
al.,2011). Personality disorder normally emerge in adolescence through a combination of
genetic vulnerability and environmental triggers (Haltigan, 2016). When comes to school
environment where competition between peers in the context of academic success and
attention-seeking pupils from educators are at the highest, changes in personality between
certain stages in a school environment becomes apparent in the education world today.
I have personally witnessed my students behaving differently when they enter the first
semester of my Chemistry class but surprisingly evolved into another type of character when
the semester ends. It seems that their character has just changed and morphed into different
and unrecognised person I have known earlier. A happy and out-going student coming into
my class taking a science course but changed into another person who has frequent mood
swings, occasional depression and other mental disturbances can be frightening at times,
especially when nothing is done to rehabilitate all these. At the same time, studies have also
shown that young people that exhibit changes in personality normally have poor social skills
8
(Thompson, 2018) and could lead to self-harm which is a leading public health issue
(Muehlenkamp et al., 2012) today and non-suicidal self-inflicted injuries in schools (Wester,
2018) in the United Kingdom.
Burnout is the product of stress
Burnout can be seen when an individual has physical or emotional exhaustion which
frequently involves a sense of reduced accomplishment (Common, R., 2022) which
subsequently leads to other kinds of physiological changes in one’s behaviour or even
personal identity all together. Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by prolonged
emotional, physical, and mental stress that takes a toll on one’s body and mind (Martins,
J.,2022). Santinello (2007) also describes burnout as a state of psychophysical exhaustion
with deterioration of relations, sense of professional inefficiency and disillusion. Burnout
occurs frequently to overworked educators in schools but most of us did not realise it happens
to students too; overburdened with high expectations from oneself and parents and certain
subjects’ demands in this perspective. Sometimes, burnout can also occur in individuals who
enjoy a particular activity but the pleasure of doing something repetitive and routinise in long
term could result in burnout (Tomei, 2006), which can cause mental fatigue, reduced
efficiency and other somatic diseases like depression or even other more serious brain
disorders like psychosis and mania. In general, excessive burnout is linked to impairments in
cognitive functioning (Golonka, K. et al., 2017) and impacts the mental and physical health
of learners.
There are three main symptoms that are the signs of burnout (IQWiG, 2006):
Exhaustion
Alienation from previously enjoyed activities
Reduced performance
All three symptoms above can be seen in my students’ characters in some point of my
Chemistry class. I witnessed my student’s exhaustion in my class when some of them sleep
on the desk while I am still teaching in front of the classroom. (Perhaps, this could be a sign
of disengagement of the subject, or my lesson is too boring for them?). Meanwhile, some of
my students who enjoyed Chemistry at the start of the semester demonstrated lacked of
interest at the end of the semester, and this were surprising. Could it be the difficulty of some
modules, or some students are only interested in laboratory work and not theoretical lessons?
9
I will address the interest of some students in laboratory work in later stage of this
assignment. And finally, declining exam results from a previously higher than average grade
represents the last symptoms above: A distinct deteriorating grades from some bright
students.
“I am going to fail Chemistry this semester for sure”
Student X
“Sir, I feel like dropping Chemistry as I have no confidence in the subject” Student Y
I have been hearing quotes above at a very frequent rate, especially when exams are around
the corner.
Academic Performance
Academic performances of individuals are normally accessed through examinations. In some
science courses like the International Baccalaureate (IB), students are put through some high
quality but mandatory coursework and theoretical essay writings which ultimately determine
their final grades in high school or in Pre-University. The IB course is extremely demanding,
and the workload are tremendous. However, in some courses like the British A-Level
programme are normally acquired through rigorous examinations and this could cause a lot of
unnecessary stress in students especially if one has lacked balance between academic and
social life so the accumulation of mental stress can be surprisingly alarming. Promotion of
one’s grade to another are often scrutinised by students’ final academic results, therefore the
key to a successful learning journey in school is primarily measured by how ‘intelligent’ or
how ‘successful’ a certain individual performs in school.
“Teachers and textbooks are the basic pillars of education” Said et al. (2018). Education
brings changes to the demanding society we live in. Unfortunately, all these brings us
unwanted stress and anxiety to our learners as well.
According to Gratez (1995), “Success of students in academic performance is based on the
social status of student’s parents or caretaker of the society”. This means that the social
status of parents does play a role in determining a child’s academic performance (test scores
or examination results) (Khoshaba, 2009). High level of anxiety has also been found to be
one of the primary causes of declining academic performance (Vitasari et.al., 2010).
However, I personally feel that a moderate level of anxiety is necessary to stimulate mental
10
arousal (Teigen, 1994) which could increase motivation indirectly without students realising
themselves. Most often, students who are less susceptible to stress (easy-going and
nonchalant students in class) would find themselves performed better than their expected
grade if they put in a little effort, but not after series of stress and pressure from the teacher. I
would consider this as an extrinsic type of motivation where a little ‘discomfort’ brings
improvement and surprises especially to academic grades of the learners. Afterall, most
science learners have ambitions of getting into medical schools or other science-related
courses in the university and they have been briefed beforehand prior committing themselves
to a science course in school.
Figure 1.2 shows a Venn diagram relationship between the overlapping 3 major contributors
to mental health disorder primarily focused on college students pursuing a college degree
(Bener, A., 2016)
Golonka, K. et al. (2017) mentioned about the overlapping effects between burnout
syndrome, depression and anxiety and found that depression could be the main indicator for
burnout syndrome. The significant interdependence between the two may indicate that one
symptom may intensify the symptoms of another. It seems that there is a strong
intercorrelations between them and this should raise concern for researchers and practitioners
11
Stress
Depressio
n
Anxiety
including educators as there is a potential negative consequence if these symptoms are left
untreated in our learners.
Figure 1.3 Pie chart about shows the causes of Student Stress In School (McConnel, A.,
2020) https://renegadereport.org/4008/student-life/student-stress-and-its-effect-on-everyday-
life/
According to the pie diagram about, not less than 3 of the factors mentioned above illustrated
how a student taking Science subjects in school would be facing. The overwhelming
expectations of getting better than average grades from both teachers and parents in any given
Science examination or assessment are giving a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety to our
learners in today’s education climate. The lopsided focus on just academic grades to single
out the ‘intelligent or book-smart’ student is getting out of hands and if the school
management and stakeholders allow all these to continue, we might witness more mental-
health related incidents occurring more frequently which could indirectly affect the quality of
mental health of our next generation. I felt that students these days are so preoccupied with
their academic grades than anything else. Getting good academic results are important but
being physically and mentally well are equally important (Wilson, R., Sellman, E., Joseph, S.,
2022).
So, what can schools do to help these students coping with stress and anxiety?
12
School subjects
Examinaon
&
Assessment
Geeng Good
Grades
Teacher
Expectaons
Waking up on
me
Ways of Mitigation
Talking to someone, example a school counsellor.
“Stress thrives in the dark” (Smith, J., 2022). Students need to reach out to their respective
school nurse, school counsellor or an occupational trained psychologist. We need to
constantly remind students that they are not alone, and help is just an arm reach away.
Isolation is not the way to solve problems and learn to accept professional advice and getting
a listener and talking to someone (can be a trusted peer or a teacher) can reduce some burden
and subsequently improve mood. Therapy or counselling and practice positive socialising can
help put things into perspective. Sharing ideas often lead to additional support and can bring a
sense of relieve to most stressful individuals. Students receiving emotional support from their
significant others (Roksa & Kinsley, 2019) has been found to be beneficial to their mental
health. Study also found out that college students who received emotional support from
family members is helpful in alleviating academic-related stress as this increased student
engagement and fosters good psychological well-being (Harper et al., 2012).
Exercise.
I would recommend students to participate in school-run ECAs (Extracurricular associations).
In my previous school, we have a horse-riding society, yoga, and a dancing club. These
‘sports’ can also be beneficial as students signing up can expect to be mingling with the like-
minded crowd and somewhat a stress reliever at the same time.
Some schools are so academic focused to the extent they have only academic counselling to
academically weak students and often tell them the more effective studying options rather
than the ‘resting’ options. Despite exercising is not a stress-reliever that could happen in the
classroom, students need to learn to take a break from their routine occasionally. Science
courses are known to be demanding to their mental health and learners must also realise
physical health is as important. School these days have students-run gym or other fitness
clubs. Simply getting a higher heartbeat by exercising can make a huge difference in overall
mental health of an individual. Studies found that students perform better academically with
enhanced memory and improved learning efficiency if regular exercise is implemented into
their daily routine (AUI, 2012). Various breathing-centered exercising program should also
be introduced in schools to distress students. This should start right in the classroom itself.
Educators must be trained to implement such activity which is actually beneficial to both
student and teacher in long term.
13
“Spending time in nature reduces stress” (Science Daily, 2020). Intensive research has been
done recently on college students. Apparently, according to Cordova, M., (2020), adding
green elements (e.g., hiking and gardening) to workaholic college students have shown to
improve mood significantly. School should encourage more outdoor activities or organise
camping trips as these provide a positive platform for stressful students to relax. Time spent
in nature is beneficial to mental health (American Heart Association, 2022). I have brought
my own students few trips outside the city to explore the hiking trails and they loved it.
“A stroll in the woods has been shown to mitigate depression” (Marras, 2016).
I ordered my students to write a report after the trip like what are the activities they enjoyed
and what are the beneficial elements like comrade with their friends during the trip. I saw
significant improvement in their moods the moment they return to the classroom.
Continuation of Hobbies.
To prevent study burnout, activities other than studying is vital to sustain a students’
academic journey in school. Implementation of a hobby (if a student does not have one?) is
necessary to break a routinised study pattern. Experts believed hobbies help students to
recharge and refocus their minds and energies (Nelson, 2020). Students should take
advantage of schools’ offerings of extracurricular activities like music or debating clubs.
Studies shown that playing a musical instrument is good for the brain (Sono Music, 2019). It
improves memory and enhances one’s confidence and gives a sense of achievement to
students who are facing stressful situations. I normally allow my students to take a 5-minute
break between lessons to recharge. I have once asked them to bring along a musical
instrument and play them during the break to sooth their minds, which can be beneficial to
the teacher as well. Meanwhile, participating in a debating club gives opportunity students to
voice out their ideas (ESU, 2018). Research has also found that youths todays can also
utilised their hobbies into a financial gain. Students can earn extra income by working in the
gym, becoming a part time tutor and others by working leisurely other than just studying. A
report by CNBC (2020) found that many students are earning serious income from their
hobbies (Finch, 2020).
Mindfulness (Therapy).
14
Mindfulness is a Buddhism technique used in coping mechanism for those highly stress and
anxiety individuals (Brown, C., 2014) and is a powerful awareness tool that focuses on the
present and has both physical and psychological benefits (ReachOut Australia, 2022).
Educators can also encourage students to use the The Mindfulness App that can be
downloaded in smart phones these days and try to see the differences in their overall mental
wellbeing before and after.
Since I often tell my students to take a break during lessons by resting their heads on the desk
in between lessons, I fully allowed them to ‘rest’ by closing their eyes, but not to the extent of
dozing off! I felt that regular breaks in between lectures can allow students to stay calm even
at the most stressful conditions. I also felt that humour is also a type of therapy which is
useful in the classroom. A good laugh “lightens” the brain (Mayo Clinic, 2016). Laughter
releases a ‘happy’ hormone called dopamine which can reduce stress and allows students to
have a more relax state of mind and at the same time strengthen the bond between the teacher
and students as well. Students normally enjoy listening to stories and educators could share
their ‘difficult journey’ as a science student themselves during their school days and could
lighten the entire classroom atmosphere by infusing some laughter and humour into their
stories. I would occasionally remind my students that “practices make improvement, not
perfection”. My ideology of everyone makes mistakes including myself including teachers
learn together with their students would promote hope and motivation, rather than
discouragement. At the same time, educators can think out of the box by also introducing
MBI (mindfulness-based intervention) therapy to combat excessive stress and anxiety in the
classroom. Research has shown that the efficacy of mindfulness training does show
improvement of some common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression in college
students (Goyal, M., Singh, S. et al, 2014). However, robust studies are still needed to make a
clear conclusion on its effectiveness especially in mild psychological problems faced by
adolescents in a school setting. Despite numerous studies had been made on MBI, I still felt
there are areas of improvement on how educators can be effectively trained to disseminate the
correlation of their learners in a science-based classroom. Excessive of MBI may also bring
negative effects according to Britton (2019).
Time Management.
15
Most of the time, I have seen my own students do not handle their academic workload well. It
is either they took on a lot of non-academic roles like sports activities in or outside school or
squeezed in many subjects at one go in one short semester. Learning Science comes with
huge responsibility of efficient time management. Students need to establish a right
connection in coping with increased workload (including endless laboratory experiments and
research) and high expectations from teachers as well their respective parents to ensure their
academic grades are on par to their objectives of going to a reputable university upon high
school graduation. I have seen my learners acting unsocially quiet, and easily agitated when
exams are around the corner. Students who have poor time management normally find
themselves getting inadequate rest and inconsistent sleep (Hechuan & Yang, 2020). Insomnia
are one of the known side effects of over-anxiety of students’ today. Sleep disturbance may
hamper a student’s progress in their studies, and this must be addressed immediately. Quality
sleep, or lacked of it can affect academic performance and concentration level during
classroom learning. I often see some of my students coming into my class half-awake!
Therefore, every educator must be able to advise our learners the importance of proper time
management and incorporate them into their study routine. Teachers can spend about 4-5
minutes discussing the challenges their students are facing in their studies and ways to
comprehend them before starting a lesson in proper would be ideal. Engaging is the most
powerful tool in helping students in coping stress and anxiety. Acknowledging and
recognising the students’ effort, perhaps by giving flexibility in their due assignments (Smith,
2013) could also lessen their anxiety levels.
Think Positive.
Science is tough. However, if a student continuously thinking that he or she is going to fail an
exam, this is going to increase a person’s stress level indirectly. This will also lead to increase
in high blood pressure and linked to heart disease (Martin, 2018). Stanford University has a
study that positivity thinking does increases the likelihood of a student’s success in studying
A-level Chemistry (Hess, 2018). Since we live in an imperfect world, problems and hurdles
in lives are inevitable. Teachers must educate their students and constantly remind them that
positive thinking can lead to a general healthy perspective in the most difficult situations,
enabling an individual to grow from a negative point of view (Wang et al., 2017). I felt that
schools in general also play important roles other than homeroom or subject teachers. A
framework of promoting mental wellbeing can be introduced. The identification of learners
with acute mental problems when dealing with certain subject difficulties primarily science
16
must be addressed. This is to ensure the teacher-student’s relationships can be fostered
(Hornby & Atkinson, 2003) healthily, and implementation of strategies to deal with different
kinds of mental health problems faced in the classroom before things get unruly can be in the
pipeline.
Figure 1.4. Diagram shows seven effective solutions to manage stress (Medhelp
Organisation. https://www.medhelp.org)
Laboratory Experience
My students are often excited whenever there is a need to enter the laboratory to do
experiment work. Since my subject requires regular visitations to the laboratory to execute
certain chemical experiments on certain days, I found my students are very fond and always
looking forward to carry out experiments whether individually or in groups. The excitement I
see in their faces were a far cry than my usual lectures in the classroom. In the classroom,
most of my learners would display restless and mundane character whilst listening to my
monotonous (I tried very hard to be more lively and interactive though) lectures. Initially, I
found this rather strange as the topics I teach in the classroom are almost very similar of what
the students are going to carry out the experiments in the laboratory. I have also noticed that
17
Stress
management
Therapy
Exercise
Hobby
MeditaonMusic
Nature
Time
Management
the more hyperactive students who regularly misbehaved in class are the ones that enjoy
practical lessons than the more disciplined students. I also managed to tone down the more
aggressive students by giving them ample tasks in the laboratory. And strangely enough, their
behaviour changed and their interest in learning Science, particularly Chemistry has taken a
positive route. They are more engaged with their friends, taken an interest to read the manual
diligently and can execute instructions obediently. I hardly see depressive and anxiety faces
anymore but more of gratification and excitement.
Intrinsic Motivation
In my previous PGCE studies, I did small a scale survey on my students primarily focusing
on the preferences of learning sciences particularly Chemistry in the laboratory or in the
classroom. The results obtained were highly biased towards learning in the laboratory.
Students are curious learners. Most are visual as well. Science students are traditionally very
eager in executing laboratory’ apparatuses utilising their motor and sensory organs rather
than memorising blankly have been widely researched (Greulich et al., 2017, Shana, 2019). I
felt that science students should enjoy learning the subject in a more unorthodox way like the
engagement of science learning activities in the laboratory which acts as an intrinsic
motivator which is extremely crucial for students’ development and overall understanding of
the subject (Ching SC., 2021). Encouraging motivation in science is a complex phenomenon
(Murayama, 2018). In short, I personally felt engaging laboratory work could be one of the
solutions educators could implement in their teaching program to combat stress and anxiety
in the Science classroom. Educators must learn different approaches and strategies in their
teaching portfolio to attract learner’s attention and subsequent eliminate boredom in
classroom learning. Teaching do not necessarily needed to be solely in the classroom.
Allowing freedom for students to move and mingle around create curiosity and self-
dependence which indirectly minimises subject stress as well as encouraging better
exploration of ideas.
Further Research Opportunities
18
Depression and anxiety are very common in young adults these days. They are mostly under
diagnosed and go unnoticed in a day-in-day-out basis. If we allowed these to continue, the
negative impact faced by our learners are enormous. Students are supposed to enjoy their
time in school like gaining substantial knowledge, positively mingling with their peers and
build sustainable friendship, certainly not facing the burden of handling stress which could
affect their social-emotional skills and self-esteem. However, if these mental health problems
are neglected, we may see an increment in social and behavioural problems, poor academic
performance and subsequently creating a vicious cycle that is damaging to the national
education system on a macro level. Continuous support system must be implemented and by
doing so, further research must be done by certain relevant channels like educational
stakeholders, mental health researchers from higher universities level and collaboration with
clinical psychiatrists may be necessary to draft out an effective and agreeable solution for our
current batch of Generation Z school learners which are more susceptible to mental
breakdown than any other age group of the previous generation (McKinsey & Co., 2022).
Conclusion
This evidence-based assignment clearly demonstrated that science students in both Secondary
and Pre-University level have shown distinct episodes of stress and anxiety in classroom
learning, particularly in a science classroom. This is due to many stressors or contributors to
stress which I have clearly outlined in this assignment. Now, upon realising and
acknowledging this as a common scenario in today’s science classroom, educators including
school policy-makers must find a way to mitigate this and not to allow this to continue.
Educators who are normally the first point of contact from students must try different
approaches in their teaching methodologies to improve learner’s mental health with special
attention given to stress, anxiety or even some depressive episodes. Be observant and look for
signs during lessons and immediately think of a solution before things get out of hands.
Regular communication with parents and constant discussion with school management are
also vital as this is to ensure students’ real academic potential can be amplified and
maximised rather than unjustifiably restricted by these mental impairments which can be
harmful in long term. Stress, anxiety and depression are silent mental problems which is hard
to distinguish from the outside. Science Educators should start getting more involved in their
pupil’s learning journey and critical engagement are essential to eradicate all these symptoms
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for the benefit of national advancement as a healthy mind and body build a great nation of
young learners of tomorrow.
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