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Derived Chemistry Anxiety Rating Scale

DCARS

OVERVIEW
Overview
Listed below is general information about the instrument.
Summary
Original author(s)

  • Eddy, R.M
Original publication

  • Eddy, R. M. (1996). Chemophobia in the college classroom: Extent, sources, and student characteristics (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh).
Year original instrument was published 1996
Inventory
Number of items 36
Number of versions/translations 1
Cited implementations 3
Language
  • English
Country United States
Format
  • Response Scale
Intended population(s)
  • Students
  • Undergraduate
Domain
  • Affective
Topic
  • Anxiety
Evidence
The CHIRAL team carefully combs through every reference that cites this instrument and pulls all evidence that relates to the instruments’ validity and reliability. These data are presented in the following table that simply notes the presence or absence of evidence related to that concept, but does not indicate the quality of that evidence. Similarly, if evidence is lacking, that does not necessarily mean the instrument is “less valid,” just that it wasn’t presented in literature. Learn more about this process by viewing the CHIRAL Process and consult the instrument’s Review (next tab), if available, for better insights into the usability of this instrument.

Information in the table is given in four different categories:
  1. General - information about how each article used the instrument:
    • Original development paper - indicates whether in which paper(s) the instrument was developed initially
    • Uses the instrument in data collection - indicates whether an article administered the instrument and collected responses
    • Modified version of existing instrument - indicates whether an article has modified a prior version of this instrument
    • Evaluation of existing instrument - indicates whether an article explicitly provides evidence that attempt to evaluate the performance of the instrument; lack of a checkmark here implies an article that administered the instrument but did not evaluate the instrument itself
  2. Reliability - information about the evidence presented to establish reliability of data generated by the instrument; please see the Glossary for term definitions
  3. Validity - information about the evidence presented to establish reliability of data generated by the instrument; please see the Glossary for term definitions
  4. Other Information - information that may or may not directly relate to the evidence for validity and reliability, but are commonly reported when evaluating instruments; please see the Glossary for term definitions
Publications: 1 2 3

General
Original development paper ✔
Uses the instrument in data collection ✔ ✔ ✔
Modified version of existing instrument ✔
Evaluation of existing instrument ✔ ✔ ✔

Reliability
Test-retest reliability
Internal consistency
Coefficient (Cronbach's) alpha ✔ ✔
McDonald's Omega
Inter-rater reliability
Person separation
Generalizability coefficients
Other reliability evidence

Vailidity
Expert judgment ✔
Response process ✔ ✔
Factor analysis, IRT, Rasch analysis ✔ ✔
Differential item function
Evidence based on relationships to other variables ✔ ✔ ✔
Evidence based on consequences of testing
Other validity evidence

Other information
Difficulty
Discrimination
Evidence based on fairness
Other general evidence
Review
DISCLAIMER: The evidence supporting the validity and reliability of the data summarized below is for use of this assessment instrument within the reported settings and populations. The continued collection and evaluation of validity and reliability evidence, in both similar and dissimilar contexts, is encouraged and will support the chemistry education community’s ongoing understanding of this instrument and its limitations.
This review was generated by a CHIRAL review panel. Each CHIRAL review panel consists of multiple experts who first individually review the citations of the assessment instrument listed on this page for evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the data generated by the instrument. Panels then meet to discuss the evidence and summarize their opinions in the review posted in this tab. These reviews summarize only the evidence that was discussed during the panel which may not represent all evidence available in the published literature or that which appears on the Evidence tab.
If you feel that evidence is missing from this review, or that something was documented in error, please use the CHIRAL Feedback page.

Panel Review: Derived Chemistry Anxiety Rating Scale (DCARS)

(Post last updated June 24, 2022)

Review panel summary

The Derived Chemistry Anxiety Rating Scale (DCARS) is a 36-item instrument that was developed to measure anxiety associated with learning chemistry, being evaluated in chemistry, and handling chemicals. The instrument uses a Likert-type scale that ranges from 1 (“not at all” anxious) to 5 (“extremely” anxious). The DCARS was derived from the Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (RMARS) that measures math anxiety. Evidence for test content validity was explored through interviews with eight chemistry students who were selected based on their self-reported high anxiety associated with learning chemistry and handling chemicals [1]. The authors stated that the interview results indicated that the instrument was not capturing all aspects of student anxiety toward chemistry. Therefore, they aligned two items on the DCARS with topics that students discussed in the interviews about their anxiety toward chemistry. In addition, they eliminated items from the instrument based on a “not at all” anxious response from >70% of students [1]. The panel saw this as weak evidence for test content validity. Relation to other variables was explored by comparing total scores between the DCARS and instruments used to measure math and trait anxiety [1]. The authors provided evidence that these three types of anxiety were related but distinct through correlations and analysis of variance overlap. Internal structure was explored through factor analysis to ensure the three-factor structure, however the authors do not report any of the results from the factor analysis [1]. Single-administration reliability was reported through acceptable coefficient alpha estimates for both the total DCARS score and each subscale [1].

Recommendations for use

The DCARS was developed to measure anxiety associated with learning chemistry, being evaluated in chemistry, and handling chemicals. The panel felt that additional evidence for validity and reliability of interpretations were warranted for this instrument. Evidence was provided for the hypothesized internal structure of the three subscales, however, as details of the internal structure evidence was missing from the factor analysis result [1], we encourage future work to support this proposed structure. In addition, there was insufficient internal structure validity evidence to support the use of the DCARS as a total score. Overall, more evidence for validity of the data obtained from the DCARS would provide support for confidently interpreting the data to represent chemistry student’s various anxieties.

Details from panel review

The authors provided some evidence for validity and reliability for data collected by the DCARS [1]. The interviews with students to explore test content only supported the use of two items on the 36-item DCARS. The validity evidence provided through relations with other variables did not have cited literature support for the conclusions presented. The results from the factor analysis were not reported to support the internal structure of the DCARS. Because of the limited evidence presented, the panel recommends caution of the interpretations of data from the DCARS.

References

[1] Eddy, R.M. (2000). Chemophobia in the college classroom: Extent, sources, and student characteristics. Journal of Chemical Education, 77(4), 514-517. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed077p514

[2] Widanski, B.B., & McCarthy, W.C. (2009). Assessment of chemistry anxiety in a two-year college. Journal of Chemical Education, 86(12), 1447-1449. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed086p1447

Versions
Listed below are all versions and modifications that were based on this instrument or this instrument were based on.
Instrument is derived from:
Name Authors
Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale

  • Plake, B.S., & Parker, C.S.
Instrument has been modified in:
Name Authors
Derived Chemistry Anxiety Rating Scale (Turkish) (Senocak & Baloglu, 2014)

  • Senocak, E., & Baloglu, M.
Citations
Listed below are all literature that develop, implement, modify, or reference the instrument.

  1. Eddy, R. M. (1996). Chemophobia in the college classroom: Extent, sources, and student characteristics (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh).

  2. Eddy, R.M. (2000). Chemophobia in the College Classroom: Extent, Sources, and Student Characteristics. Journal of Chemical Education, 77(4), 514-517.

  3. McCarthy, W.C., & Widanski, B.B. (2009). Assessment of chemistry anxiety in a two-year college. Journal of Chemical Education, 86(12), 1447-1449.