Assessing Grade 10 Learners’ Physics Vocabulary Anxiety in Design Thinking Process

The Design Thinking Process (DTP) is an iterative and flexible teaching approach consisting of five phases—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test—that encourages student collaboration to solve complex problems. This research study investigates the effects of Design Thinking Process on the physics vocabulary anxiety of the Grade-10 ABM learners of Quezon Bukidnon Comprehensive National High School during the second quarter of the 2023-2024 academic year. The study aims to examine 1. The level of learners’ physics vocabulary anxiety when exposed to DTP and those in non-DTP; and 2. Identify any significant difference in the learners’ physics vocabulary anxiety when exposed to DTP and those in non-DTP. This study used a quasi-experimental research design. The participants were seventy-five (75) grade10 ABM learners who were enrolled in physics. This study adopted a twelve (12) item survey questionnaire which is the Physics Vocabulary Classroom Anxiety Scale (PVCAS) with a Cronbach alpha of .80. The level of learners’ physics vocabulary anxiety is determined using descriptive statistics, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine the significant difference between groups. The study found that following the intervention, the DTP group exhibited a reduction in physics vocabulary anxiety, shifting from high anxiety during the pretest to moderate anxiety post-intervention. In contrast, the non-DTP group maintained consistently high anxiety levels both before and after the intervention. Additionally, the results revealed a significant difference in the levels of physics vocabulary anxiety between learners exposed to DTP and those exposed to non-DTP. These findings suggest that, despite physics being perceived as a challenging subject, the collaborative nature of the DTP approach effectively alleviated learners’ anxiety.