Influence of Laboratory Anxiety on Skill Acquisition and Confidence in Handling Electrical Equipment among Electrical Engineering Students

Abstract

This paper has discussed the role of laboratory anxiety in the learning of skills and confidence in operating electrical equipment among Electrical Engineering students. Due to the risky environment of electrical laboratories, it was discovered in the research that the fear of equipment, the fear of safety, the fear of error, and the pressure on the performance of students influence their technical performance and emotional preparedness. The study was carried out on a sample of 162 students who were taking major Electrical Engineering laboratory courses, using quantitative descriptive-correlational design. The structured survey was used as a source of data collection in measuring laboratory anxiety, perceived skill acquisition, and confidence levels. The relationships and predictive factors were also established using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses. Findings showed that the students have a high rate of laboratory anxiety especially on issues of safety and fear of working with electrical equipment. The acquisition of skills was observed to be of moderate level with troubleshooting being the lowest. The levels of confidence were moderate too, and the lowest scores were considered to be on working on live circuits. Notable negative correlation was identified that there is a strong association between the high anxiety and the low skill acquisition (r = -0.63) and low confidence (r = -0.71). The regression analysis revealed that the fear of electrical equipment is the most powerful predictor to both outcomes. The results focus on the necessity of improvement in safety training, scaffold work, and facilitating laboratory conditions.