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From enrollment to exams: Perceived stress dynamics among first-year physics students by Lahme, Simon Zacharias; Cirkel, Jasper Ole; Hahn, Larissa; Hofmann, Julia; Neuhaus, Josefine; Schneider, Susanne; Klein, Pascal is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

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The current dropout rate in physics studies in Germany is about 60\%, with the majority of dropouts occurring in the first year. Consequently, the physics study entry phase poses a significant challenge for many students. Students' stress perceptions can provide more profound insights into the processes and challenges during that period. In a panel study featuring 67 measuring points involving up to 128 participants at each point, we investigated students' stress perceptions with the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), identified underlying sources of stress, and assessed self-estimated workloads across two different cohorts. This examination occurred almost every week during the first semester, and for one cohort also in the second semester, yielding a total of 3,241 PSQ data points and 5,823 stressors. The PSQ data indicate a consistent stress trajectory across all three groups studied that is characterized by significant dynamics between measuring points, spanning from $M=20.1, SD=15.9$ to $M=63.6, SD=13.4$ on a scale from 0 to 100. Stress levels rise in the first weeks of the lecture, followed by stable, elevated stress levels until the exams and a relaxation phase afterward

Author

Lahme, Simon Zacharias; Cirkel, Jasper Ole; Hahn, Larissa; Hofmann, Julia; Neuhaus, Josefine; Schneider, Susanne; Klein, Pascal

Published

2024

Language

EN