Mental Alertness among Students of the Chemistry Department at the College of Education for Pure Sciences - Ibn Al-Haytham

Abstract

The current research aims to identify the level of mental alertness among students of the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Education for Pure Sciences – Ibn Al-Haytham during the academic year (2022-2023). To achieve this goal, a descriptive approach was followed. The research community was identified as all chemistry students across the four grades (first, second, third, and fourth). A sample from each grade was selected for the current research. A tool was prepared to measure mental alertness within the research sample. The researcher adopted the scale by Baer, Smith, Kristemoyer, & Tany (2006), which was developed by Al-Buhairi et al. (2014), ensuring its validity, reliability, and psychometric characteristics, making it ready for application. When the tool was applied in the second semester of the mentioned year, data were statistically analyzed using some statistical methods (SPSS23). It was generally found that students exhibited an average level of mental alertness and its dimensions, but observation showed that the level of mental alertness among students increased, which is a positive indicator. Additionally, fourth-grade students showed a higher level of mental alertness that increased with grade level. Based on these results, some conclusions were drawn, such as that mental alertness among the students of the Faculty of Pure Sciences, specifically in the Department of Chemistry, was at an average level. Recommendations were made, including measures to help students with low mental alertness improve. Proposals were also developed for incorporating mental alertness into teaching in the Department of Chemistry.