Students respond to each of the 30 SMQ items on a 5-point scale where 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = always. The SMQ maximum total score is 150 and the minimum is 30. There are five items in each of the six SMQ components (subscales); the maximum score on each component is 25 and the minimum is 5.
The anxiety about science assessment items are reverse-scored. “Reverse scored” means that a student’s response of “5” is tallied as a “1,” a response of “4” is tallied as a “2,” a response of “3” is tallied as a “3,” a response of “2” is tallied as a “4,” and a response of “1” is tallied as a “5.” Thus, a higher score on this component means less anxiety.
How to interpret a student’s total SMQ score:
120-150 motivated “often to always” (high motivation)
90-119 motivated “sometimes to often” (moderate motivation)
60-89 motivated “rarely to sometimes” (low motivation)
30-59 motivated “never to rarely” (very low motivation)
How to interpret a student’s SMQ component score:
Example 1: Confidence learning science
20-25 confident “often to always” (high confidence)
15-19 confident “sometimes to often” (moderate confidence)
10-14 confident “rarely to sometimes” (low confidence)
5-9 confident “never to rarely” (very low confidence)
Example 2: Anxiety about science assessment (reverse-scored)
20-25 anxious “never to rarely” (very low anxiety)
15-19 anxious “rarely to sometimes” (low anxiety)
10-14 anxious “sometimes to often” (moderate anxiety)
5-9 anxious “often to always” (high anxiety)