Abstract

• The purpose of this study is to investigate the difficulties and influencing factors of students and the reasons for their difficulties in learning physics at the Basic Education High School Level in Myanmar. This study is descriptive research design. By using the simple random sampling method, 475 Grade Ten students and 448 Grade Eleven students who are learning physics in four Basic Education High Schools in Shwebo, Sagaing Region were used as the sample. In the collection of data, two instruments, the questionnaire for the difficulties of the students in learning physics and the questionnaire for the influencing factors of the students in learning physics were used. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson product-movement correlation were used. According to the results of the study, it can be seen that there was nearly two third of the total population of participants who had difficulty in learning physics and the majority of students are likely to face difficulties in solving problems in physics. The reasons for the difficulties of the students in learning physics were the complex, abstract nature and too much calculation of physics, lack of interest, mathematics skills and negative attitude of the students, the lack of the adequate school facilities and instructional materials. It can be concluded that physics teachers should establish and maintain a respectful, supportive and safe learning environment that is emotionally and physically conducive to learning in order to learn physics with great joy and success.