ANOTHER PSYCHOMETRIC PROOF OF THE ABBREVIATED MATH ANXIETY SCALE USEFULNESS: IRT ANALYSIS

Selka Sadiković,Milan Oljača,Ilija Milovanović

doi:10.19090/pp.2018.3.301-323

Selka Sadiković, Milan Oljača + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2018.3.301-323

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Journal: Primenjena psihologija	Publication Date: Sep 25, 2018
Citations: 7	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Novi Sad

Abstract

The aim of this research is the psychometric evaluation of the Abbreviation Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) on a sample of high school students. AMAS operationalizes math anxiety as a two- dimensional construct, basing its main components on the context model: math learning anxiety (MAL) and math evaluation anxiety (MAE). MAL represents the tendency of manifesting mathematical anxiety during the process of learning mathematics, while MAE represents math anxiety present in all situations that imply formal evaluation of math knowledge. The sample consisted of 514 high school students (45.3% male), aged 15 to 19. Confirmatory factor analysis pointed that AMAS is a one–dimensional scale with two facets, with the bifactorial solution showing the best fit parameters. Psychometric attributes of AMAS were tested by using Item Response Theory. Items and the questionnaire showed appropriate psychometric properties. The AMAS scale has expected patterns of relatedness with mathematical achievement, motivation for learning math, age and gender.

Highlights

Mathematical anxiety (MA) represents negative emotional and behavioral reactions in the situations which include numbers, mathematics and the use of math operations, in contexts of education, employment, as well as in the everyday life (Ashcraft & Moore, 2009; Ma & Xu, 2004; Ramirez, Gunderson, Levine, & Beilock, 2013)
Math anxiety is a global and international phenomenon (Foley et al, 2017; OECD, 2013), and the results of PISA testing suggest that about 60% of high school students from various countries (e.g., Greece, Serbia, United Arab Emirates) encounter the problem of math anxiety, which is significantly higher compared to the OECD average (Baucal & Pavlović–Babić, 2010; Foley et al, 2017)
The verification of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) based on confirmatory models suggests that it is a one–dimensional construct, while the bifactorial model shows the best parameters of fit

Summary

Introduction

Mathematical anxiety (MA) represents negative emotional and behavioral reactions in the situations which include numbers, mathematics and the use of math operations, in contexts of education, employment, as well as in the everyday life (Ashcraft & Moore, 2009; Ma & Xu, 2004; Ramirez, Gunderson, Levine, & Beilock, 2013). Math anxiety is a global and international phenomenon (Foley et al, 2017; OECD, 2013), and the results of PISA testing suggest that about 60% of high school students from various countries (e.g., Greece, Serbia, United Arab Emirates) encounter the problem of math anxiety, which is significantly higher compared to the OECD average (Baucal & Pavlović–Babić, 2010; Foley et al, 2017). In regards to gender differences, most recent results showed a higher prevalence of math anxiety during a high school education in girls (Else–Quest, Hyde, & Linn, 2010; Hunt, Clark–Carter, & Sheffield, 2011; Maloney, Waechter, Risko, & Fugelsang, 2012; Primi, Busdraghi, Tomasetto, Morsanyi, & Chiesi, 2014). It was important to note that there were studies reporting no gender differences, or even higher math anxiety in male participants (for a short review see Devine, Fawcett, Szucs, & Dowker, 2012).

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