Abstract
Mathematical anxiety is a negative emotion experienced towards mathematics, which can influence a student's achievement in the subject. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of mathematical anxiety with the achievement of engineering students at local universities. The design of the survey study used a quantitative approach and was conducted to obtain the necessary information. The Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (RMARS) questionnaire containing 35 items and using a five-point Likert scale was distributed to a total of 293 respondents who were selected through simple random sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis, and inference and regression. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 23.0 was used to analyse the study data and then answer the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that the level of mathematical anxiety among engineering students was at a high level. In addition, the study showed that there was no significant relationship between mathematical anxiety and achievement of engineering students in terms of RMARS (r = 0.051, p = 0.381), GM (r = 0.102, p = 0.982), CM (r = 0.074, p = 0.205), and SE (r = 0.187, p = 0.001). A proposed improvement which could be implemented in future studies would be to increase the size of the sample and universities involved to study aspects of mathematical anxiety among engineering students. It is hoped that this study will be able to provide information to universities so that moral support can be provided to engineering students who have a high level of mathematical anxiety. Furthermore, this study is also expected to be a guide for further research in an effort to identify the factors that motivate engineering students to overcome the problem of mathematical anxiety.
Highlights
Mathematics is an important subject at every level of study and is categorised as a basic subject for other science subjects (Divjak & Tomic, 2011; Mohammad Ali & Hassan, 2019)
Descriptive analysis to identify the level of mathematical anxiety among engineering students in public universities in Malaysia was conducted based on the mean value, and standard deviation was conducted on 293 respondents involved in this study
The results of this study show that there is no significant relationship between mathematical anxiety and the achievement of engineering students
Summary
Mathematics is an important subject at every level of study and is categorised as a basic subject for other science subjects (Divjak & Tomic, 2011; Mohammad Ali & Hassan, 2019). The existence of additional mathematics and mathematics subjects in this pure science stream is considered challenging and difficult for students to master (Chowdhury, 2014; Veloo, Md Ali, & Krishnasamy , 2014). Ashcraft and Faust (1994) state that mathematical anxiety is a feeling of stress or extreme anxiety that can disrupt the process of solving a mathematical question. In other words, it can be seen when an individual is not convinced that they are capable of solving a mathematical problem and avoid engaging in any subject or field which involves mathematics (Sheffield & Hunt, 2006). The problem of mathematical anxiety is not unfamiliar in schools and it is one of the common anxieties experienced by students (Ahmed, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
