Mathematics Anxiety Research Articles

Student-Teacher Alliance Buffers Against the Impact of Moderate Math Anxiety on Course Performance among College Students

Student-Teacher Alliance Buffers Against the Impact of Moderate Math Anxiety on Course Performance among College Students

Perspectives of teachers on the signs and causes of mathematics anxiety

Math anxiety is a common challenge that affects students in different age groups, hinders their achievements in math, and leads to avoidance of math related activities. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the signs of math anxiety in students and the factors which contribute to math anxiety. The research instrument was an online questionnaire specially designed for this study. The questions related to the main aspects presented in this paper were closed questions, most of them measured on a 4-level Likert scale. The participants were 160 mathematics teachers, most of them active teachers with special qualifications and more than 5 years of experience in teaching mathematics. The participants were teaching on different grade levels, covering grades from 1 to 12. Participants self-reported a high familiarity with math anxiety, teachers with special qualification for teaching mathematics, those with more than 5 years of experience, and teachers teaching in grades 7-12 perceived a higher level of familiarity, but the differences were not statistically significant. Teachers reported that there are students with math anxiety in their classes, teachers with qualification reported more students with anxiety, teachers with more experience observed less students with anxiety, these differences being not significant. Teachers teaching grades 7-12 observed a significantly higher number of students with math anxiety than those teaching in grades 1-6. Also, teachers observed physical symptoms of math anxiety, those teaching grades 7-12 in a significantly higher number of students than those teaching in grades 1-6. As regarding other symptoms, increased stress or frustration while doing math and negative self-talk about math ability are the most frequently observed. Teachers consider that the main causes of students’ math anxiety are related to the parents, their math anxiety and their attitude to their child’smath ability could increase anxiety.

Math Anxiety and Development of an Instructional Material to Improve Performance in Mathematics

In the quest to improve mathematics proficiency, it is worthwhile to emphasize not only enhancing instructional strategies but also developing a positive attitude towards mathematics. One of the things that hinder students’ performance is math anxiety, which interferes with cognitive and learning processes. This research determined the level and causes of math anxiety among students and developed an instructional material to improve their performance in mathematics. The study is an educational design research (EDR). Data on the levels of math anxiety were gathered from 307 Mathematics students, and the causes were examined through focus group discussions with 50 students and 4 mathematics specialists. Using this data, an instructional material was developed and pilot implemented in a mathematics class of forty- two (42) students. Findings revealed that 80.13% of the student- respondents had Average to High Math Anxiety. The causes of math anxiety were mainly negative experiences such as past failures, pressure to find the correct answers, embarrassment in front of peers, and strict teachers. Instructional materials that reduce math anxiety are easy to understand, contain varied activities, and incorporate additional online resources. Analysis of paired samples t-test conducted using SPSS resulted to a t-value of -12.513 and a p-value of 0.000, revealing that the instructional material significantly lowered math anxiety and improved the student’s performance in mathematics. It is recommended that universities expand guidance and counseling services to recognize math anxiety as an integral factor in students’ mental health and conduct a review of the mathematics instructional materials to evaluate their adequacy in lowering the math anxiety.

Multiple regression analysis: effects of math anxiety and self-regulated learning on learning outcomes

Student learning outcomes are not only influenced by cognitive factors but also affective factors. This study used a research design to investigate the influence of math anxiety and self-regulated learning on student learning outcomes. The population of this study was all secondary schools in Yogyakarta. The sample used consisted of 187 female students and 127 male students in grades X, XI, and XII. Data were obtained through student learning outcomes and the distribution of affective scales to students to obtain data on math anxiety and self-regulated learning. The analysis concluded that math anxiety and self-regulated learning influence student learning outcomes. The effect of math anxiety and self-regulated learning on female students is 86.7% and on male students is 15.8%. There is a model to calculate the effect obtained based on the analysis, namely Ŷ = -9,077 + 0,455 X1 + 0,826 X2 for female students and Ŷ = 0,815 X1+ 0,480 X2 for male students.

Effect of blended learning on mathematical achievement and anxiety: A context-based technology integration for meaningful learning

Ethiopia has envisioned becoming a middle-income country in the year 2030. To achieve this vision, several initiatives including the ESDP (I-VI), GQIP, and the education development Roadmap have been undertaken to improve the quality of education at all levels. Apart from those initiatives, it is equally important to rethink of a pedagogical approach that suits the contemporary technological advancement and cultural contexts. Currently, our world is experiencing scientific and technological changes, but the customary methods are relatively unable to cope with these changes. It is no longer viable to rely on one-size-fits-all curriculum. So far, the impact of instructional technology on students learning is not consistent and lacks specific context of students’ environment. This indicates that there is a need for intensive investigation to make learning more meaningful and interactive. This study aimed to restructure the existing mathematics course in Ethiopian higher education so as to produce a pedagogically enhanced learning environment. To achieve the goal of the study, a pedagogical intervention with a time series design was made at Wolkite University, Ethiopia. The repeated measures ANOVA show significant difference between students’ mean scores of course achievement measured before, during and after the intervention (F (2.182, 52.358) = 8.354, p < .05, ƞ2 = 0.258). The multiple comparison test further shows a significant improvement of students’ mathematical achievement. It was also found that when technology was used as a tool to enhance students learning, it can overcome the math anxiety caused by the cognitive failure. Therefore, blended learning could be a good approach to enhance students’ mathematics achievement. This might also be extended at lower levels. Additional imperative implications for practice and future research are forwarded.

Mathematics anxiety in undergraduate business studies students

Abstract Performance in mathematics can be attributed to factors other than mathematical ability. A growing body of literature examines the significant impact of mathematics anxiety (MA) on mathematical performance and individuals' choices concerning study and career pathways. However, much of the focus has been on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, renowned for their high mathematical content. This study examines the prevalence, characteristics and influence of MA in undergraduate business studies students. In all aspects of business, there is a strong impetus for the adoption of artificial intelligence, data analytics and machine learning, prompting reform of business studies curricula. Hence, this is a critical juncture at which to examine MA within this cohort. We survey undergraduate business studies students using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale-UK as a measure of participants' MA and examine its relevance in business major selection. Gender emerges as a key differentiating factor in levels of MA and the selection of business majors.

Age Guessing: A Game to Introduce Fundamental Statistical Concepts

We develop a spreadsheet-based game to illustrate fundamental statistical concepts in the first class of an undergraduate Statistics course to motivate students about the topics that they will learn in upcoming classes. This game has been implemented by Google Forms and Google Sheets and can be played in both online and in-person classes of small and large sizes. Statistics is one of the most anxiety-inducing courses for undergraduate students, especially if mathematics is not the focus of their program. Negative anecdotes about the course, mathematics anxiety, and not knowing what the course is exactly about and how practical it can be are among the reasons that contribute to statistics anxiety. The first class provides a good opportunity for an instructor to mitigate these negative impressions and to set a positive attitude toward the course. A pre- and post-game group discussion that we have conducted systematically for six years suggests that the game addresses the students’ negative impression about the course and helps them gain a clearer understanding of the tools and skills they will learn in Statistics. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Inhibitory Control Training for Anxiety and Math Achievement in Primary School Children: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Study.

Cognitive control training (CCT) has shown potential to reduce emotional vulnerability in adults and adolescents. However, there is scant literature testing the efficacy of CCT for the reduction of anxiety and transferring the effects to educational outcomes in children. Building on the evidence that a greater ability to suppress a prepotent response (inhibitory control) is associated with higher math achievement in children, it is plausible that training inhibitory processes using a CCT paradigm may be beneficial for reducing anxiety, improving inhibitory control, and in turn increasing math achievement. This proof-of-concept study aims to investigate the efficacy of 15 sessions of inhibitory control training for reduction in anxiety and improvement in math achievement in primary school children. We will use a 2 (group: CCT, adaptive Go/No-Go vs active control, low-load task) multiplied by 4 (time: pre- vs posttraining vs 1-month vs 3-month follow-up) randomized design in a nonselected sample of 100 children aged 8-10 years. Both groups will complete 10 minutes of daily training for 3 weeks at school. The dependent variables will be anxiety and correlates (Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children, Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale, Child Response Style Questionnaire, and Modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale), inhibitory control (Go/No-Go task), shifting (color-shape shifting task), updating (n-back task), and math achievement (Applied Problems, Calculation, and Math Facts Fluency subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement). We opened enrollment in September 2023. The initial results are expected to be published in late 2024. We predict that children in the CCT group will show a reduction in emotional symptoms; improvements in inhibition, shifting, and updating performance; and advances in math achievement from pre- to posttraining, and that these effects will be maintained at 1- and 3-month follow-ups, compared to children in the active control group. The CCT paradigm used in our study will provide a greater understanding of the emotional and cognitive transfer effects on children and inform future work. Specifically, the findings will advance the knowledge of deploying inhibitory control training with children and provide valuable insights into its use for reducing anxiety and advancing math achievement. Open Science Framework ofs.io/de2qa; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DE2QA. PRR1-10.2196/52929.

Profiles of general, test, and mathematics anxiety in 9- and 12-year-olds: relations to gender and mathematics achievement

AbstractAs international focus increasingly turns to the need to build a future mathematics workforce, research has aimed to better understand the salient individual and contextual factors that influence maths engagement and achievement across development. This study investigates self-reported general anxiety, test anxiety, and maths anxiety in two cohorts of Australian students aged 9–10 years (n = 158) and 12–13 years (n = 115) and associations with maths achievement and gender. Test and maths anxiety were negatively correlated with maths achievement and there were no gender differences in maths achievement. Cross-sectional latent profile analyses established two anxiety profiles in the older cohort (low and high across all anxiety measures) and a more complex five-profile solution for the younger cohort (various combinations of anxiety). Members of profiles with higher levels of test and mathematics anxiety had lower maths achievement, with girls over-represented in these profiles.

Understanding the social-emotional components of our "number sense": insights from a novel non-symbolic numerical comparison task.

A large body of work has identified a core sense of number supported by the Approximate Number System (ANS) that is present in infancy and across species. Although it is commonly assumed that the ANS directly processes perceptual input and is relatively independent from affective factors, some evidence points at a correlation between ANS performance and math anxiety. However, the evidence is mixed. We tested whether giving participants active control in completing a numerical task would change the relationship between math anxiety on performance. Adult participants (N = 103) completed a novel four-alternative-forced-choice non-symbolic numerical comparison task. In a repeated-measures design, participants either passively viewed different dot arrays or actively chose to view each array (i.e., active information-seeking) before deciding on the largest quantity. Participants also provided confidence judgments during the passive version of the task. We replicated the ratio-dependent signature in participants' accuracy in both the passive and active versions of the task using this novel paradigm, as well as in trial-level confidence judgments and information-seeking behavior. Participants' self-reported math anxiety significantly correlated with their accuracy on the passive version of the task. Critically, the correlation disappeared in the active version of the task. Gender also emerged as a predictor of confidence judgments and a moderator of the effect of task on overall accuracy and the effect of active information seeking on accuracy in the active version of the task. Exploratory analysis of estimated Weber Fraction suggests that these results may be driven by auxiliary factors instead of changes in ANS acuity. These findings have implications for understanding the relationship between math anxiety and performance on numerical tasks.

The Effectiveness of the Jigsaw and Traditional Teaching Methods on Math Anxiety, Attitude and Performance

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of cooperative learning on mathematics anxiety, attitudes towards mathematics, and mathematics performance of the 12th-class Private school students of Herat City by using a quasi-experimental study. The statistical population included 650 individuals who were all high school students. 40 individuals were selected in two 20-individual groups by the multistage cluster random sampling method. The Math Anxiety Scale (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007), the Mathematics Attitude Scale (Fennema-Sherman, 2000), and teacher-made tests of mathematics academic performance were used to collect data. The Jigsaw cooperative learning model was used to monitor the effectiveness of the presence or absence of cooperative learning, and the data were analyzed using SPSS software and one-way covariance analysis (ANOVA). In this study, three hypotheses were formulated, and their results indicated that there is a significant difference between the Jigsaw cooperative and traditional learning models in terms of math anxiety, attitudes towards math, and mathematics performance of the 12th-class Private school students of Herat City. It is concluded that the Jigsaw cooperative learning model can be used as one of the effective methods in schools to reduce mathematics anxiety, foster a positive attitude towards mathematics, and enhance the 12th-class Private school students’ mathematics performance.

Impact of math anxiety and developmental dyscalculia on working memory performance in numeric and non-numeric contexts in school-aged children

Impact of math anxiety and developmental dyscalculia on working memory performance in numeric and non-numeric contexts in school-aged children

How mathematical dispositions of adult learners play a role in their STEM choices

AbstractMathematical dispositions, or an individual's behavioral (i.e., things they say and do), cognitive (i.e., attention and memory), and affective (i.e., emotions and beliefs) tendencies related to mathematics, are critical to the learning of mathematics and choices related to STEM. Previous research has suggested that adult learners may possess unproductive mathematical dispositions, such as high math anxiety and low math self‐efficacy. This paper argues that unproductive mathematical dispositions may serve as a barrier to adult learners' STEM choices and provides strategies and techniques to help move adult learners towards productive mathematical dispositions and potentially stronger attraction to STEM fields.

The effect of digital stories prepared according to realistic mathematics education on students' mathematical achievements, anxiety and attitudes

This research examined the effects of digital stories prepared according to Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) on the mathematics achievement, anxiety and attitudes of 4th-grade students. A quasi-experimental design with the pretest-posttest control group, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in the research. The research was conducted with 69 fourth-grade students studying in a public primary school in the Tarsus district of Mersin province in the second term of the 2021-2022 academic year. In the experimental group, the teaching was carried out by the researcher using digital stories prepared according to RME, the researcher carried out the learning in one of the control groups according to the current curriculum, and the classroom teacher carried out the teaching in the other control group according to the current curriculum for seven weeks. Two-factor ANOVA (mixed ANOVA) was used for mixed measurements to analyse the data obtained from the study. As a result of the statistical analyses, it was determined that digital stories prepared according to RME made a significant difference in the increase of students' academic achievement and mathematics attitudes but did not create a substantial difference in mathematics anxiety.

The impact of mathematics anxiety on technology career choices: A comprehensive study on the relationship between anxiety levels, misconceptions, and tech career selection

Quite number of researchers has looked into the level of anxiety perceived by different individuals, both in the educational environment and non-educational environment on Mathematics. However, none has looked at how this anxiety influenced technology skill/career selection which birth misconception. This research work aimed to address this issue by considering all forms of tech careers/skills and exploring the relationship between these factors and their career decisions, proving insights into fostering better perceptions among tech professionals. To achieve this, an online survey was conducted by creating and sharing a Google form to individuals on social media. A total of 250 responses were collected and analysed. The result shows that, mathematics anxiety does not influence willingness to pursue a tech career. Also, there is no significant difference in the perception of mathematics requirements among participants who are aware of tech career mathematics and those who are not. Specifically, participants with higher educational backgrounds, such as MSc or PhD, tend to report higher self-confidence in mathematical abilities compared to those with lower backgrounds, such as WAEC or OND. However, this study did not find evidence to suggest that gender influences how individuals rate their confidence in mathematical abilities.

How is the conceptual level of students associated with learning outcomes in math? Testing the mediating role of math anxiety and the moderating role of motivating style

How is the conceptual level of students associated with learning outcomes in math? Testing the mediating role of math anxiety and the moderating role of motivating style

How do Math Anxiety and Self-Confidence Affect Mathematical Problem Solving?

Problem-solving performance requires both cognitive and affective aspects related to math anxiety and self-confidence. This study aims to determine the effect of math anxiety and self-confidence on geometry problem-solving skills and then explore students' geometry problem-solving based on their level of math anxiety and self-confidence. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach with a sequential explanatory design and involved 106 students. The quantitative portion of the study employed a multiple linear regression test to examine the influence of math anxiety and self-confidence on problem solving. Furthermore, qualitative research was done to thoroughly examine the effect through in-depth interviews. The results demonstrate that math anxiety and self-confidence influenced geometry problem-solving (R = 0.476; p = 0.000) and contributed 22.6% based on the value of R-square. Furthermore, the present study also found differences in the performance of a subject with low math anxiety and high self-confidence and a subject with high math anxiety and low self-confidence.

Math Anxiety and its Relation to the Success of Mathematical Problems

ath anxiety is widespread problem described as worry and tension while doing mathematics. The aim of research is to determine whether there is a correlation between math anxiety and the performance of elementary school students in solving mathematical problems at the second level. . The theoretical part of the thesis contains information and empirical findings about math anxiety and solving mathematical problems. The research sample was comprised of 138 (46,38 % girls and 53,62 % boys) 9th grade elementary learners from Slovak republic. The data were collected by the questionnaire of our own design comprising: the modified abbreviated math anxiety scale, the state-trait anxiety inventory, and the math test. Quantitative data analysis methods included descriptive statistics and Spearman coefficient as a measurement of correlation between variables. The results have revealed that mathematics anxiety has significant correlation (R = - 0.401; p = 1,09216.10-6, p < 0.01) with the success of mathematical problems and significant correlation (R = 0.608; p = 2,44249.10-15, p < 0.01) with the mathematics achievement. 36,23 % of the participants reported high math anxiety, and a further 18% were at least somewhat affected by it. The results confirm that the mAMAS questionnaire is an appropriate tool for determining the level of mathematical anxiety among pupils in Slovakia.

Anxiety predicts math achievement in kindergarten children.

Math anxiety (MA) is an academic anxiety about learning, doing, and evaluating mathematics, usually studied in school populations and adults. However, MA likely has its origins before children go to school. For example, studies have shown that general anxiety (GA) for everyday events is less separable from MA in primary than in early secondary school. This suggests that GA may be a precursor of MA. For this reason, here, we have examined whether GA is already associated with math achievement at the end of kindergarten. We tested 488 Hungarian kindergarten children aged 5.7 to 6.9 years (55% girls) and analyzed the effect of GA, sex, and family SES on math achievement in kindergarten children. Strikingly, confirming results from primary school children, we found that GA negatively correlated with math achievement already in this preschool population. Higher GA levels had a stronger negative effect on girls' than boys' math achievement. However, there were no significant sex differences in math achievement in kindergarten. Additionally, family socioeconomic status was the strongest predictor of math achievement. We speculate that high GA in preschool is a plausible early precursor of later high MA. Early interventions could aim to control GA levels before children start formal schooling.

Mathematics anxiety and number processing: The link between executive functions, cardinality, and ordinality.

One important factor that hampers children's learning of mathematics is math anxiety (MA). Still, the mechanisms by which MA affects performance remain debated. The current study investigated the relationship between MA, basic number processing abilities (i.e., cardinality and ordinality processing), and executive functions in school children enrolled in grades 4-7 (N = 127). Children were divided into a high math anxiety group (N = 29) and a low math anxiety group (N = 31) based on the lowest quartile and the highest quartile. Using a series of analyses of variances, we find that highly math-anxious students do not perform worse on cardinality processing tasks (i.e., digit comparison and non-symbolic number sense), but that they perform worse on numerical and non-numerical ordinality processing tasks. We demonstrate that children with high MA show poorer performance on a specific aspect of executive functions-shifting ability. Our models indicate that shifting ability is tied to performance on both the numerical and non-numerical ordinality processing tasks. A central factor seems to be the involvement of executive processes during ordinality judgements, and executive functions may constitute the driving force behind these delays in numerical competence in math-anxious children.