CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Background of the Study

Mathematics is an important subject at the

basic, second cycle and the tertiary level. Its

importance cannot be underestimated in the national

curriculum. The usefulness of the subject is evident

in all subjects including language based subjects.

It is a fact that, success in any form of training

and work generally depends on the ability to

understand simple mathematical concepts effectively.

Moreover, mathematics is a basic requirement

for furthering one’s education. Poor performance in

mathematics among pupils has been a big problem for

most teachers in our Ghanaian schools especially

forms one pupils of Saint James Methodist Junior

High School. Policy makers, the Ghana Education

Service and other stakeholders in education all

express worry about the poor performance in

mathematics nationwide. The researcher observed that

1

most of the pupils in the school have difficulties

in understanding simple mathematic concept (like

fraction, decimal, etc) largely due to anxiety among

other factors.

Saint James Methodist Junior High School is

located at Axim in the Nzema East Municipality in

the western region of Ghana. Fishing and subsistence

farming is the predominant occupation of the people.

The population of the area is estimated around ten

thousand (10000). Despite their occupation they

still see education as key to the development of

their community. Interestingly, most parents do not

have time for their wards education due to one

reason or another especially when their children

attend government school. I perceive the parent’s

attitude towards their wards education may be

attributed to poverty and low educational

background. The poverty level of the people is

evident in their livelihood. The educational level

of most of the parents in Axim is either basic or

did attend school at all. However, there are few

2

parents who are committed to giving their children

the best of education.

The researcher’s interest towards the investigation

into anxiety factor and its effects on poor

performance of mathematics is as a result of the

following observation:

Firstly, the students under study do well in

other subjects but but low marks in mathematics. So

there is a cause for worry.

Secondly, their approach to other subjects is

very encouraging but mathematics. Taking their

general interest in other subjects into

consideration as compared to mathematics is woefully

abysmal.

In addition, it was observed that pupils

intentionally skip mathematics classes (especially

morning lessons) because of fear of being punished

in early morning mathematics drill popularly called

“mental”.

3

Moreover, the researcher observed critically

that the relationship between the mathematics

teacher and the pupils is not the best (as compared

to other teachers); it can best as described as

“Master-Novice” relationship. The researcher

strongly believes that this is a contributing factor

to the mathematics anxiety among pupils in Saint

James Methodist Junior High School.

The researcher also observed with keen interest

other factors that may contribute to general poor

performance of mathematics at Saint James Methodist

Junior high School and it was revealed that teachers

teaching competencies (pedagogy) is another factor.

An observation at the primary school revealed that

class teachers concentrate more on subject they are

comfortable at against those they have challenges in

its delivery and mathematics seem to be one of the

challenging subjects. It was also observed that

teachers either skip challenging topics or teach it

haphazardly.

4

Lastly, pupils lack other learning materials

such as workbook, mathematics, graph and other

learning material that can help them to further

practice at home to complement what was taught in

school.

At this juncture, let me acknowledge that

researcher’s investigation into the causes and

prevent of mathematics anxiety popularly called

mathematics phobia among pupils will not only

improve the performance in mathematics at the basic

schools but also its ripple effect will be felt in

other subjects especially the sciences.

Abstract

The research which was conducted for the pupil

of Saint James Methodist Junior High School was

aimed at investigating into the causes and

prevention of mathematical anxiety (mathematics

phobia) in order to improve mathematics performance

5

among pupils. The main instruments used for data

collection were questionnaire, observation and test.

The population consisted of all pupils in Saint

James Methodist Junior High School form one.

However, twelve (12) were used as the sample

population. Five (5) teachers from the junior high

school and primary school were also used for the

study.

Findings from the study revealed that teaching

mathematics using games, appropriate teaching aid,

encouragement and positive reinforcement greatly

reduces anxiety among pupils and hence improve

performance of mathematics.

Based on the findings from the study, it was

recommended that teachers should vary their teaching

methods for better lesson delivery. In-Service

training should be organized regularly for

Mathematics teachers to better equip them on the

right strategies and approaches in their lesson.

Games and teaching aid should be encouraged in the

6

teaching and learning process. Finally, it was

reveal that most mathematics teachers are feared by

their pupils, therefore, positive reinforcement such

as praise, encouragement be employed regularly and

effectively to encourage pupil to be at ease during

mathematics lesson since this goes a long way to

reduce mathematics anxiety among pupils.

Statements of the problem

The problem was identified during a mathematics

lesson where some pupils could not do simple

addition of numerals which was taught previously

because of fear of been beaten or fear of the

subject. The researcher observed that pupil get

tensed whenever it is change over for mathematics

lesson. It was also observed that most of the

student could not do simple understand simple

mathematical calculation. It is against this

background that the researcher is investigating into

these problems and also to design an intervention

process to arrest the situation

7

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to investigate into

and identify the possible causes and prevention of

mathematics anxiety (mathematics phobia) among form

one pupils of Saint James Methodist Junior High

School with the aim of improving mathematics

performance in the school.

Research Question

The researcher formulated the following questions to

serve as a guide for the research.

1. What is mathematics anxiety (mathematics phobia)?

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2. What are the causes of mathematics anxiety

(mathematics phobia) among the pupils of Saint James

Methodist form one?

3. In what way does Mathematics anxiety (mathematics

phobia) contributes to the poor performance of

mathematics among form one pupils of Saint James

Methodist Junior High School?

4. What are some of teaching strategies that can be

used to minimized or prevent mathematics anxiety

(mathematics phobia) among form one pupils of Saint

James Methodist Junior High School?

Significances of the study

The outcome of the study will be helpful to

pupils, teachers, policy makers and parent. It will

improve pupils’ performance in mathematics and its

ripple effect will be felt in other subjects. The

outcome will enable teachers to employ appropriate

teaching technique and also strengthen a good pupil-

teacher relationship to ease unnecessary tension on

students in their lesson delivery. Again, the

outcome of the study will build confidence in

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students and make them love the subject they dreaded

most so that they can advance to higher academic

level of education.

The findings of the study will be beneficial to

the policy maker and curriculum developers in

preparation curriculum materials and implementation

of policies for the basic schools of the country. It

will also help parent to buy supplementary books and

take their wards education seriously.

Limitation

Adequate time was difficult to come by in

obtaining relevant information for this project. I

have really come to notice that the process of

gathering information from the basic school in the

Nzema East municipality needs time.

Some colleague teachers were reluctant to open

up to me for reasons best known to them. Truancy

also had its fair share on the problem encountered

especially among those from the coastal towns.

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Moreover, combining the research work with teaching

which involves preparation of lesson notes, weekly

one-on-one to and from the course centre coupled

with preparation of learning materials was a hectic

task.

Delimitation

The researcher would have wished to cover all

schools in Nzema East Municipality but due to time,

financial and other constraints, the researcher

concentrated on only Saint James Methodist Junior

High School even within this the scope of the

researcher it again limited to form one class from

which only12 pupils were sampled.

Conclusion

The chapter one talked about the introduction,

purpose of the study, statement of the study

research question, limitation and delimitation.

The chapter two focuses on the review of the

related literature on the purposed area of study.

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Chapter three comprises the description of the

methodology, the population and sample and sampling

procedure, the materials used in collecting data, it

also provides data collection procedure and discuss

the analysis of data and used in the study.

Chapter four presents and discusses the

analysis of data, intervention measures and summary.

Chapter five presents summary of the findings,

conclusion, recommendations, suggestions, appendices

and reference.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In conducting an action research on the topic

“Investigation into mathematics anxiety and

prevention (mathematics phobia) and performance

among form one pupils of Saint James Methodist

Junior High School ” the researcher decided to

review the related topic to enable him have the

overall goals of classifying how his study would

intend to address the gap in the existing

literatures. The literature is reviewed under the

following:

13

1. What is mathematics anxiety (or mathematics

phobia)?

2. What are the causes of mathematics anxiety (or

mathematics phobia)?

3. Mathematics anxiety and its contribution to poor

performance of mathematics in schools.

4. Teaching strategies that can minimize mathematics

anxiety among pupils.

2.2. What is mathematics anxiety?

Math anxiety

Cambridge International Dictionary of English

explains anxiety as an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or

worry about something that is happening or might happen”. Per

the definition, mathematics anxiety can be defined

as uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry

about mathematics. In other words,

Mathematical anxiety is anxiety about one's ability

to do mathematics independent of skills.

14

Mathematics anxiety is a phenomenon that is

often considered when examining students’ problems

in mathematics. It can also be called Mathematics

Phobia. Mark H. Ashcraft, Ph.D. defines math anxiety

as “a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that

interferes with math performance” (2002, p. 1). The

first math anxiety measurement scale was developed

by Richardson and Suinn in 1972. Since this

development, several researchers have examined math

anxiety in empirical studies. Hembree (1990)

conducted a thorough meta-analysis of 151 studies

concerning math anxiety.

Tsanwani (2009) views mathematics anxiety as an

irrational and impedimental dread of mathematics.

This term is used to describe the panic,

helplessness, mental paralysis and disorganisation

that arise among some individuals when they are

required to solve a problem of a mathematical

nature. The literature further indicates that

mathematics anxiety refers to a person’s feelings of

tension and anxiety that interfere with the

15

manipulation of numbers and the solving of

mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary

and academic settings (Khatoon and Mahmood, 2010:

Leppavirta, 2011; Newstead, 1995; 2006; Perry 2004).

It can also be viewed that the sense of discomfort

observed while working on mathematical problems, is

associated with fear and apprehension to specific

mathematics related settings and seems unbiquitous .

(Khatoon and Mahmood, 2010).

2.3 What are the causes of mathematics anxiety (or

mathematics phobia)?

Causes

Hadfield and McNeil (1994) proposed a model of

mathematics anxiety which revolves round around

three main factors: environmental, intellectual and

personality variable. Environmental factors include

the classroom issues, parental pressure and the

perception of mathematics as a rigid set of rules.

16

Intellectual variables include a mismatch of

learning style and self-doubt, whilst personality

factor include a a reluctance to ask question in

class and low-self esteem. Chinn (2008) argues that

the advantage of this tripartite model is that it

considers several, often inter-related factors.

However, besides parents, other individuals who

either contribute or are experiencing mathematics

anxiety are not clearly stated. A further

classification by Baloglu and Kocak (2006) cited

three anchors of mathematics anxiety namely:

dispositional, situational and environmental. In

addition to Hadfield and McNeil’s element of

environmental variable, Baloglu and Kocak view the

elements thereof as issues that affect learners

prior to their mathematical engagement; these

include age, gender, academic subjects, and previous

mathematics experience. The dispositional anchor

deals with psychological and emotional features such

as attitude towards mathematics, self-concept and

learning style. The self concept refers to the

17

learners’ perception of their own ability to perform

well in mathematics and to learn new topics. The

situational anchor refers to direct features that

result from the mathematics subject which include

the design, topics, how the subject is presented and

the availability or lack of feedback.

Mathematics anxiety may also be associated with

the social learning theory (Erdogan, Kesici and

Sahin ,2011). Social learning theory focuses on

learning that occurs within a social context. It

considers that people learn from one another.

Negative or positive perceptions of mathematics from

parents and/or teachers are likely to give learners

some message (Sahin, 2008). According to Thomas

and Furner (1997), parents and teachers emphasise

how difficult mathematics is and, at the same time,

tell how mathematics skills are essential for

learners’ future achievements. Vann (1993) observed

that mathematics in the mother was significantly

predictive of mathematics anxiety in children. This

18

implies that mathematics anxiety could be learned

behaviour.

Students often develop mathematical anxiety in

schools, often as a result of learning from teachers

who are themselves anxious about their mathematical

abilities in certain areas. Typical examples of

areas where mathematics teachers are often

incompetent or semi-competent include fractions,

(long) division, algebra, geometry "with proofs",

calculus, and topology. In many countries, would-be

math teachers are required only to obtain passing

grades of 51% in mathematics exams, so that a math

student who has failed to understand 49% of the math

syllabus throughout his or her education can, and

often does, become a math teacher. His or her fears

and lack of understanding then pass naturally to his

or her students. As John Taylor Gatto has

demonstrated at length, modern Western schools were

deliberately designed during the late 19th century

to create an environment which is ideal for

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fostering fear and anxiety, and for preventing or

delaying learning.

Math is usually taught as a right and wrong

subject and as isf getting the right answer was

paramount. In contrast to most subjects, mathematics

problems almost always have a right answer.

Additionally, the subject is often taught as if

there were a right way to solve the problem and any

other approaches would be wrong, even if students

got the right answer. When learning, understanding

the concepts should be paramount, but with a

right/wrong approach to teaching math, students are

encouraged not to try, not to experiment, not to

find algorithms that work for them, and not to take

risks. “Teachers benefit children most when they

encourage them to share their thinking process and

justify their answers out loud or in writing as they

perform math operations. With less of an emphasis on

right or wrong and more of an emphasis on process,

teachers can help alleviate students' anxiety about

math”.

20

While teaching of many subjects has progressed

from rote memorization to the current Constructivist

approach, math is still frequently taught with a

rote learning behaviourist approach. That is:

A problem set is introduced

A solution technique is introduced

Practice problems are repeated until mastery is

achieved

Constructivist theory says the learning and

knowledge is the student’s creation, yet rote

learning and a right/wrong approach to teaching math

ensures that it is external to the student.

Teachers who actually understand what they are

teaching tend to encourage questions from the

students. Those teachers who do not understand much

about their subject, on the other hand, impose fear

on the students to prevent them from asking

questions which might expose the teacher's

ignorance.

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It has long been well established that anyone

(other than a tiny minority who have serious

learning disabilities) can learn any area of

mathematics, given a desire to learn, a coherent

presentation of the information, and adequate

practice. Nevertheless, many educational

administrators continue to profess the belief that

anything more complex than simple arithmetic is too

difficult for most people.

In spite of this, a remarkably high percentage

[quantify] of schoolchildren continue to find

mathematics interesting, relaxing, easy, and

enjoyable.

2.4. Mathematics anxiety and its contribution to

performance of mathematics in schools

It has been determined that math anxiety is

related to poor math performance on math achievement

tests and that math anxiety is related to negative

attitudes concerning math. Hembree also suggests

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that math anxiety is directly connected with math

avoidance. That is, the pupils who are

mathematically anxious develop a great dislike for

mathematics related subjects. Ashcraft (2002)

suggests that highly anxious math students will

avoid situations in which they have to perform

mathematical calculations. Unfortunately, math

avoidance results in less competency, exposure and

math practice, leaving students more anxious and

mathematically unprepared to achieve. In college and

university, anxious math students take fewer math

courses and tend to feel negative towards math.

In fact, Ashcraft found that the correlation

between math anxiety and variables such as

confidence and motivation are strongly negative. In

addition to their avoidance of mathematics, high

math anxious people often experience negative

thoughts and ruminations when they are engaging in

math tasks. These negative thoughts often focus on

the consequences of doing poorly on their math

problems or tests (Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001). Math

23

anxiety can start in children as young as first

grade. Research by Sian Beilock and colleagues

demonstrates that not only do young children

experience math anxiety, but this anxiety is

associated with poor performance in math (e.g.,

Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez, & Levine, 2010).

According to Ashcraft, because math anxiety can

cause math avoidance, an empirical dilemma arises.

For instance, when a highly math-anxious student

performs disappointingly on a math question, it

could be due to math anxiety, or the lack of

competency in math because of math avoidance.

Ashcraft determined that by administering a test

that becomes increasingly more mathematically

challenging, he noticed that even highly math-

anxious individuals do well on the first portion of

the test measuring performance. However, on the

latter and more difficult portion of the test, there

was a stronger negative relationship between

accuracy and math anxiety.

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Levine (2008) found that teachers with

mathematics anxiety emphasised rule-based strategies

and treat mathematics as an arbitrary collection of

facts, perhaps to promote an illusion of their

expertise and disciplinary power to students.

Students therefore, see maths teachers as magicians.

Moreover, there is often limited classroom

interaction, resulting in students’ questions not

being asked or answered, and knowledge presented as

limited and confusing. Mathematics anxiety has been

found to decrease the efficiency of an individual’s

working memory because intrusive thoughts and

worries take the focus away from the mathematics

tasks at hand. This makes it difficult to think

logically and results in increased errors and longer

processing times when solving problems mentally. In

the long-term, mathematics anxiety leads to

decreased competence, reduced completion rates and

lower academic performance in subject (Ho, Senturk,

Lam, Zimmer, Hong, Okamoto and Chiu, 2000). Ho et

al. (2000) found that learners with higher levels of

25

mathematics anxiety tend to have lower levels of

performance in mathematics, suggesting the existence

of a negative correlation between mathematics

anxiety and performance.

Performance anxiety

People's fear of math can be related to test

taking and performance anxiety. Some scholars have

suggested a strong relation between math anxiety and

math performance.

Anxiety Rating Scale

A rating scale for mathematics anxiety was

written about in 1972 by Richardson and Suinn.

Richardson and Suinn defined mathematical anxiety as

"feelings of apprehension and tension concerning

manipulation of numbers and completion of

mathematical problems in various contexts."

Richardson and Suinn introduced the MARS

(Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale) in 1972. Elevated

scores on the MARS test translate to high math

anxiety. The authors presented the normative data,

26

including a mean score of 215.38 with a standard

deviation of 65.29, collected from 397 students that

replied to an advertisement for behaviour therapy

treatment for math anxiety.[5] For test-retest

reliability, the Pearson product-moment coefficient

was used and a score of 0.85 was calculated, which

was favourable and comparable to scores found on

other anxiety tests.

Richardson and Suinn validated the construct of

this test by sharing previous results from three

other studies that were very similar to the results

achieved in this study. They also administered the

Differential Aptitude Test, a 10 minute math test

including simple to complex problems. Calculation of

the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

between the MARS test and Differential Aptitude Test

scores was -0.64 (p < .01), indicating that higher

MARS scores relate to lower math test scores and

“since high anxiety interferes with performance, and

poor performance produces anxiety, this result

27

provides evidence that the MARS does measure

mathematics anxiety”.

This test was intended for use in diagnosing

math anxiety, testing efficacy of different math

anxiety treatment approaches and possibly designing

an anxiety hierarchy to be used in desensitization

treatments. The MARS test is of interest to those in

counselling psychology and the test is used

profusely in math anxiety research. It is available

in several versions of varying length and is

considered psychometrically sound. Other tests are

often given to measure different dimensionalities of

math anxiety, such as the Fennema-Sherman

Mathematics Attitudes Scales (FSMAS).

The FSMAS evaluates nine specific domains using

Likert-type scales: attitude toward success,

mathematics as a male domain, mother‘s attitude,

father’s attitude, teacher’s attitude, confidence in

learning mathematics, mathematics anxiety,

affectance motivation and mathematics usefulness.

Despite the introduction of newer instrumentation,

28

the use of the MARS test appears to be the

educational standard for measuring math anxiety due

to its specificity and prolific use.

Math and culture

While there are overarching similarities

concerning the acquisition of math skills,

researchers have shown that children’s mathematical

abilities differ across countries. In Canada,

students score substantially lower in math problem-

solving and operations than students in Korea and

Singapore. Researchers have conducted thorough

comparisons between countries, and have determined

that in countries such as Taiwan and Japan, parents

place more emphasis on effort rather than one’s

innate intellectual ability in school success.

Moreover, parents in these countries tend to set

higher expectations and standards for their

children. In turn, students spend more time on

homework and value homework more than American

children. (Stevenson & Lee,1990).

29

Math and Gender

Another difference in mathematic abilities

often explored in research concerns gender

disparities. There has been research examining

gender difference in performance on standardized

tests across various countries. Some researchers

have argued that females have higher mathematics

anxiety than males (Salwani and Salleh, 2001;

Woodard, 2004, Yuksel-Sahin, 2008; Karimi and

Venkatesan, 2009; Khatoon and Mahmood, 2010). In

addition, female students are often labelled as shy

and this characteristic can harm their ability to

learn. Male students were found to be more active in

a wider range of social activities than female

students (Khatoon and Mahmood, 2010). Yuksel-Sahin,

2008, study on secondary school student in Turkey

reported that the stereotypical view of this issue

has a powerful impact. Beller and Gafni’s have

shown that children at approximately nine years of

age do not show consistent gender difference in

relation to math skills. However, in 17 out of the

30

20 countries examined in this study, 13 year old

boys tended to score higher than girls. Moreover,

mathematics is often labelled as a masculine

ability; as a result, girls often have low

confidence in their math capabilities. These gender

stereotypes can reinforce low confidence in girls

and can cause math anxiety as research has shown

that performance on standardized math tests is

affected by one’s confidence (Dar-Nimrod & Heine,

2006). As a result, educators have been trying to

abolish this stereotype by fostering confidence in

math in all students in order to avoid math anxiety.

Female students believed boys were blessed with the

advantage of mastering mathematics, while the boys

felt they were better able to perform in mathematic

when compared with their female counterparts such

believes negatively affect the ability of female

students and their initial assumptions about

mathematic achievement can have a long-term impact

on their achievement. However, other studies do not

support this theory. Base on several studies, some

31

researchers have argued that there is no significant

difference in mathematics anxiety between male and

females (Marsh and Tapia, 2002).

Mathematics and Women

Related to this is gender and mathematics as

younger female scholars are thought to develop

anxiety towards mathematics and sciences when they

become more interested in social relations in their

teen years. It is thought that women experience more

anxiety in mathematics as a group than men and this

has also been suggested in regards computer

programming. See for instance [Copper, Joel, &

Weaver D, Kimberlee. Gender and Computers:

"Understanding the Digital Divide" who explore

computing and gender and especially have done

experiments relating gender and anxiety. It has also

been suggested that in primary elementary years, if

female students have an anxious female math teacher,

they are more likely to confirm the math anxiety as

a gender stereotype. Girls are more likely than boys

to take notice of their female teachers "negatives

32

and fears about math", which could negatively

influence their future pursuit of the subject. One

method to help address this issue is ensuring that

teaching programs are reinforcing positive attitudes

towards math, and helping teacher candidates

solidify their grasp on mathematics.

When men and women take math exams, there is a

stereotype that women score less than men, saying

they are not as good as men. The researchers explain

that it is not a biological but more of a social

effect. The researchers doing the experiment believe

that gender stereotype threat could be a key factor

in explaining women and men’s difference in

performance on math exams. The gender stereotype

threat would be gender references on the exams and

that they could affect how a male or female answers

the question and if they get it correct or not. The

gender references on the exam could also be called

gender labelling.

The researchers did 2 experiments. In

experiment 1, they created an exam consisting of 1/3

33

of male, female, and neutral questions. The results

found that both male and female answered male-

labelled questions with better proficiency than

others. Even if the questions were the same, the

gender label affected the result. Here is a question

they used on the exam, “There are 12 car pools at

the plant where Mr. Holst works. Half of them

contain 4 people, the other half contain 5 people.

How many workers at Mr. Holst’s plant belong to car

pools?” The way they manipulated the questions was

to change Mr. Holst to Mrs. Holst or do not include

a name at all to remain neutral.

The ones that performed well did best on male-

labelled questions while the ones that performed

poorly did best on female-labelled questions. In

experiment 2, they tested university students

because gender differences in test performance have

been show to increase with age. Their main focus was

to see if a negative stereotype towards women would

affect their performance. The results showed that

there were more correct answers on gender stereotype

34

situations and men outperformed compared to women.

The results showed that a brief written reference to

gender in the questions affected women’s performance

negatively, supporting their hypothesis. Based on

the results of this experiment, gender labelling on

exams could cause women to underperform on math

exams. Stereotype threat can interfere with

performance, affecting men positively but women

negatively.

Math Pedagogy

The principles of mathematics are generally

understood at an early age; preschoolers can

comprehend the majority of principles underlying

counting. By kindergarten, it is common for children

to use counting in a more sophisticated manner by

adding and subtracting numbers. While

kindergarteners tend to use their fingers to count,

this habit is soon abandoned and replaced with a

more refined and efficient strategy; children begin

to perform addition and subtraction mentally at

approximately six years of age. When children reach

35

approximately eight years of age, they can retrieve

answers to mathematical equations from memory. With

proper instruction, normally functioning children

acquire these basic mathematic skills, and are able

to solve more complex mathematical problems with

more sophisticated training.[14] (Kail & Zolner,

2005).

High risk teaching styles are often explored to

gain a better understanding of math anxiety.

Goulding, Rowland and Barber (2002) suggest that

there are linkages between a teacher’s lack of

subject knowledge and ability to effectively plan

teaching material. These findings suggest that

teachers that do not have a sufficient background in

mathematics may struggle with the development of

comprehensive lesson plans for their students.

Similarly, Laturner’s research (2002) shows that

teachers with certification in math are more likely

to be passionate and committed about teaching math

than those without certification. However, those

36

without certification vary in their commitment to

the profession depending on coursework preparation.

Moreover, a study conducted by Kawakami,

Steele, Cifa, Phills, and Dovidio (2008) they

examined attitudes towards math and behaviour during

math examinations. The study examined the effect of

extensive training in teaching women to approach

math. The results showed that women that were

trained to approach rather than avoid math showed a

positive implicit attitude towards math. These

findings were only consistent with women low in

initial identification with math. This study was

replicated with women either encouraged to approach

math or received neutral training. Results were

consistent and demonstrated that women taught to

approach math had an implicit positive attitude and

completed more math problems than women taught to

approach math in a neutral manner.

Johns, Schmader, and Martens (2005) conducted a

study in which they examined the effect of teaching

37

stereotype threat as a means of improving women’s

math performance.

The researchers concluded from the study’s

results that women tended to perform worse than men

when problems were described as math equations.

However, women did not differ from men in a

condition with a test sequence described as problem

solving or in a condition in which they learned

about stereotype threats. This research has

practical implications; educating female teachers

about stereotype threat can reduce its negative

effects in the classroom.

Common Beliefs

In the United States, many people believe that

only a few "gifted" individuals have "what it takes"

to learn math, and that hard work cannot compensate

for this. Studies have shown "When asked to explain

why some children do better in math than others,

Asian children, their teachers, and their parents

38

point to hard work, their American counterparts to

ability."

Women mathematicians in the United States have

almost always been a minority according to Margaret

Murray. Although the exact difference fluctuates

with the times as she has explored in her book

[Women Becoming Mathematicians: Creating a

Professional Identity in Post-World War II America].

"Since 1980, women have earned over 17 percent of

the mathematics doctorates. The trends in gender are

by no means clear, but perhaps parity is still a way

to go. Thus parity will take more work to overcome

mathematical anxiety and this is one reason for

women in mathematics being role models for younger

women.

2.5. Teaching strategies that can minimize

mathematics anxiety among students

Studies by Herbert P. Ginsburg, Columbia

University, show the influence of parents' and

teachers' attitudes on "'the child's expectations in

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that area of learning.'... It is less the actual

teaching and more the attitude and expectations of

the teacher or parents that count." This is further

supported by a survey of Montgomery County, Maryland

students who "pointed to their parents as the

primary force behind the interest in mathematics."

Math Academy Online/Platonic Realms contends

that math has two components. The first component,

commonly focused on in many schools, is to calculate

the answer. This component also has two

subcomponents, namely the answer and the process or

method used to determine the answer. Focusing more

on the process or method enables students to make

mistakes, but not 'fail at math'. The second

component is to understand the mathematical concepts

that underlay the problem being studied. “… and in

this respect studying mathematics is much more like

studying, say, music or painting than it is like

studying history or biology.”

Amongst others supporting this viewpoint is the

work of Dr. Eugene Geist, Associate Professor at

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Ohio University – Athens, Ohio and an early

childhood education specialist. Dr. Geist's

recommendations include focusing on the concepts

rather than the right answer and letting students

work on their own and discuss their solutions before

the answer is given. Emphasis is given that young

people hate to be wrong and hate situations where

they can be embarrassed by being wrong.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(NCTM) (1989, 1995b) suggestions for teachers

seeking to prevent math anxiety include:

a. Accommodating for different learning styles

b. Creating a variety of testing environments

c. Designing positive experiences in math classes

d. Refraining from tying self-esteem to success

with math

e. Emphasizing that everyone makes mistakes in

mathematics

f. Making math relevant

g. Letting students have some input into their own

evaluations

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h. Allowing for different social approaches to

learning mathematics

i. Emphasizing the importance of original, quality

thinking rather than rote manipulation of

formulas

Math (and Statistics) Therapy is a combination

of coaching and counselling, provided for adults by

people with credentials in both counselling and math

education. In Math Therapy the reasons for anxiety

are addressed, as well as the mathematical skills

which are lacking. New coping skills are introduced

and practiced, so that fear, distaste or other

negative emotions do not block math (or statistics)

learning.

There are several anxiety reducing techniques

that teachers can teach their children and practice

periodically throughout the year. Teachers will need

to learn these techniques and encourage the students

to practice them at home and to use them prior to

testing or when feeling anxious during math class.

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Several studies have shown that relaxation

techniques can be used to help alleviate anxiety

related to mathematics. In her workbook Conquering

Math Anxiety, 3rd edition, Cynthia Arem offers

specific strategies to reduce math avoidance and

anxiety. One strategy she advocates for is

relaxation exercises and indicates that by

practicing relaxation techniques on a regularly

basis for 10–20 minutes students can significantly

can reduce their anxiety.

Dr. Edmundo Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle

Relaxation taken from the book Mental Toughness

Training for Sports, Loehr (1986) can be used in a

modified form to reduce anxiety as posted on the

website HypnoGenesis.

Visualization has also been used effectively to

help reduce math anxiety. Arem has a chapter that

deals with reducing test anxiety and advocates the

use visualization. In her chapter titled Conquer

Test Anxiety (Chapter 9) she has specific exercises

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devoted to visualization techniques to help the

student feel calm and confident during testing.

Studies have shown students learn best when

they are active rather than passive learners.

The theory of multiple intelligences suggests

that there is a need for addressing different

learning styles. Math lessons can be tailored for

visual/spatial, logical/mathematics, musical,

auditory, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal and

intrapersonal and verbal/linguistic learning styles.

Everyone is capable of learning, but may learn

best in different ways. Therefore, lessons must be

presented in a variety of ways. New concepts can be

taught through play acting, cooperative groups,

visual aids, hands on activities or information

technology. To help with learning statistics, there

are many applets found on the Internet that help

students learn about many things from probability

distributions to linear regression. These applets

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are commonly used in introductory statistics

classes, as many students benefit from using them.

Active learners ask critical questions, such

as: Why do we do it this way, and not that way? Some

teachers may find these questions annoying or

difficult to answer, and indeed may have been

trained to respond to such questions with hostility

and contempt, designed to instil fear. Better

teachers respond eagerly to these questions, and use

them to help the students deepen their understanding

by examining alternative methods so the students can

choose for themselves which method they prefer. This

process can result in meaningful class discussions.

Talking is the way in which students increase their

understanding and command of math. Teachers can

emphasize the importance of original thinking rather

than rote manipulation of formulas. This can be done

through class conversations. Teachers can give

students insight as to why they learn certain

content by asking students questions such as "What

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purpose is served by solving this problem?" and "why

are we being asked to learn this?"

Reflective journals help students develop

metacognitive skills by having them think about

their understanding. According to Pugalee, writing

helps students organize their thinking which helps

them better understand mathematics. Moreover,

writing in mathematics classes helps students’

problem solve and improve mathematical reasoning.

When students know how to use mathematical

reasoning, they are less anxious about solving

problems.

However, there is still a large part of school

math teaching which consists of memorization,

repetition, and mechanically performed operations.

Times tables are one example, wherein rote learning

is essential to mathematics performance. When a

student fails to learn the times tables at a young

age, they can experience math anxiety later, when

all the students' classmates can remember the tables

but they cannot.

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Children learn best when math is taught in a

way that is relevant to their everyday lives.

Children enjoy experimenting. To learn mathematics

in any depth, students should be engaged in

exploring, conjecturing, and thinking, as well as in

rote learning of rules and procedures.

Summary and conclusion

From the number of literature reviewed above,

it is established that mathematics anxiety

(mathematics phobia) has received attention.

Mathematics anxiety can be attributed to teacher

factor and student factor.

It can be reduced through motivation, positive

self concept and good teaching technique on the part

of the teacher.

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