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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 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.

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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 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”.

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

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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.

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

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mathematics performance 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 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

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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

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 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

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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. 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.

Chapter three comprises the description of the methodology, the population

and sample and sampling procedure, the materials used in collecting data, it

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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:

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.

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In other words, Mathematical anxiety is anxiety about one's ability to do

mathematics independent of skills.

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 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).

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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.

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 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.

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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 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

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

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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”.

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

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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.

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 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

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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 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.

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

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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

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.

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Elevated scores on the MARS test translate to high math anxiety. The authors

presented the normative data, 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 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).

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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, 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).

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

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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 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 researchers have argued that there is no significant

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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 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

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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 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

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.

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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 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 without certification vary in their

commitment to the profession depending on coursework preparation.

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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 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

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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 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 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

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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 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

h. Allowing for different social approaches to learning mathematics

i. Emphasizing the importance of original, quality thinking rather than

rote manipulation of formulas

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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.

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 devoted to visualization techniques to help the student feel

calm and confident during testing.

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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 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

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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

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.

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

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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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