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The relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics learning level

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 33 - 44, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15780905

Abstract

One of the most important factors in mathematics success is mathematics anxiety. For a long time, mathematics education researchers have focused on this. In this study, the differentiation status of mathematics learning levels and gender variables in terms of mathematics anxiety was examined. This differentiation examined internal factors: Mathematics ability, Beliefs regarding mathematics, and external factors; Parents, Teachers, Social Beliefs, and Social Effects. The survey research type, one of the quantitative research types, was used in this research. Two hundred and forty high school students were determined as participants in this study. The mathematics learning levels of these students were low (87 students), medium (116 students), and advanced (37 students). The mathematics anxiety scale was used as the data collection tool. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was no differentiation in all the mathematics learning levels, internal and external factors (p>.05), however, it was determined that there was a differentiation in some items of the scale (p<.05). However, it was determined that there was a differentiation in some of the internal factors (Parents, Teachers) in the gender variable (p<.05). It may be recommended that this research be conducted with different education levels and a wider range of participants in the future.

References

  • Anatonio, M.J.G. (2023). Mathematics anxiety of mathematics students: A comparative study based on sex, year-level, age and socio-economic status. International Journal of Research Publication and Review, 4(8), 1114-1122.
  • Anindyarini, R., & Supahar, S. (2019). A mathematical anxiety scale instrument for junior high school students. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 13(4), 447-456.
  • Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, A. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282908330580
  • Baddeley, A. (1992). Working memory: The interface between memory and cognition. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 4(3), 281-288.
  • Baloğlu M, Koçak R. (2006). A multivariate investigation of the differences in mathematics anxiety. Personality and individual differences, 40(7), 1325-1335.
  • Barroso, C., Ganley, C.M., MaGraw, A.L., (2021). A meta-analysis of the relation between math anxiety and math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 147, 134-168.
  • Beilock, S. L., & Willingham, D. T. (2014). Math anxiety: Can teachers help students reduce it? ask the cognitive scientist. American educator, 38(2), 28.
  • Bieg, M., Goetz, T., Wolter, I., & Hall, N. C. (2015). Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls' and boys' trait-state discrepancy in math anxiety. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1404.
  • Blazer, C. (2011). Strategies for Reducing Math Anxiety. Available from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536509
  • Brewster, B. J. M., & Miller, T. (2020). Missed Opportunity in Mathematics Anxiety. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 15(3).
  • Carey, E., Hill, F., Devine, A., & Szücs, D. (2016). The chicken or the egg? The direction of the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1987.
  • Cipora, K., Santos, F. H., Kucian, K., & Dowker, A. (2022). Mathematics anxiety—where are we and where shall we go?. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1513(1), 10-20.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Dowker, A., Sarkar, A., & Looi, C.Y. (2016). Mathematics anxiety: what have we learned in 60 years? Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 508. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508
  • Erdem, E. (2017). A current study on grade/age and gender-related change in math anxiety. European Journal of Education Studies, 3, 396–413.
  • Estonanto, A.J., and Dio, R.V. (2019). Factors causing Mathematics Anxiety of Senior High School Students in Calculus. Asian Journal of Education and e-Learning ,7(1), 37-47.
  • Fennema, E. & Sherman, J. A. (1976). Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales: Instruments designed to measure attitudes toward the learning of mathematics by males and females. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 6(1), 31.
  • Goetz, T., Bieg, M., Ludtke, O., Pekrun, R., and Hall, N. C. (2013). Do girls really experience more anxiety in mathematics? Psychological Science, 24, 2079–2087. doi: 10.1177/0956797613486989
  • Harari, R.R., Vukovic, R.K. & Bailey, S.P. (2013) Mathematics Anxiety in Young Children: An Exploratory Study. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81(4), 538-555. DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2012.727888
  • Holmes, D. (1991). Abnormal Psychology. New York: Harper Collins Publisher.
  • Hopko, D.R.; Mahadevan, R.; Bare, R.L.; Hunt, M.K. (2003). The abbreviated math anxiety scale (AMAS) construction, validity, and reliability. Assessment, 10, 178–182.
  • Justicia-Galiano, M. J., Martín-Puga, M. E., Linares., R., and Pelegrina, S. (2017). Math anxiety and math performance in children: the mediating roles of working memory and math self-concept. The British Journal of Educational Psychology. 87, 1–26. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12165
  • Khaldi, K. (2017). Quantitative, qualitative or mixed research: Which research paradigm to use. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 7(2), 15-24.
  • Lee, J. (2009). Universals and specifics of math self-concept, math self-efficacy, and math anxiety across 41 PISA 2003 participating countries. Learning and individual differences, 19(3), 355-365.
  • Lukowski, S. L., Ditrapani, J., Jeon, M., Wang, Z. J., Schenker, V., and Doran, M. M., et al. (2016). Multidimensionality in the measurement of math-specific anxiety and its relationship with mathematical performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 70, 229–235. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2016.07.007
  • Luttenberger, S., Wimmer, S., & Paechter, M. (2018). Spotlight on math anxiety. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Volume 11, 311–322. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s141421
  • Maloney, E. A., and Beilock, S. L. (2012). Math anxiety: who has it, why it develops, and how to guard against it. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16, 404–406. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.06.008
  • Maloney, E. A., Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., and Beilock, S. L. (2015). Intergenerational effects of parents’ math anxiety on children's math achievement and anxiety. Psychological Science, 26, 1480–1488. doi: 10.1177/0956797615592630
  • Necka, E. A., Moriah, S. H., and Lyons, I. M. (2015). The role of self-math overlap in understanding math anxiety and the relation between math anxiety and performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1543. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01543
  • OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2014). Pisa 2012 results. students' engagement, drive and self-beliefs.
  • OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013). Pisa 2012 results. students' engagement, drive, and self-beliefs (volume III).
  • Olmez, I. B., and Ozel, S. (2012). Mathematics anxiety among sixth and seventh grade Turkish elementary school students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 4933–4937. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.362
  • Paechter, M., Macher, D., Martskvishvili, K., Wimmer, S., & Papousek, I. (2017). Mathematics anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. shared but Also Unshared components and Antagonistic contributions to performance in statistics. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01196
  • Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., and Beilock, S. L. (2013). Math anxiety, working memory, and math achievement in early elementary school. Journal of Cognition and Development, 14, 187–202. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2012.664593
  • Rossnan, S. (2006). Overcoming math anxiety. Mathitudes, 1(1), 1-4.
  • Sayed, A. A. (2021). The Relationships Between Cognitive Load and Affective Strategies used in Learning Situations among General Diploma Students in Faculty of Education. Egyptian Journal of Educational Sciences, 1(2), 69-101.
  • Skagerlund, K., Östergren, R., Västfjäll, D., & Träff, U. (2019). How does mathematics anxiety impair mathematical abilities? Investigating the link between math anxiety, working memory, and number processing. PloS one, 14(1), e0211283.
  • Spelke, E.S. (2005). Sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? A critical review. American Psychology, 60, 950-958.
  • Sweller, J. (2023). The development of cognitive load theory: Replication crises and incorporation of other theories can lead to theory expansion. Educational Psychology Review, 35(4), 95.
  • Tobias, S. (1986). Anxiety and Cognitive Processing of Instruction. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.): Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation, pp. 35-54. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Trujillo, K. M., & Hadfield, O. D. (1999). Tracing the roots of mathematics anxiety through in-depth interviews with preservice teachers. College Student Journal, 33(2), 219-232.
  • Vargas, R. (2021). A literature review on math anxiety and learning mathematics: A general overview. Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, 9(4): 102-108.
  • Vukovic, R. K., Kieffer, M. J., Bailey, S. P., and Harari, R. R. (2013). Mathematics anxiety in young children: concurrent and longitudinal associations with mathematical performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38, 1– 10. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2012.09.001
  • Zhang, J., Zhao, N., & Kong, Q. P. (2019). The relationship between math anxiety and math performance: A meta- analytic investigation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1613. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01613
Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 33 - 44, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15780905

Abstract

References

  • Anatonio, M.J.G. (2023). Mathematics anxiety of mathematics students: A comparative study based on sex, year-level, age and socio-economic status. International Journal of Research Publication and Review, 4(8), 1114-1122.
  • Anindyarini, R., & Supahar, S. (2019). A mathematical anxiety scale instrument for junior high school students. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 13(4), 447-456.
  • Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, A. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282908330580
  • Baddeley, A. (1992). Working memory: The interface between memory and cognition. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 4(3), 281-288.
  • Baloğlu M, Koçak R. (2006). A multivariate investigation of the differences in mathematics anxiety. Personality and individual differences, 40(7), 1325-1335.
  • Barroso, C., Ganley, C.M., MaGraw, A.L., (2021). A meta-analysis of the relation between math anxiety and math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 147, 134-168.
  • Beilock, S. L., & Willingham, D. T. (2014). Math anxiety: Can teachers help students reduce it? ask the cognitive scientist. American educator, 38(2), 28.
  • Bieg, M., Goetz, T., Wolter, I., & Hall, N. C. (2015). Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls' and boys' trait-state discrepancy in math anxiety. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1404.
  • Blazer, C. (2011). Strategies for Reducing Math Anxiety. Available from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536509
  • Brewster, B. J. M., & Miller, T. (2020). Missed Opportunity in Mathematics Anxiety. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 15(3).
  • Carey, E., Hill, F., Devine, A., & Szücs, D. (2016). The chicken or the egg? The direction of the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1987.
  • Cipora, K., Santos, F. H., Kucian, K., & Dowker, A. (2022). Mathematics anxiety—where are we and where shall we go?. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1513(1), 10-20.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Dowker, A., Sarkar, A., & Looi, C.Y. (2016). Mathematics anxiety: what have we learned in 60 years? Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 508. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508
  • Erdem, E. (2017). A current study on grade/age and gender-related change in math anxiety. European Journal of Education Studies, 3, 396–413.
  • Estonanto, A.J., and Dio, R.V. (2019). Factors causing Mathematics Anxiety of Senior High School Students in Calculus. Asian Journal of Education and e-Learning ,7(1), 37-47.
  • Fennema, E. & Sherman, J. A. (1976). Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales: Instruments designed to measure attitudes toward the learning of mathematics by males and females. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 6(1), 31.
  • Goetz, T., Bieg, M., Ludtke, O., Pekrun, R., and Hall, N. C. (2013). Do girls really experience more anxiety in mathematics? Psychological Science, 24, 2079–2087. doi: 10.1177/0956797613486989
  • Harari, R.R., Vukovic, R.K. & Bailey, S.P. (2013) Mathematics Anxiety in Young Children: An Exploratory Study. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81(4), 538-555. DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2012.727888
  • Holmes, D. (1991). Abnormal Psychology. New York: Harper Collins Publisher.
  • Hopko, D.R.; Mahadevan, R.; Bare, R.L.; Hunt, M.K. (2003). The abbreviated math anxiety scale (AMAS) construction, validity, and reliability. Assessment, 10, 178–182.
  • Justicia-Galiano, M. J., Martín-Puga, M. E., Linares., R., and Pelegrina, S. (2017). Math anxiety and math performance in children: the mediating roles of working memory and math self-concept. The British Journal of Educational Psychology. 87, 1–26. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12165
  • Khaldi, K. (2017). Quantitative, qualitative or mixed research: Which research paradigm to use. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 7(2), 15-24.
  • Lee, J. (2009). Universals and specifics of math self-concept, math self-efficacy, and math anxiety across 41 PISA 2003 participating countries. Learning and individual differences, 19(3), 355-365.
  • Lukowski, S. L., Ditrapani, J., Jeon, M., Wang, Z. J., Schenker, V., and Doran, M. M., et al. (2016). Multidimensionality in the measurement of math-specific anxiety and its relationship with mathematical performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 70, 229–235. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2016.07.007
  • Luttenberger, S., Wimmer, S., & Paechter, M. (2018). Spotlight on math anxiety. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Volume 11, 311–322. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s141421
  • Maloney, E. A., and Beilock, S. L. (2012). Math anxiety: who has it, why it develops, and how to guard against it. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16, 404–406. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.06.008
  • Maloney, E. A., Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., and Beilock, S. L. (2015). Intergenerational effects of parents’ math anxiety on children's math achievement and anxiety. Psychological Science, 26, 1480–1488. doi: 10.1177/0956797615592630
  • Necka, E. A., Moriah, S. H., and Lyons, I. M. (2015). The role of self-math overlap in understanding math anxiety and the relation between math anxiety and performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1543. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01543
  • OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2014). Pisa 2012 results. students' engagement, drive and self-beliefs.
  • OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013). Pisa 2012 results. students' engagement, drive, and self-beliefs (volume III).
  • Olmez, I. B., and Ozel, S. (2012). Mathematics anxiety among sixth and seventh grade Turkish elementary school students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 4933–4937. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.362
  • Paechter, M., Macher, D., Martskvishvili, K., Wimmer, S., & Papousek, I. (2017). Mathematics anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. shared but Also Unshared components and Antagonistic contributions to performance in statistics. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01196
  • Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., and Beilock, S. L. (2013). Math anxiety, working memory, and math achievement in early elementary school. Journal of Cognition and Development, 14, 187–202. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2012.664593
  • Rossnan, S. (2006). Overcoming math anxiety. Mathitudes, 1(1), 1-4.
  • Sayed, A. A. (2021). The Relationships Between Cognitive Load and Affective Strategies used in Learning Situations among General Diploma Students in Faculty of Education. Egyptian Journal of Educational Sciences, 1(2), 69-101.
  • Skagerlund, K., Östergren, R., Västfjäll, D., & Träff, U. (2019). How does mathematics anxiety impair mathematical abilities? Investigating the link between math anxiety, working memory, and number processing. PloS one, 14(1), e0211283.
  • Spelke, E.S. (2005). Sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? A critical review. American Psychology, 60, 950-958.
  • Sweller, J. (2023). The development of cognitive load theory: Replication crises and incorporation of other theories can lead to theory expansion. Educational Psychology Review, 35(4), 95.
  • Tobias, S. (1986). Anxiety and Cognitive Processing of Instruction. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.): Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation, pp. 35-54. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Trujillo, K. M., & Hadfield, O. D. (1999). Tracing the roots of mathematics anxiety through in-depth interviews with preservice teachers. College Student Journal, 33(2), 219-232.
  • Vargas, R. (2021). A literature review on math anxiety and learning mathematics: A general overview. Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, 9(4): 102-108.
  • Vukovic, R. K., Kieffer, M. J., Bailey, S. P., and Harari, R. R. (2013). Mathematics anxiety in young children: concurrent and longitudinal associations with mathematical performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38, 1– 10. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2012.09.001
  • Zhang, J., Zhao, N., & Kong, Q. P. (2019). The relationship between math anxiety and math performance: A meta- analytic investigation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1613. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01613
There are 44 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Mathematics Education
Journal Section Mathematical Thinking Skills
Authors

Amal Sharif-rasslan

Early Pub Date May 12, 2025
Publication Date June 30, 2025
Submission Date January 11, 2025
Acceptance Date May 5, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 6 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Sharif-rasslan, A. (2025). The relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics learning level. Journal for the Mathematics Education and Teaching Practices, 6(1), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15780905

JMETP is a nonprofit peer-reviewed scientific journal where mathematics education research is meticulously reviewed, and its visibility and citation potential are supported. It has introduced innovation to the field with the concept of the "Math Teaching Practices" article.