Search

Females tend to be more anxious than males while engaging in mathematics, which has been linked to lower math performance and higher math avoidance. A possible repercussion of this gender difference is the underrepresentation of females in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), as math competencies are an essential part of succeeding in such fields. A related, but distinct, area of research suggests that males tend to outperform females in tasks that require spatial processing (i.e., the ability to mentally visualize, rotate, and transform spatial and visual information). Interestingly, factors from the spatial processing domain (spatial ability and spatial anxiety) are important in explaining gender differences in math anxiety. Here, we examined three types of spatial anxiety and ability (imagery, navigation, and manipulation), as well as math ability, as mediators of gender differences in math anxiety. Undergraduate students (125 male; 286 female) completed assessments of their general level of anxiety, their math anxiety, and their spatial anxiety. They also completed a series of tasks measuring their mathematical skill, their spatial skills, and basic demographics. Results suggest that manipulation anxiety and ability, navigation anxiety, and math ability explained the gender difference in math anxiety, but manipulation anxiety was the strongest mediator of this relation. Conversely, all other measures did not explain the gender difference in math anxiety. These findings help us better understand the gender difference in mathematics, and this is important in reducing the gender gap in STEM fields. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Math phobias are anxiety on math skills that happen to most learners. Anxiety is demonstrated by the existence of continuous fear against the object of mathematics and its learning situation. To avoid this, the facilitator must create a situation that allows the learners to build their confidence in math tasks. Math is characterized by abstract ideas in the form of abstract symbols that require delivery within a less abstract language to avoid understanding the idea. A positive attitude towards mathematics appears closely related to the previous experience in both the mathematical object and the classroom situation. Therefore, developing a positive attitude against math phobia requires the content to be delivered in an attractive manner in every learning process. The presentation of mathematical formulas should be adjusted according to the learning basic ability and sometimes accompanied by an inductive approach. As the facilitator of learning, the teacher must seek a learning environment that can encourage learners to behave positively and passionately in learning mathematics.

Learning chemistry in an online environment may have multiple sources of anxiety for students, including chemistry anxiety, math anxiety, computer anxiety, and trait anxiety (personality attribute of proneness to experience anxiety). While previous research has explored relationships between math and chemistry anxiety in a traditional setting, no studies have explored these anxieties in the online modality. Survey data were collected using existing scales (some with minor modifications), with a response rate of 31%. The scales used in this study demonstrated strong reliability. Highest sources of anxiety for each scale were presented. The perceived ease of use scale score was used as the dependent variable. As perceived ease of use increased, chemistry anxiety decreased. Furthermore, as chemistry anxiety increased, math, computer, and trait anxiety increased. As computer anxiety increased, perceived ease of use decreased. However, math and trait anxiety did not demonstrate this association. Demographic variables did not influence relationships in this study. To confirm these relationships, future research will explore the influence of these anxieties in online chemistry on learner outcomes, including final course grade and course persistence. The results of this study offer new evidence regarding the influence of multiple sources of anxiety in learning undergraduate chemistry in an online setting. By integrating this knowledge with online course design best practices, educators can provide students with a lower-anxiety learning environment.

Empirical findings showed how mathematical anxiety of an individual predicts the academic performance of learners. As a coping mechanism, learners are left with various choices on dealing with subjects inclined with mathematical concepts. One way to cope up is the preference of learning motivation strategies. The motivation strategies were categorized into cognitive, meta-cognitive, non-informational resources management and informational resources management. However, there is a scarce literature on how anxiety could predict the behaviour of an individual’s accommodation of these strategies. This led the researcher to investigate the predictive behaviour of mathematical anxiety on student’s utilization of learning motivation strategies among senior high school students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program. The program was crafted for students who are inclined in sciences and mathematics. Results revealed respondents have moderate level of anxiety wherein course anxiety contributes to the level of anxiety felt. Among the learning motivation strategies, self-regulation strategy was the most commonly utilized strategy among respondents with peer learning as least utilized. However, bivariate analysis showed anxiety is moderately related with rehearsal, organization, effort regulation, time and study environment, peer learning and help-seeking strategies. Regression analysis was also tested to reveal how anxiety predicts specific learning motivation strategy. Analysis revealed that anxiety predicts the utilization of effort regulations strategies in learning mathematically inclined subjects. The findings provided a new perspective on how anxiety allows an individual to utilize available strategies for understanding various concepts. Teachers are encouraged to cultivate a culture of regulation, environment conducive for learning, peer interaction and access to Internet-based or digital resources for learning

Math anxiety (MA) is a feeling of dread, tension and anxiety when dealing with math situations. Avoidance behavior prevents children from learning math, impairing their performance. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an approach with robust evidence of efficacy in treating anxiety disorders. The Coping Cat, a protocol for treating anxiety disorders, inspired the MA intervention reported here. The participant was N. L., an 11-year-old female displaying math-related and math-unrelated anxiety symptoms. Outcome measures included arithmetic performance, and self-reports of general positive and negative affect and math-related self-perceived performance, attitude, unhappiness and anxiety. The therapeutic approach included psychoeducation, relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving training and graded exposure. After 12 individual intervention sessions, there was an improvement in negative and positive affect, as well as an improvement in self-perceived performance and a decrease in MA.

Mathematics anxiety of high school students in learning mathematics in the network has a lot of influence on the ongoing learning until the results obtained. The influence of math anxiety has an effect ranging from understanding mathematical concepts to student learning outcomes. This study aims to determine the level of anxiety experienced by students in undergoing online learning and determine the bias between respondents and statements on the questionnaire. This research was conducted through a combined approach of quantitative and qualitative using a survey method. The subjects of this research are students with a range of secondary education who are undergoing online learning and totaling 225 students with 155 female students and 70 male students. Data was collected through the distribution of an instrument in a questionnaire regarding students' mathematics anxiety. Furthermore, the data obtained is measured through the Rasch model and processed with the help of the Winsteps application. After the data was obtained, interviews were conducted to determine the causes that support students' mathematical anxiety in the online learning system. In this study, the results obtained that anxiety tends to be high in the implementation of learning in the network. There are three categories: high anxiety 17.33%, moderate anxiety 73.78 %, and low anxiety 8.89%. This study also found various triggers for the presence of mathematical anxiety that can be used to understand the condition of students. Through DIF (Differential Item Functioning), some differences/biases can be used as references for further research.

Gender disparities in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) degrees continue to be a global problem. Increasing equitable participation in STEM majors requires understanding how and why these disparities arise. This study examined relationships between female’s selection of a STEM major, personality, STEM interest, STEM self-efficacy, and mathematics anxiety, and the relationship between those factors that affects gender disparities. Quantitative survey data from established instruments on these factors were collected from 128 female undergraduate students, including STEM (n = 60) and non-STEM majors (n = 68). Multiple Linear Regression, Binary Logistic Regression, and MANOVA were used to determine STEM self-efficacy. STEM self-efficacy was a significant variable explaining STEM interest, math anxiety, and majoring in STEM. The personality trait of openness was more significant in the female STEM majors than the non-STEM majors. This research has implications for identifying female STEM majors who may have math anxiety, decreasing those students’ math anxiety, and recruiting females who would be open to a STEM career.

Anxiety is a problem that arises from the gap between expectations and reality. Many factors influence mathematical anxiety (MA), one of which is the availability of educational infrastructure. Although MA has been widely researched, only a few studies have explored how gender and the availability of educational infrastructure form the basis for analyzing MA. By knowing student MA, it will help teachers to provide alternative educational foundation based on their gender analysis. This research aims to examine student MA based on gender and the availability of educational infrastructure. This research involved 450 senior high school students in East Java, Indonesia. The data were processed using univariate analysis. The results of the study reveal that gender does not significantly influence student MA, while educational infrastructure significantly influences students MA. There is no interaction between gender and educational infrastructure on student MA. It is implied that, by understanding the student MA, it allows teachers to guide students who have an MA based on their area of origin according to the level of availability of educational infrastructure.

Introduction. This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between anxiety and mathematics learning achievement in the material of volume building space in primary school students in Bantul, Yogyakarta. Methods. This research uses quantitative research with a survey method through a correlation approach. The population in this study were students in fifth-grade of primary school in Jetis Bantul. The total participant in this study was 28 students. Measuring instruments in this study are math problems, interviews and anxiety scales. The analysis technique used in this study is with the help of the SPSS 22.0 For Windows program. Results. The normality test calculation results show a significance on the anxiety scale of 0.200, while the mathematics learning achievement is 0.010. Based on the hypothesis test calculation using the Spearman correlation, the correlation between anxiety and mathematics learning achievement is that there is a relationship between anxiety and achievement learning math but not significant. Conclusion. There is a relationship between anxiety and achievement in mathematics in a fifth-grade primary school student.

Tools that teach quantitative skills and foster positive student attitudes toward these skills are important in biology curricula. Math and statistics anxiety is common and can interfere with student learning in biology courses. We describe a new framework for alleviating this anxiety. In our module, students watch a cute internet cat video, which inspires them to ask scientific questions about animal behavior and collect, analyze, and interpret data. We developed two freely available interactive tools to implement our module. We successfully implemented these tools with undergraduate students at two institutions. Based on this experience, we provide ideas for extension along with assessment.

Math anxiety (MA) describes feelings of tension, apprehension and fear that interfere with math performance. High MA (HMA) is correlated with negative consequences, including lower math grades, and ultimately an avoidance of quantitative careers. Given these adverse consequences, it is essential to explore effective intervention strategies to reduce MA. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated the efficacy of cognitive reappraisal as a strategy to alleviate the effects of MA. Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, has been shown to decrease negative affect and amygdala responsivity to stimuli that elicit negative emotion. We compared a reappraisal strategy to participants’ natural strategy for solving math problems and analogies. We found that HMA individuals showed an increase in accuracy and a decrease in negative affect during the reappraisal condition as compared to the control condition. During math reappraise trials, increased activity in a network of regions associated with arithmetic correlated with improved performance for HMA individuals. These results suggest that increased engagement of arithmetic regions underlies the performance increases we identify in HMA students when they use reappraisal to augment their math performance. Overall, cognitive reappraisal is a promising strategy for enhancing math performance and reducing anxiety in math anxious individuals.

Many daily activities require a basic understanding of math. Numeracy, which refers to individual differences in the ability to understand numerical concepts and work with probabilities, has been linked to health-related decision-making and medical and financial outcomes. Whether affective influences impact numeracy has not been experimentally assessed, although research has shown that emotions impact judgments and decision-making. Stress is one commonly experienced affective influence that could impact numeracy. We examined whether objective and subjective numeracy were influenced by stress induced from anticipating giving a speech in a laboratory setting. We also examined the association of self-reported math anxiety, or apprehension pertaining to mathematics, with objective and subjective numeracy. Two experiments were conducted; the second was a direct replication. Undergraduate students (Experiment 1, n = 99; Experiment 2, n = 139) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a stress induction or a neutral condition. Whereas neither objective nor subjective numeracy significantly differed across conditions, math anxiety was a consistent predictor of objective and subjective numeracy. Math anxiety and baseline perceived stress did not consistently moderate any effects. These findings have implications for health care, educational, and financial contexts in which people must make decisions that involve complex numbers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive predictors of reading are well known, but less is understood about the roles of “noncognitive” factors, including emotional variables such as anxiety. While math anxiety has been a focus of study, its analogue in the reading literature is understudied. We assessed struggling fourth and fifth graders (n = 272) on reading anxiety in the context of general anxiety, cognitive predictors (working memory, verbal knowledge), and demographics. Regressions tested for unique contributions to three reading outcomes: word reading accuracy, oral reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Reading anxiety and general anxiety correlated moderately (r = .63) but were differentially related to reading. Reading anxiety predicted comprehension when all other predictors were considered, and predicted oral reading fluency until word reading accuracy was added to the model. Results offer a more nuanced understanding of the nature of reading anxiety, and its implications for struggling readers.

Perasaan tegang yang hadir ketika siswa menyelesaikan masalah dalam matematika disebut dengan kecemasan matematika. Dalam kurikulum 2013 siswa dituntut untuk bisa menyelesaikan soal-soal HOTS, dalam hal ini siswa harus memiliki kesanggupan dalam mengerjakan soal-soal matematika yakni kemampuan matematika. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yakni untuk mengetahui tingkat kecemasan matematika siswa pada kemampuan matematika siswa tingkat tinggi. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif dengan menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada tahun ajaran 2019/2020 di SMP Negeri 1 Tanggulangin pada kelas VII 3. Subjek ditentukan dengan cara acak dilakukan dengan membagikan soal tes tipe HOTS, kemudian siswa diberi angket kecemasan matematika. Analisis data dalam penelitian ini meliputi: observasi, pengolahan data, penarikan kesimpulan kemampuan dan kecemasan matematika siswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa setiap tingkat kemampuan matematika siswa memiliki kecenderungan indikator kecemasan matematika yang beragam ketika menyelesaikan soal-soal tipe HOTS, yakni kemampuan matematika tinggi memiliki kecemasan matematika rendah, kemampuan matematika sedang memiliki kecemasan matematika sedang, dan kemampuan matematika rendah memiliki kecemasan matematika tinggi.

Previous work has noted that math anxiety may have a profound effect on math performance; however extant research has relied on measures that explicitly assess math anxiety. This study examined the effects of implicit math anxiety on the performance of a math achievement task. We hypothesized that combined measure of implicit anxiety and explicit anxiety would better predict math achievement than measures of explicit math anxiety alone. In addition, we hypothesized that an individuals’ measured implicit anxiety and measured explicit anxiety would share only a modest correlation. To test these hypotheses, 175 participants completed measures of explicit anxiety, an implicit associations test designed to measure implicit anxiety, and a measure of math achievement. As expected, math achievement was better predicted when implicit anxiety was combined with explicit anxiety. Furthermore, scores on the implicit and explicit anxiety measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that implicit and explicit math anxiety are two distinct constructs, thus traditional methods for helping students deal with math anxiety may not be entirely successful if the implicit component is ignored.

This study aims to investigate whether student anxiety about the subject of mathematics has any effect on the achievement of middle-school students in Amman, Jordan. It also aims to investigate whether student gender plays a role. The study sample consists of 180 seventh grade students enrolled in Amman public schools during the 2018/2019 academic year. These are distributed into three levels of anxiety as displayed by the students: low, middle, and high. Then, math anxiety measurements are collected, the validity and reliability for which are verified. The results reveal that there are statistically-significant differences in achievement between the middle level of math anxiety and the two other extremes. It is found that middle anxiety level have a positive effect on achievement, whereas for low and high math anxiety levels, no differences in achievement are perceived. In addition, no statistically significant differences (α≤0.01) were found between males and females with regards to math anxiety; and there is no interaction between the level of math anxiety and gender in achievement.

The recent research aims at knowing the effect of using a model of the constructive theory based on Cognitive Apprenticeship in order to reduce pupils' feeling with anxiety while studying math. The research sample includes 41 students at primary five studying at AL Gawharey primary school belonging to west Tanta educational department during the 1st term of the year 2019-2020. The quasi experimental method is used before and after the application. The aforementioned model is applied via a teacher's guide prepared by the researcher besides making a 23- statement scale to reduce math anxiety. These statements are distributed to 5 axes; each of them represents a situation having 2 options: positive and negative. Results show differences with statistical differences at level of ≤ 0.05. Consequently, that shows a statistically significant difference between means of pupils' grades enrolled in the experimental group at the favor of the post application. T-value mounts 18,116which is statistically significant, whereas freedom degree mounts40.

Students with math learning disabilities have been shown to experience math anxiety at rates nearly double those of their typical peers. Anxiety about math is thought to disrupt learning by co-opting attentional resources that could be used in problem-solving and may be caused by the way in which students interpret their math-related experiences. This article describes a math intervention designed through a framework of self-regulated learning that defines self-regulated learners as students who are connected, self-aware, self-determined, strategic, and resilient. Specifically described is an intervention that helps students regulate anxiety, initiate a problem-solving strategy, and advocate as needed to use approaches they find effective.

The existence of students' negative views on mathematics causes anxiety and procrastination. This study aims to determine the effect of mathematical anxiety and academic procrastination on mathematics learning outcomes in class VIII SMP Negeri 7 Balikpapan. The research approach used is a quantitative approach with survey method. The population in this study were all eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 7 Balikpapan, as many as 362 students and a total sample of 72 students. The sampling technique uses cluster random sampling. Instruments used in this study was questionnaires and test. The data analysis technique used is multiple regression analysis with simultaneous test (F test) and partial test (t-test). The results obtained a significant value of 0,000 < 0,05, it could be concluded that there was a significant influence of mathematics anxiety and academic procrastination on mathematics learning outcomes of VIII grade students of SMP Negeri 7 Balikpapan. The results of the study showed that mathematics anxiety had a significant effect on mathematics learning outcomes with a significance value of 0,023 < 0,05. Then, academic procrastination has a significant effect on mathematics learning outcomes with a significance value of 0,012 < 0,05.

This research is conducted by the low mathematics critical thinking ability of students in junior high schools, especially in VII grade .Students of VII grade commonly are transitioning from elementary school to junior high school could be a reason how low students of VII grade on mathematic critical thingking ability. The low ability mathematics critical thingking one of caused by mathematics anxiety. This study aims to find a relationship between math anxiety and mathematics critical thinking ability of VII grade at SMPN 5 Serang City. The method of this research is quantitative descriptive by making 110 students from VII grade as a sample. The data were collected using questionnaire and test. The result of this study indicate that 1) the ammount of correlation between math anxiety with critical thingking ability is -0,5991> rs table 0,1695, which means there is a significant and negative relationship between anxiety and critical thingking ability 2) the average of students’s mathematics critical thingking ability is different where score between students with low anxiety have a better score than student with mid anxiety and low anxiety,and students with mid anxiety have a better score than students with high anxiety, and students with mid anxiety have a better score than students with high anxiety.

The development of math anxiety is thought to originate at a young age, as a form of number anxiety, but has not been investigated extensively. Research has shown greater levels of EEG gamma-band a...

Considering how spatial thinking connects to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outcomes, recent studies have evaluated how spatial interventions impact elementary students’ math learning. While promising, these interventions tend to overlook other factors affecting math learning; perceptions of math abilities, beliefs about math, and math anxiety can also impact math performance. Additionally, perceptions of spatial skill and spatial anxiety impact spatial performance. This study investigated how elementary teachers’ perceptions of spatial thinking connects with math perceptions. Specifically, we focused on teachers’ attitudes and beliefs around three topics: teaching and learning math, spatial abilities, and spatial thinking in mathematics. We found that lower spatial anxiety related to lower anxiety about teaching math, greater alignment between math beliefs and math standards, and greater efficacy in teaching and learning math. Further, a factor analysis showed one factor that connected stereotypical math thinking with both math and spatial anxiety, and another that connected spatial competencies, teaching and learning math, and spatial thinking within math. To further evaluate spatial thinking in math, we introduced a math categorization and verified it using teachers’ ratings of teaching difficulty, visualization helpfulness, and spatial-thinking involvement. Structural equation models revealed that the level of spatial-thinking categorization was the best model of all three of the teachers’ ratings. Overall, results showed numerous connections between teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and spatial thinking. Future intervention studies should consider teachers who are spatial and/or math-anxious, and future research should investigate the role of stereotypical thinking in spatial and math anxiety.

Previous research of math anxiety (MA) was largely concerned with the population of high school students. Although there are findings on the existence of MA at early primary school age, a very small number of questionnaires or scales, which have been validated in several cultures and can be used in research with children of this age, have been detected in the literature. The aim of this research was the psychometric evaluation and short validation of Modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (mAMAS) for children in Serbia. The study was conducted on a sample of 301 early elementary school students from Serbia (mean age 8.79 years). The results of the research indicate a 2-factor solution of this scale. Both components, Math Evaluation Anxiety and Math Learning Anxiety, have satisfactory reliability coefficients and negative relations with math grades. Additionally, there were no detected gender differences on these measures. IRT analysis indicates that both components show satisfactory psychometric properties and all of the items show significant contributions to their respective scales. Both scales exhibit similar properties in that they offer precise discrimination of respondents with average and higher MA levels, which is encouraging as the scale could be used as a screening tool for children who experience problems with MA.

Background. Middle school students’ math anxiety and low engagement have been major issues in math education. In order to reduce their anxiety and support their math learning, game-based learning (GBL) has been implemented. GBL research has underscored the role of social dynamics to facilitate a qualitative understanding of students’ knowledge. Whereas students’ peer interactions have been deemed a social dynamic, the relationships among peer interaction, task efficiency, and learning engagement were not well understood in previous empirical studies. Method. This mixed-method research implemented E-Rebuild, which is a 3D architecture game designed to promote students’ math problem-solving skills. We collected a total of 102 50-minutes gameplay sessions performed by 32 middle school students. Using video-captured and screen-recorded gameplaying sessions, we implemented behavior observations to measure students’ peer interaction efficiency, task efficiency, and learning engagement. We used association analyses, sequential analysis, and thematic analysis to explain how peer interaction promoted students’ task efficiency and learning engagement. Results. Students’ peer interactions were negatively related to task efficiency and learning engagement. There were also different gameplay patterns by students’ learning/task-relevant peer-interaction efficiency (PIE) level. Students in the low PIE group tended to progress through game tasks more efficiently than those in the high PIE group. The results of qualitative thematic analysis suggested that the students in the low PIE group showed more reflections on game-based mathematical problem solving, whereas those with high PIE experienced distractions during gameplay. Discussion. This study confirmed that students’ peer interactions without purposeful and knowledge-constructive collaborations led to their low task efficiency, as well as low learning engagement. The study finding shows further design implications: (1) providing in-game prompts to stimulate students’ math-related discussions and (2) developing collaboration contexts that legitimize students’ interpersonal knowledge exchanges with peers.

Math Anxiety not only plays an important role in the academic performance of students but also has a significant influence on the methodology adopted by teachers. In this study, we examine the relationship between the levels of Math Anxiety of a group of prospective teachers and their opinions about the importance of Geometry in Primary Education. Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) was applied to 152 students of the Primary Education Degree, along with open-ended questions on their opinions about the role of Geometry in Primary School. An internal consistency check and a factorial analysis were performed on AMAS data to obtain factors Math Learning Anxiety (MLE) and Math Evaluation Anxiety (MEA). The responses from the open-ended questions were categorized and classified into procedural or relational reasons. Results indicate a biased conception about what Geometry teaching should be. Procedural reasons are related to higher levels of Math Anxiety, being the MLE factor more correlated than MEA. Conversely, relational reasons are related to lower levels of such anxiety. Not all the reasons were correlated at the same level, and no differences between genders were observed in the reasons alleged. Results suggest that emotional factors in prospective teachers should be taken into account as they can induce a bias in their future didactic strategies.

Previous studies of mathematics anxiety in early primary school students indicate that it has significant negative effects on various educational outcomes, and especially on mathematics achievement. When it comes to anxiety factors related to mathematics learning, one of the dominant research trends is focused on analysing the social factors of its occurrence, i.e. the behaviour of parents and teachers. However, there are only few studies that link father's behaviour, the occurrence of mathematical anxiety in children and mathematics achievement, since mothers have mostly been studied as the parents who are more focused on their child's education and upbringing. The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of mathematics anxiety in the relationship between father's involvement in the teaching process and child's mathematics achievement. The sample consisted of 191 students (52.9% girls) of early primary school age (2nd to 4th grade), with an average age of 8.78 years, and their fathers, whose average age was 41. The research was conducted in primary schools in Vojvodina. The results show that evaluation anxiety plays a significant role as a mediator in the relationship between father's previous positive experience with mathematics and the perceived difficulties in child's learning of mathematics. Father's positive experiences with mathematics and the perceived difficulties in child's mathematics learning, besides acting partly through math anxiety, also have a direct impact on children's math achievement.

Creative thinking drives progress not only in the arts but also, and perhaps especially, in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and it is expected to become even more valuable than technical skill as artificial intelligence outpaces human cognition. Fostering creative thinkers has become a primary focus of educators. Educationally relevant anxieties, like math anxiety, have been shown to substantially impact specific forms of achievement and engagement, both in school and in career pursuits. Identifying these anxieties has led to promising interventions to enable affected individuals to reach their potential. Somewhat surprisingly, however, the possibility of anxiety specific to creative thinking is, to our knowledge, unexplored. In this article, across multiple samples, we tested the viability of creativity anxiety as a construct. We first created a new measure, the Creativity Anxiety Scale (CAS), demonstrating validity, internal reliability, and specificity. Applying the CAS revealed that creativity-specific anxiety predicted individual differences in creative achievement and attitudes toward creativity over and above effects of general anxiety. Moreover, across diverse content domains, from science to arts, anxiety was greater for situations that required creativity than similar situations that did not. Notably, this effect was especially pronounced in women. These findings suggest that creativity anxiety may have wide-reaching impacts and distinguish creativity anxiety from anxiety about noncreative aspects of performance. Establishing creativity anxiety as a novel construct, and the CAS as a valid measurement instrument, opens a new avenue of research that promises to deepen basic understanding of creative cognition and inform development of interventions to enable greater achievement of creative potential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Math anxiety (MA), i.e. a trait factor describing the feelings of tension, apprehension, and fear during mathematics-related situations, has attracted increasing interest in recent years, due to its importance in people’s daily life and career development, especially in our modern digital world. Although the measurement of individuals’ trait MA has mostly relied on self-reported psychological scales, emerging studies are seeking for objective measurement by using behavioral or neurophysiological data. The present study, for the first time, investigated the neurophysiological signatures of trait MA in a cohort of high school students during their 90-minute real final-term math exam. Wrist-worn wearable devices were used for recording their autonomic nervous system activities, including skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR). The calculation of pairwise correlation revealed that both SC and HR could reflect the individual’s math evaluation anxiety (MEA) score, which is one of the two sub-components of trait MA. Specifically, the tonic level of SC was negatively correlated with MEA during the 5-minute pre-exam period when the students were anticipating the exam, whereas HR was positively correlated with MEA at two later time windows during the exam (63–65 minutes and 82–85 minutes, after the start of the exam). A leave-one-out regression analysis revealed a correlation ( $r =.349$ , $p =.094$ ) between the self-reported MEA scores and the scores predicted by these neurophysiological signatures. Our findings provide neurophysiological evidence of trait MA in a real-life context and demonstrate the potential of implementing an objective measurement of trait MA based on neurophysiological signals.

The relationship between anxiety and mathematics has often been investigated in the literature. Different forms of anxiety have been evaluated, with math anxiety (MA) and test anxiety (TA) consistently being associated with various aspects of mathematics. In this meta-analysis, we have evaluated the impact of these forms of anxiety, distinguishing between different types of mathematical tasks. In investigating this relationship, we have also included potential moderators, such as age, gender, working memory, type of task, and type of material. One hundred seventy-seven studies met the inclusion criteria, providing an overall sample of 906,311 participants. Results showed that both MA and TA had a significant impact on mathematics. Sociodemographic factors had modest moderating effects. Working memory (WM) also mediated the relationship between MA and TA with mathematics; however, this indirect effect was weak. Theoretical and educational implications, as well as future directions for research in this field, are discussed.

Recent findings on the negative impacts of math anxiety (MA) have raised questions for educational and clinical research regarding effective intervention programs. One basic approach for developing intervention programs in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy is to gain an in-depth understanding of the cognitive beliefs of children with a specific mental problem. By applying latent profile analysis (LPA), the present study aimed at identifying different patterns of MA and providing further insights into its cognitive phenomenology. For this purpose, trait-MA, state-MA, attitudes toward math, academic self-concepts, fixed/growth mindsets, executive functions, and math performance of 475 fourth and fifth graders (48.2% girls) were assessed. LPA indicated seven distinct profiles characterized by different dimensions and patterns of state-MA, trait-MA, and core beliefs toward math. Furthermore, the profiles showed clearly different math performances. The weakest performances were found for a profile with highest state-MA, high trait-MA, and negative cognitive beliefs toward math and a profile with average state-MA, high trait-MA, and negative cognitive beliefs toward math, whereas the highest achieving profile had no state-MA, high trait-MA, and very positive cognitive beliefs toward math. The findings underline the complexity of MA and emphasize the necessity to develop interventions with careful consideration of the heterogeneous patterns.

The purpose of this research is to find out whether there is an influence of learning styles, mathematical disposition, and mathematical anxiety on metacognitive reconstruction in mathematics learning and to know how learning styles, mathematical disposition, andMathematical anxietyaffect metacognitive reconstruction in mathematics learning. This research was conducted using theMixed Method. The data processing in this research uses the Structural Equation Model (SEM) through the application of the Lisrel 8.80 program. Based on the data and research results, it can be concluded that: 1) there is an influence of learning style, mathematical disposition, and mathematical anxietyon metacognitive reconstruction in mathematics learning; 2) students with goodmetacognitive reconstruction prefer visual learning style and have a high mathematical disposition and low level of anxiety. Students with medium metacognitive reconstructions category prefer kinesthetic learning styles andhave a moderate mathematical disposition and moderate levels of anxiety. Students with low metacognitive reconstruction categories prefer audio learning styles and have a low mathematical disposition and a high level of anxiety.

This study investigated the mediating roles of self-efficacy and anxiety on the effects of teacher–student relationship on mathematical problem-solving ability. A total of 1667 fifth graders from c...

Some academic subjects, such as math, produce negative feelings, influencing achievement. Math anxiety interferes with processing math-related or number-related information and tasks in ordinary life and academic situations. It differs from general academic anxiety that involves all the academic situations, independently by the specificity of the study subject. Further, it is possible to identify two correlated dimensions of math anxiety which may considerably interfere with math performance: anxiety related to learning mathematics and that experienced during tests. This study investigated the relationship between general academic anxiety, math anxiety, and calculation skill in schoolchildren (N = 204). Results showed that math anxiety was negatively associated with calculation performance in schoolchildren. More specifically, anxiety for math tests correlated negatively with numerical knowledge, calculation accuracy, and calculation speed, while anxiety for learning math correlated negatively with written calculation scores. These findings have a great educational interest. Indeed, calculation skills are central in school and daily life so teachers should recognize math anxiety precociously and promote educational interventions to control it.

Knowledge of the relations among learners' socio-emotional characteristics and competencies as they engage in mathematics and reading is limited, especially for children with academic difficulties. This study examined the relations between anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading, within and across domains, in an academically-diverse set of 8–13-year-old learners (n = 146). To measure anxiety and motivation across domains, we paired existing measures of math anxiety and reading motivation with researcher-developed analogs for reading anxiety and math motivation. Participants completed standardized assessments of mathematics and reading, anxiety and motivation surveys for math and reading, and a measure of nonverbal cognitive ability. Results showed high internal consistency for all anxiety and motivation scales (Cronbach's alpha = 0.76–0.91). Pearson correlations showed that within and across domains, participants with higher competence had lower anxiety and higher motivation. Higher anxiety was also associated with lower motivation. Regression analyses showed that for both math and reading, within-domain motivation was a stronger predictor of competence than anxiety. There was a unidirectional across-domain relation: socio-emotional characteristics for reading predicted math competence, after accounting for nonverbal cognitive ability, age, gender, and within-domain anxiety and motivation. Results contribute to knowledge of the socio-emotional characteristics of children with and without learning difficulties in association with reading and math activities. Implications of a unidirectional socio-emotional link between the two domains can advance research and theory of the relations among socio-emotional characteristics and competence for academically-diverse learners.

Background: Math anxiety (MA) emerges as a state of discomfort and anxiety when a student is faced with a math problem. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the association between self-esteem and classroom environment perceptions with math anxiety through the mediating role of mathematics self-concept (MSC) in female high school students. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on all the female high school students in Ahvaz, Iran in the academic year 2020 - 2021. In total, 237 students were selected as the sample population via single-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected using the Math Anxiety questionnaire (MAQ), Self-esteem questionnaire (SEQ), Dundee Ready Educational Environment measure (DREEM), and Mathematical Self-concept questionnaire (MSCQ). The proposed research model was evaluated using structural equation modeling. Results: With the exception of self-esteem and classroom environment perceptions (CEPs), all the direct paths were significantly correlated with MA (P = 0.001). Moreover, the indirect paths of self-esteem were significantly correlated with MA considering the mediating role of MSC (β = -0.240; P = 0.002). Furthermore, a significant association was observed between CEP and MA, mediated by MSC (β = -0.129; P = 0.001). Conclusions: According to the results, the proposed model had a good fit and could be an important step in identifying the influential factors in the MA of students.

We present a validation study of fifteen new math anxiety scale items designed to augment the widely-used Revised Mathematics Anxiety Scale (RMARS). While the RMARS and other standard instruments measure students’ anxiety in response to computation, test situations, and math course activities such as buying a textbook or watching a lecture, the new items present scenarios that reflect current pedagogical recommendations for college mathematics classrooms, specifically solving of non-routine problems and explaining thinking to peers. Anxiety in response to these kinds of scenarios we name Problem Solving Anxiety and Explanation Anxiety, respectively. With a survey sample of 132 future teachers enrolled at colleges and universities, we use exploratory factor analyses to demonstrate distinctness of these constructs from existing constructs and provide evidence for construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale, as well as for each dimension individually, are all between 0.9 and .95, indicating internal consistency.

The current study examined the role of implicitly measured associations (henceforth referred to as associations) between math and anxiety in adolescents’ math anxiety. Previous research has shown that associations predicted behavior independent of explicit measures. In this study, it was investigated whether math–anxiety associations would be related to math anxiety and whether they predicted math behavior as well as state math anxiety independent of explicitly measured math anxiety. In addition, the domain specificity of math–anxiety associations for predicting math behavior was investigated. Adolescents’ anxiety associations and self-reported anxiety were assessed for three domains: math anxiety, foreign language (English) anxiety, and trait anxiety. A sample of 189 secondary school students performed three single-target implicit association tests, performed a math problem solving task, and filled out questionnaires. Overall, adolescents showed stronger math–anxiety associations in comparison with math–calmness associations. In contrast to our hypotheses, math–anxiety associations were not related and did not uniquely or specifically predict math behavior and state math anxiety. Explicit anxiety measures demonstrated specificity in predicting math and English grades as well as state math anxiety. The innovative aspects of this study are the investigation of implicitly measured math–anxiety associations and the relation to math anxiety and math behavior. Further research is needed to develop tasks that are better able to capture the most relevant math–threat associations and to investigate which math behavior might be most strongly influenced by these associations.