Mathematics Anxiety Among Edwinase M/A JHS Students, Causes, Effects on the Students, and Possible Ways of Resolving It
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of anxiety on the academic performance of Mathematics students in Secondary school and the associated risk when anxiety is not managed properly.
Objectives of the Study
The objective of carrying out this study is as follows;
- To identify the causes of anxiety among the Mathematics students in Secondary school.
- To identify the specific areas of anxiety in the lives of Mathematics students in Secondary school.
- To identify techniques to deal with the anxiety.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Anxiety
Emotions are human reactions to future, current, and past events, and are a constant presence in academic classrooms (Pekrun, 1992 blue right-pointing triangle; Mazer, 2017 blue right-pointing triangle). These course-related emotions can be beneficial by promoting actions or reflections that increase student motivation, learning, and performance (Kim and Pekrun, 2014 blue right-pointing triangle). However, not all emotions have positive impacts on student success. Positive emotions experienced by school students include enjoyment, interest, hope, and pride, while negative emotions can be anger, anxiety, frustration, and boredom (Pekrun and Stephens, 2010 blue right-pointing triangle). Anxiety has been of interest to undergraduate education researchers in recent years because of the increasing prevalence of this emotion in students (Bitsko et al., 2018 blue right-pointing triangle; Castillo and Schwartz, 2013 blue right-pointing triangle) and student reports of anxiety associated with active-learning pedagogies in undergraduate science classrooms (Broeckelman-Post et al., 2016 blue right-pointing triangle; England et al., 2017 blue right-pointing triangle; Cooper et al., 2018 blue right-pointing triangle).
Pedagogical approaches at the postsecondary level have been undergoing a transformation, including a noticeable shift toward the implementation of empirically validated teaching practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms (Armbruster et al., 2009 blue right-pointing triangle; American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011 blue right-pointing triangle, 2015 blue right-pointing triangle). This shift is not without cause: these teaching practices, including active-learning pedagogies, increase exam performance and lower course failure rates on average (Springer et al., 1999 blue right-pointing triangle; Freeman et al., 2007 blue right-pointing triangle, 2011 blue right-pointing triangle, 2014 blue right-pointing triangle; Armbruster et al., 2009 blue right-pointing triangle; Haak et al., 2011 blue right-pointing triangle). The use of active-learning pedagogies has also been suggested as a mechanism to improve student persistence in STEM undergraduate majors (Graham et al., 2013 blue right-pointing triangle). These results are encouraging, because fewer than 40% of freshman STEM majors persist to earn a STEM degree, yet the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST; 2012 blue right-pointing triangle) projected the need for an additional one million STEM graduates over the next decade.
The use of active learning typically comes with the expectation that students will respond in electronic, verbal, and/or written formats to questions that the instructor provides. For some students, the expectation to respond (and potentially be judged on that response) is associated with feelings of anxiety (Cooper et al., 2018 blue right-pointing triangle). Students, for example, have reported anxiety associated with cold calling (Broeckelman-Post et al., 2016 blue right-pointing triangle). While students liked that this practice encouraged them to pay attention, they did not enjoy having the spotlight on them, and the use of this practice discouraged some students from attending class on non–exam days. England et al. (2017) blue right-pointing triangle found that students in introductory Mathematics reported different average levels of anxiety for different active-learning practices; responding to verbal questions produced higher average anxiety than group work or clicker questions. Average levels of student general class anxiety were higher with lower student self-reported letter grade, and student intention to persist in the major was associated with lower class anxiety levels (England et al., 2017 blue right-pointing triangle). Active learning does not always increase student anxiety, however. Cooper et al. (2018) blue right-pointing triangle interviewed 52 students in large-enrollment courses and provided evidence that clicker questions and group work had the potential to either increase or decrease anxiety depending on teacher implementation and perceived benefit to the student, while random/cold call was always viewed negatively.
The current study focused on introductory Mathematics courses at a large southeastern public research school that had incorporated active learning into its classrooms. Given the student reports of anxiety in these active-learning classrooms, we asked what types of anxiety might be related to student performance and persistence in these courses, at what times of the semester, and for which students in the classes. This research responds to a growing interest in understanding how undergraduate anxiety may impact motivation, performance, and persistence, particularly for demographic subsets of students (Bledsoe and Baskin, 2014 blue right-pointing triangle; Eddy et al., 2014 blue right-pointing triangle, 2015a,b blue right-pointing triangle; Broeckelman-Post et al., 2016 blue right-pointing triangle; Cooper and Brownell, 2016 blue right-pointing triangle; Cooper et al., 2018 blue right-pointing triangle). Performance and/or persistence differentials have been observed between different genders (Eddy et al., 2014 blue right-pointing triangle; Eddy and Brownell, 2016 blue right-pointing triangle), ethnicities (Eddy and Hogan, 2014 blue right-pointing triangle), and those who completed different numbers of Advanced Placement (AP) courses (Ackerman et al., 2013 blue right-pointing triangle). These demographic groups were of particular interest to this study.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The research methodology forms the third chapter of the study. This chapter presents processes and procedures used to arrive at the findings of the study. It considered issues such as research approach research design, study population, sample and sampling procedures, research instrument, data collection method data analysis and ethical consideration. The data analysis methods and the data collection tools are also presented in this chapter.
Research Approach
According to Cresswell and Cresswell (2016), there are three approaches to research; (a) qualitative, (b) quantitative, and (c) mixed methods. Saunders et al. (2016) provides three significant differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study employed the quantitative research approach based on the nature of the study purpose under consideration, specific objectives, hypotheses and the nature of the primary data to be collected and analysed. Creswell (2014) asserted that quantitative approach deals with explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics). This approach typically begins with data collection based on a hypothesis or theory and it is followed with application of descriptive or inferential statistics (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003).
Quantitative methods are frequently described as deductive in nature, in the sense that inferences from tests of statistical hypotheses lead to general inferences about characteristics of a population. Quantitative research was chosen for this study because it helps in a broad and comprehensive coverage. Furthermore, data collected through quantitative research approach are objective and measurable. Quantitative research permits the researcher to familiarize himself with the concept to be examined and generate hypotheses to be tested (Salehi & Golafshani, 2010).
Research Design
Research design is usually a plan or blue print which specifies how data relating to a given problem should be collected and analyzed. It provides the procedural outlines for the conduct of any investigation. The research will take both descriptive and explanatory forms to identify the effect of anxiety on academic performance of Mathematics students. The descriptive research involves describing, recording, analyzing and interpreting conditions as they exist. Explanatory research refers to the research that focuses on studying a situation or a problem in order to explain the relationships between variables. It is concerned with how the researchers goes about answering the research questions by way of knowing what data to gather, the source of data, the intent behind it and the justification of the particular research design decision (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007).
Sample Size (Target Population)
According to Leedy and Ormrod (2010), population can be seen as the target group about which the researcher is interested in gaining information and drawing conclusions.
This research will focus on fifty Mathematics students. A sample size of four hundred (100) students was chosen due to financial and time constraints faced in conducting the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter is to analyze the data obtain as responses to the impact of anxiety on the academic performance of Mathematics students in Secondary school.
Primary data collection was based on information obtained from students from Mathematics secondary school. One- hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were administered to some of the students and we had 100 respondents respectively.
Analysis is done based on the information received from the students and interpreted to know the impact of anxiety on the academic performance of Mathematics secondary school students.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to discover the impact of anxiety on the academic performance of Mathematics students in Secondary school. The study found that all the respondents have experienced one form of Academic Anxiety or the other. This shows that academic anxiety is a common phenomenon among Mathematics Secondary school students and we observed that it affects students’ academic performance.
The study further found that, students’ not hearing from their family while on campus was the major source of academic anxiety even though there were other sources such as how often they had enough money on them and enough sleep.
More so, this study examined the relationship between academic anxiety and academic performance. It found that overwhelming majority of the students affirmed that academic anxiety affected their academic performance. The findings are in agreement with Linn and Zeppa (1984) who claimed that academic Anxiety can inhibit and suppress learning.
Finally, the findings concluded that, majority of the respondents argue that having enough time and getting engaged in extracurricular activities like sports and other entertaining hobbies play significant role in helping to deal with anxiety. Also seeking guidance and counseling or discussing with friend helps a lot. This finding is also in agreement line with Kaplan and Sadock (2000) who claimed that academic anxiety can be positive thereby enhancing learning.
The research method used to elicit information for the study was questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured to consist of both closed and open-ended type questions which were used to get answers from the respondents. The use of carefully structured questionnaire enabled the collection of large quantities of data and also had a wider coverage at less cost.
Few interviews were also conducted, personal observations were also made. However, care was taken in order not to be biased in giving an objective analysis of what was observed.
Conclusion
The study findings concluded that Mathematics students Secondary school student experience various degrees of academic anxiety which affects their academic performance in school. The study established symptoms and signs with which one can be able to identify students under Academic anxiety. These were; not having enough sleep, feeling tired during the day and occasionally do not feel well.
Further findings from the study indicated that students believe academic anxiety has a big effect on their performance. Anxiety leads to absenteeism in class, reduces academic morale of students and also leads to failure in completing assignments on time. Hence, academic anxiety has an inverse relationship with students’ performance. The more the anxiety, the less the student will perform at school.
In addition to that, the study indicated that by educating students on how to manage anxiety, staying focus, having enough rest, exercising a lot and effective time management can help to manage anxiety in order to enhance students’ academic performance.
Recommendations
Having concluded that academic anxiety has a negative effect on students’ academic performance; it is also pertinent to make certain recommendations and suggestions to help reduce academic anxiety on students. Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations have been made:
School authorities should ensure good academic environment for the students and ensure that measures to minimize academic anxiety are put in place, measures such as: appropriate course load, appropriate lecture hours, proper lighting in lecture halls, proper lecture schedule, non- congested lecture halls, and reduce load on assignment.
Guidance programs such as seminars and public lectures on anxiety awareness should be organized periodically for students so that they can be adequately equipped with the needed skills to handle issues related to academic anxiety.
Students should be encouraged to make use of the counseling centers provided by the school to help them build positive perception on academic anxiety.
Lecturers and educators should focus on intrinsic motivation which will have greater impact on students in achieving high academic performance amidst academic anxiety.
Finally, Sports competition like football, volleyball, tennis and other social activities like picnics, talent shows etc. should be organized for students in order to release them from dianxiety and enhance their academic performance.
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