PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON THE CAUSES OF MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content                                                                                                                      Page

Cover Page

Title Page                                                                                                                    i

Certification                                                                                                                ii

Declaration                                                                                                                  iii

Dedication                                                                                                                  iv

Acknowledgements                                                                                                    v

Abstract                                                                                                                      vi

Table of Content                                                                                                         vii – viii

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Background of the study

Statement of the problem

Purpose of the study

Significant of the study

Research questions

 Scope/ delimitations

Operational definition of terms

Limitations of the study

CHAPTER TWO

Conceptual framework

Theoretical framework

Empirical framework

Summary

CHAPTER THREE

Research design

Area of study

Population

Sample and sample technique

Research instrument

Validation of the instrument

Reliability of the instrument

Data collection

Data analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

 Reliability of the questionnaire

Frequency table of the whole data

Descriptive table of the whole data

Summary.

CHAPTER FIVE

Discussion of findings

Summary of the findings

Conclusion and recommendations

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION

The main aim for this study was to find the cause that could trigger mathematics anxiety in students. This chapter focuses on the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, significant of the study, research questions, it also deals with scope/Delimitation of the study and operational definition of terms used in the study, and the limitation of the study.

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY:

Mathematics is one of the most important subjects in secondary school right from primary education up-to the University admission level and it’s a major criteria. It is made compulsory for all students to offer at the junior WAEC, senior WAEC and also at the JAMB examinations before they can be admitted into any higher education of learning in Nigeria. This is because Nigeria as a nation solely depends upon mathematics as one of the most important subjects that could help the nation meet her objective for science and technological advancement (Jegede, 2002). It is a fact that some students have a very low interest in mathematics. Students hate or dislike mathematics. Even at secondary schools level in Nigeria students do not attend mathematics lessons (Fatola, 2005). Most of the students do not practice mathematics on their own neither do they solve mathematics problems on their own.

Mathematics anxiety affects student achievement and attitude towards mathematics (Hembree, 1990). It may lead to poor performance and avoidance of mathematics. Many people think of mathematics as a punishment or something that induces stress (Zaslavsky, 1999). There are many causes postulated for math anxiety. Arem (2003) equates great amounts of math anxiety with test anxiety, and says it’s three- fold: poor test-taking strategies, poor test preparation and psychological pressures. According to Dodd (1999), the lack of confidence is probably the math-anxious learner’s greatest obstacle. Zopp (1999) found that unrelated life events, trigger events in education and a lack of support contributed to math anxiety. In addition, parents with math anxiety pass it along to their children, while teachers with math anxiety pass it along to their students (Fiore 1999). Preis and Biggs (2001) pointed that male students had higher math anxiety than females, while Karimi and Venkatesan (2009) noted that females scored higher than males. However, Lusser (1996) failed to find a significant relationship between gender and math anxiety, suggesting other factors such as mathematics background had to be envisaged.

According to Perry (2004) a mathematics student can seriously hamper her or his performance by being nervous and insecure toward mathematics. Most mathematics teachers would agree that mathematics anxiety stems primarily from students’ fears of failure and feeling of inadequacy. In most cases, mathematics anxiety is not extreme or overwhelming, yet it continues to haunt most students throughout their encounter with mathematics (Usop et al., 2001). Mathematics anxiety could also develop as a result of a student’s prior negative experiences learning mathematics in the classroom or at home (Rossnan, 2006). A study by Vukovic, Roberts and Wright (2013) on home-school mediation analyses demonstrated that parental home support and expectations influenced students’ performance and reasoning by reducing their mathematics anxiety. Fears and anxiety about maths may have more widespread consequences. If lecturers who are anxious about maths are charged with teaching students mathematics, their anxieties could have consequences for their students’ maths achievement. Makari (2012) defined anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. The fear of not being able to do the math or the fear that it’s too hard or the fear of failure which often stems from lack of confidence. Mathematics anxiety affects how students feel and behave. It is common to experience moments of anxiety inside or outside a mathematics class. For some students severe anxiety may lead to math phobia while for others it may lead to improved achievement. Math avoidance results in less competency, exposure and math practice, leaving students more anxious and mathematically unprepared to achieve (Ashcraft, 2002). Students who have had bad experiences learning math often develop this phobia and, in turn, struggle learning various concepts because they feel they are unable to do the mathematics.

A number of math anxiety researchers suggest that some instructional strategies for teaching mathematics and facilitators’ training, beliefs are some of the underlying causes of math anxiety (Ashcraft, 2002; and Hellum, 2010). Math anxiety is often due to poor teaching and poor experiences in math that typically leads to math anxiety (Nebraska MATH, 2012). Russell (2008) viewed math anxiety is an emotional, rather than an intellectual problem. However, some researchers argue that math anxiety can interfere with a person’s ability to learn math and therefore become an intellectual problem. Failure experiences in mathematics and fear of future failures were also identified as the major contributing factors to mathematics anxiety and phobia.

Having a fear or dread of mathematics, whether found in academia or infiltrated with daily living, leaves some people cognitively and emotionally "stuck." Distancing themselves from mathematics may be a preferred reaction, but doing so exacerbates their lack of mathematical confidence and competency (Ryan, Gheen, & Midgley, 1998). By fearing math or assuming dismal results for the effort, individuals steer their career and leisure choices so they can minimize their math anxiety (Bankhead, 2002; Tobias, 1991).

According to Amazigo (2000), when the option is available, many students would prefer not to have anything to do with learning mathematics. This attitude has led them, among other things, to achieve poorly in mathematics examinations both internal and external. On the other hand, the recent paucity and anxiety of secondary student in mathematics and the study of mathematics education in Universities, Colleges of Education and Polytechnics suggests that mathematics is no longer popular among students.

There is no doubt that the poor achievement in the subject enhances students’ hatred for the subject. This hatred is rooted in the fact that there is a general tendency for students to fear mathematics whenever it is mentioned (Amazigo, 2000). Anxiety refers to a feeling of distress or alarm caused by danger or pain that is about to happen (Tobias, 1999). In intensity it varies from a mild sense of apprehension to paralyzing terror. In anxiety there is always the desire to shrink, to get away or retreat from the exciting cause.

Anxiety, in general, has been challenging to define in terms of which aspects to include in its construct. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2000) included the doubt a person has about a situation and one's capability to adequately respond to it. The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) recognized the aspect of an uncertain outcome. Mathematics anxiety is considered a state-specific form of general anxiety.

The stimuli for anxiety are many and varied. In early infancy any sudden or intense stimuli like loud and sudden noise, unexpected jerk, and flash of bright light or loss of support may cause anxiety though there are large individual differences. Any sudden change in the environment, which the individual regards as threatening and for which he is unprepared, produces anxiety. When the threatening situation is removed or controlled, and the danger real or imaginary has passed, anxiety disappears. Also, as activities or experiences expand or interests and abilities grow, the number and kinds of anxiety increase. But as the power of adjustment through experience increases many of childish anxiety disappear. Some anxieties are as a result of conditioning effect. They will have to be reconditioned by attaching pleasant circumstances and experiences with situations and objects, which causes the anxiety. Praise or rewards attached to or associated with fearful tasks or situations will help to reduce anxiety. There are some anxiety where the best thing to do is to act as the anxiety suggests, that is, get away.

The phenomenon of mathematics anxiety is variously referred to as Mathemaphobia or Mathematics pathological fear in mathematics (Stephen, 2007). Pathological mathematics anxiety therefore mean a behavior disorder in which an individual becomes progressively unable to resist the impulse to fear mathematics.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

It is widely known in Nigeria that larger number of students tends to choose non mathematics related courses while seeking admission to higher institutions. The number of students offering non mathematics related courses in higher institution is more than ten times the number offering mathematics related courses. Also maybe applicable to secondary school students, i.e. most

students tends to go into the ART and COMMERCIAL department, sometimes due to the fear of further mathematics and other calculation related courses/subject, and in other not to study anything relate to mathematics and its calculation in the nearest future, although mathematics is made a compulsory subject in secondary education so there is no way any student can exclude this from their curriculum. This can be related to mathematics anxiety. Students perceives mathematics as a very difficult subject which is difficult to understand, hence they spent little time, interest and concentration on it. However, the researcher is examining the perception of students on the causes of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the causes of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students in Lagos state. Specifically this study seeks to:

1)      To examine the perception of students on the causes of mathematics anxiety among students of secondary school.

2)      To examine the level of mathematics anxiety among students of secondary school.

3)      To identify the solution to the problem of mathematics anxiety among students of secondary school.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The following are the significance of this study:

The outcome of this study will educate the students of secondary school, higher institutions and the general public on the perception of students on the causes of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students.

This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The following research question will guide the conduct of this research:

1)      What is the perception of students on the causes of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students?

2)      What is the level of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students?

3)      What is the level of anxiety among the gender of secondary school students?

1.6 SCOPE/DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

This study covers the perception of students on the causes of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students.

The study involve five schools (all public schools) in Badagry Local Government Area, Lagos State.

The sample of the study comprise of 150 students, 30 students each from the schools under study. 

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Perception: the way you think about or understand someone or something, the ability to understand or notice something easily, the way that you notice or understand using one of your senses.

Anxiety: fear or nervousness about what might happen, a feeling of wanting to do something very much

1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY:

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

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