Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree
Master of Science
Program
Education
Program Director
Jennifer Lucko, PhD
First Reader
Jennifer Lucko, PhD
Second Reader
Whitney Hoyt, MS
Abstract
Math anxiety has the potential to negatively impact a student’s knowledge and awareness of themselves. This anxiety leaves students with feelings of incapability in learning math because of their existing beliefs they received in their early years in their educations. The purpose of this research was to better understand the development of middle school eighth grade students and their teachers’ math anxiety while also exploring the obstacles that anxiety creates preventing and/or inhibiting teachers from teaching the required standardized lessons. My research shows that without a trusting relationship between the teacher and student, students experience a decline in mathematics performance which affects their learning experience, perception, skills, self-efficacy, and perseverance. Taking a qualitative approach, the thesis builds from interviews and surveys from five students and five teachers about their experiences learning and teachings of mathematics. The findings from this research demonstrate that teachers who focus on developing students’ own self-confidence in math while engaging students in the learning process effectively reducing student math anxiety.
Keywords Math Anxiety Effective teacher modeling Self-efficacy Self-regulation Negative experiences Trust
IRB Number
10822