Investigation of 8th Grade Students’ Mathematics Anxiety

The aim of this research study is to determine how students define their anxiety about learning mathematics, to determine the symptoms of anxiety and to define how anxiety occurs. The phenomenology research design was used in the study. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the research. The data were analyzed through the content analysis. The study group of the research consists of four male and four female 8th graders in two public secondary schools in Uluborlu district of Isparta. According to the results, students predominantly defined mathematics anxiety as frightening/scary. Also, students identified the symptoms of mathematics anxiety mostly as the theme of physical/physical symptoms. Students stated that sociological, psychological and philosophical dimensions were effective in the emergence of mathematical anxiety. Some students expressed common views on the sociological dimension-psychological and psychological-philosophical dimension. The effects of mathematics anxiety have been examined under two titles as the effects related to the psychological and sociological dimensions. While the effects related to the psychological dimension are discussed in terms of course achievement and effects on themselves, the effects related to the sociological dimension are discussed in terms of their effects on their relationship with their family and friends.

USE OF COMPUTER TOOLS TO DEVELOP MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS TO STUDY MATHEMATICS: CRITERIA OF EFFICIENCY

The article considers the problem of development of cognitive activity of students in mathematics lessons. The peculiarities of the use of the formative system of assessment in the process of teaching mathematics with the use of computer tools in the context of the tasks of personality-oriented learning. The main risk factors for increasing the mathematical anxiety of students are identified. The pedagogical factors of motivation development and increase of interest in learning, development of mathematical thinking and reduction of mathematical anxiety due to the development of methods to increase the clarity of learning and cognitive activity of students related to the use of computer tools are substantiated. The criteria are substantiated and the indicators of assessment of the development of cognitive activity of students of 7‒9 grades of gymnasiums in the process of teaching mathematics with the use of computer tools are distinguished: motives of students learning at school; interest in studying the study of mathematics (algebra and geometry); success in the study of mathematics (algebra and geometry); motivation to study mathematical disciplines; mathematical anxiety. A method of assessing the impact of the use of computer tools to study certain topics and sections of mathematics in grades 7‒9 in general secondary education, which will increase the motivation of students to study the subject and reduce the level of mathematical anxiety of students. The results are presented and the dynamics of the indicators of the experimental influence of the use of computer interactive tools on the motivation of students to study mathematics is analyzed. Keywords: personality-oriented learning; mathematical disciplines; mathematical anxiety; pedagogical conditions; mathematics teaching aids; motivation to study mathematics; interactive computer learning tools; success in the study of mathematics.

Using Multi-Group Invariance Analysis in Exploring Cross-Cultural Differences in Mathematics Anxiety: A Comparison of Australia and Russia

Mathematics anxiety is well known and studied concept. Most of the studies have been focused on the effects of mathematical anxiety on students’ academic achievement, especially from the viewpoint of analysing large national and international data sets. We aim to bring a different perspective to the existing research on mathematics anxiety and resilience by considering the measurement equivalence across cultures, so they can be compared fairly. We used Multi Group Invariance analysis with this purpose. Our findings suggested that full metric and partial scalar model invariance were confirmed which advise that the mathematics anxiety scale can be compared across two countries. We also ran multiple regression using Fisher’s Z to understand the reciprocal relationship among the variables across two samples. Preliminary results revealed that the perceived mathematics anxiety and perceived mathematics ability predict the measured mathematics anxiety equally well for both Australia and Russia.

The Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning in the Class of Inferential Statistics

The challenge in teaching statistics encompasses student motivation, mathematical anxiety, and student understanding. It needs an approach of education that encourages curiosity and leads to the engagement and comprehension of students. Cooperative learning is one of the teaching approaches that can be defined as learning with small groups of friends and implementing what they have learned in a lecture to achieve the same objective. Employing cooperative learning in the class of inferential statistics and assessing the efficacy of this approach is the aim of this study. The efficiency of the approach is determined based on the student's perception, the lecture’s observation, and the student's performance. The results showed that students more prefer to learn in a group during the course. While, based on the lecture’s observation, letting students sit in a group engages students positively during their lessons. After the implementation of cooperative learning, the student performance also exhibited improvement. Hence, it is tolerable to conclude that cooperative learning is efficient in increasing student engagement and performance.

TRANSPOSISI DIDAKTIS DALAM MENGATASI KECEMASAN MATEMATIS SISWA (DIDACTIC TRANSPOTION IN OVERCOMING STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL ANXIETY)

ABSTRAKTujuan penelitian ini, untuk mendeskripsikan bentuk pemanfaatan transposisi didaktis sebagai sarana belajar siswa pada pembelajaran matematika. Jenis penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian studi literatur. Artinya, penelitian yang dilakukan oleh peneliti dengan mengumpulkan sejumlah jurnal dan skripsi yang berkenaan dengan masalah dan tujuan penelitian, dengan pendekatan kepustakaan.Sumber data penelitian yaitu jurnal dan skripsi yang terkait dengan konsep yang diteliti, teknik analisis data menggunakan teknik analisis atau content analisis dilakukan proses memilih, membandingkan, menggabungkan dan memilah berbagai pengertian hingga ditemukan yang relevan.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian studi literatur dari ke lima belas jurnal dan skripsi yang relevan dengan judul, menyatakan bahwa pemanfaatan transposisi didaktis sebagai sarana belajar siswa pada masa pembelajaran berhasil digunakan dalam pembelajaran matematika, karena dengan menggunakan transposisi didaktis dapat mengurangi kecemasan siswa dalam pembelajaran matematika sehingga siswa lebih banyak aktif dan cepat memahami apa yang disampaikan oleh guru.Kata kunci: Pemanfaatan Transposisi Didaktis

Is project-based transdisciplinary assessment effective in reducing the Mathematical anxiety of pre-service Biology teacher?

Mathematical anxiety is a constant obstacle experienced by pre-service Biology Teachers in developing their quantitative abilities. Project-based transdisciplinary assessment is one type of transdisciplinary application that has not been widely explored to solve this problem. Project-based transdisciplinary assessment in form of mini-research with the topic “Data Collection on local wisdom in each area”. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of implementing project-based transdisciplinary assessment on reducing mathematics anxiety among 23 pre-service biology Teachers. This study used a pre-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design with one non-randomized group. The pre-test and post-test were carried out using the AMAS (Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Statistical results of this study show no significant difference in mathematics anxiety before and after the implementation of the project-based transdisciplinary assessment with a z value of-0.163 and a p-value of 0.87. Based on the aspect of mathematics anxiety, there is also no significant difference in mathematics learning anxiety and mathematics evaluation anxiety when compared before and after the implementation of project-based transdisciplinary assessment with each z value = -0.664, p = 0.506 and z = -0.931 and p = 0.352. The implication of this research is the need for a continuous, collaborative and institutional effort in the transdisciplinary application so as to improve the quantitative abilities of pre-service Biology Teachers.

The importance of working memory in children with Dyscalculia and Ageometria

This article is a literature review about Dyscalculia and Ageometria which are part of specific learning disabilities (LD) in Mathematics. Initially, some possible causes of LD are presented. Types of dyscalculia are then listed and the article goes on focusing on Working Memory (WM) and Mathematical Anxiety which play an important role in students’ performance in Mathematics.

Mathematical Anxiety as Predictor of Learning Motivation Strategies

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

Kecemasan Matematika Siswa Sekolah Menengah pada Pembelajaran Matematika dalam Jaringan

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.