Do Games Reduce Math Anxiety? A meta-analysis.

In this paper, we meta-analyse the empirical evidence about the effectiveness of game-based interventions to reduce students' level of math anxiety. After performing a search for randomised controlled studies relevant to game-based intervention for math anxiety, 16 experimental studies with a total of 686 participants described in 11 peer-review articles met the selection criteria.A random-effects meta-analysis indicated a small and non-significant reduction of math anxiety (mean effect size ES=-0.32, CI=[-0.64,0.01]). The results were moderated by several factors: non-digital games were more effective, while digital games had a negligible mean effect size of $ES=-0.13$, $CI=[-0.33,0.08]$. The effect size was moderated also by the total duration of the intervention, to the advantage of longer interventions, and by the type of gameplay: games had a greater effect on math anxiety reduction when they promoted collaborative and social interactions. Such features were only present in non-digital games, while all the digital games analysed were single-player. In the final section of the paper, we discuss future possible research directions. The weak results obtained indicated the need to develop and test games explicitly designed for math anxious students. This will require the investigation of the relationship between game features and math anxiety through the analysis of the behaviour of anxious and non-anxious students at play. Among the features that an anxiety-aware game could employ, we suggest collaborative gameplay, social interactions, adaptability, features promoting intrinsic motivation and real-time measurements of math anxiety.

Measuring Math Anxiety Among Predominantly Underrepresented Minority Undergraduates Using the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale

Many students experience math anxiety, which can negatively affect their academic achievement and even their career choices. One of the most commonly used methods to assess math anxiety is the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS). Despite the ubiquity of this measure, there is a lack of studies assessing its validity. Moreover, almost all studies have administered the AMAS to a predominantly (>75%) White sample. The present study assessed the validity of the AMAS in a largely underrepresented minority-student (Hispanics and Blacks) sample. The construct validity of the scale was established by showing that students’ AMAS was predictive of both their actual (objective) and predicted (subjective) performance on an arithmetic task. The factor structure of the measure was validated by confirming that the two-factor model was a better fit than the one-factor model. Gender invariance was supported using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. Overall, the results of the present study provide further evidence on the validity of the AMAS and its use among underrepresented minority college students.

Math Anxiety in Math Methods Courses

Many elements contribute to pre-service teachers' experiences in learning to teach mathematics. The transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has forced educators to challenge traditional math instruction. This chapter presents three major contributing elements in pre-service teacher preparation to foster creativity as a central component and an inevitable outcome of learning to teach mathematics with particular applications to online learning settings. The first section discusses learning to teach math as a creative activity. Some concrete instructional strategies are offered that promote dialogue-rich learning environments. The second section reviews current trends in learning to teach math. The author posits pre-service teachers who have suffered traumatic experiences in learning mathematics must first acquire tools for clearing math anxiety and fear. The third section is a call to action to encourage teachers to participate in and construct learning communities to teach mathematics including the use of instructional technology to support online instruction.

CALCULUS LEARNING VIA SCREENCAST-O-MATIC DURING THE PANDEMIC: AN EXPLORATION TOWARDS STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF MATH ANXIETY

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the learning system into an online mode, where students' anxiety became the spotlight for educators to create a learning environment that actively engages them. Many educators are competing in maximizing the use of technology to ensure students are engaged in the learning process. The study aims to explore students’ perception of math anxiety through the implementation of Screencast-O-Matic in calculus learning. This study involves 41 students at the university level and is conducted in mixed methods, using statistics and narrative descriptives. Questionnaires and open-ended questions are used to investigate students’ testimonies about the video made by Screencast-O-Matic and their perceptions of math anxiety after learning with the video given. The results showed that the implementation of Screencast-O-Matic video gradually reduces students’ mathematics anxiety during online calculus learning. Screencast-O-Matic offers educators the opportunity to build a web-based lecture learning system in audio-visual media to minimize students' anxiety levels. Furthermore, the most important things to consider while creating an educational video are clarity of message, user-friendliness, good visualization, and easy access to students anytime and anywhere.

Kemampuan Koneksi Matematis Siswa SMA Berdasarkan Kecemasan Matematika

One of mathematical abilities which is concepted by NTCM must be mastered by a student is mathematical connections. Some Study’s results showed that mathematics anxiety can influence students' mathematical abilities, including mathematical connections abilities. The study intends to know about mathematical connection’s ability that will be reviewed from high school students,s mathematics anxiety in solving problem related to material sequences and series. The samples in this study were 36 students of class XI IPA 2 at SMA N 1 Sekampung in East Lampung in academic year 2020/2021. Qualitative approach with descriptive method is used in this study. The tehnicque in collecting the data in this study by providing students math anxiety quessionair and tests to see the abilities of mathematical connections. There were 8 students indicated high math anxiety, 19 students indicated moderate math anxiety and 9 students indicated low math anxiety. The analysis was focused on the students who are chosen as the subject from each category. The conclusion is that student indicated high mathematics anxiety was able to achieve the ability to connect mathematical topics, connect mathematical topics to other sciences, while students with moderate and low mathematics anxiety can only achieve mathematics connection ability in indicator of connection in and between mathematical concepts. There is an anomaly in this study, which is due to high mathematics anxiety student get mathematical connection ability tend to be better. Keywords : Mathematical connection, mathematics anxiety, sequence

Kemampuan Berpikir Divergen Ditinjau Dari Math Anxiety Dan Gender Pada Pembelajaran Matematika

Kemampuan berpikir divergen dalam pembelajaran matematika dapat ditinjau melalui gender yang mempengaruhi pola pikir seseorang dan pola pikir dalam menghadapi math anxiety. Artikel ini memiliki tujuan untuk mendeskripsikan mengenai kemampuan berpikir divergen ditinjau dari math anxiety dan gender pada pembelajaran matematika. Penelitian dengan metode literature review. Pencarian database yanga digunakan meliputi Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science. Adapun banyak artikel yang dikaji yaitu 15 artikel yang bersumber dari jurnal nasional maupun jurnal internasional. Hasil kajian diperoleh bahwa komponen flexibility di dalam kemampuan berpikir divergen perlu ditingkatkan dengan merancang pemikiran siswa pada proses pembelajaran matematika agar dapat berpikir secara meluas dan kreatif serta mengontrol math anxiety siswa dalam belajar, math anxiety dapat berpengaruh dalam bermatematika karena setiap individu memiliki tingkat kecemasan yang berbeda, dan perempuan mempunyai math anxiety yang lebih tinggi daripada laki-laki. Gender berpengaruh dalam bermatematika karena perempuan dan laki-laki mengontrol pembelajaran matematika dengan kecakapan yang berbeda oleh masing-masing anak melalui motivasi yang diberikan sesuai dengan gender.