MATHEMATICS ANXIETY OF GRADE 6 PUPILS: REINFORCING

QUANTITATIVE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

Jovita T. Pasion

Chapter 1
Introduction

Introduction

Mathematics anxiety was first examined and defined in the year 1950. It refers as the

feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with one’s performance in Math

(Ashcraft, 2002). Further, it is said to have a much higher relation in the intensity of learning

than to early stages of attaining knowledge (Cates & Rhymer, 2003). According to Merritt

(2011), math anxiety is a general and universal concern for all students world-wide.

Math anxiety is a serious and pervasive problem, especially in the elementary school

setting. Students may experience math anxiety in many forms and degrees, from “freezing

up” during a math exam, to attempting to avoid anything having to do with numbers.

Symptoms may be physical or psychological. Physical symptoms include nausea, shortness-

of-breath, sweating, heart palpitations and increased blood pressure. Some psychological

symptoms are memory loss, paralysis of thought, loss of self-confidence, negative self-talk,

math avoidance and isolation (thinking you are the only one who experiences it). These

symptoms and other negative math experiences may lead to a vicious cycle in which fear of
math interferes with learning math which leads to more negative math experiences (Preis &

Biggs, 2001).

Math Anxiety is a draining emotional reaction to mathematics that is increasingly

recognized in psychology and education. It has been defined as "a feeling of tension and

anxiety that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical

problems in ordinary life and academic situations" (Curtain-Phillips, 1999). It ranges from

feelings of mild tension to a strong fear of mathematics and is not restricted to test or

classroom settings, with the result that those affected develop a severe avoidance of

situations involving any kinds of mathematics.

Math anxiety implies more than “bad at math.” It implies that someone would be

better at math if he or she weren’t so anxious -- there is evidence that’s true. A growing body

of work shows that math anxiety robs people of working memory. Working memory can be

thought of as a kind of mental scratch pad. It makes keeping several things in mind

simultaneously possible. Math anxiety essentially prompts students to do two things at once:

solve the math problem and deal with worries about the math (including worries about

getting the problem wrong, looking foolish, and what others may think of them). As a result,

students have less working memory to devote to the math, and their math performance

suffers (Beilock & Willingham, 2014).

Mathematics anxiety has been a subject of research across levels. Elementary

students, adolescents and even students in tertiary level have been used as subjects for study

focusing on this phenomenon (Vitasari, Wahab, Othman, & Awang 2010). Mathematics

anxiety is becoming more prevailing reason why students are not able to participate

effectively in their mathematics class. Although the effects of math anxiety on academic
performance seem to be unnoticeable, it might have a number of indirect effects on the

students’ attitude and behavior toward math (Espada, 2012).

Researchers suggest that the possibility of the mounting decline in students’

achievement in math subject has something to do in their level of math anxiety (Alday &

Panaligan, 2013). According to International Mathematics Anxiety and Science Study

(TIMSS), which is the largest international evaluation of Math and Science proficiencies

among primary and secondary students, eight grade Filipino students ranked 41st in Math

among 45 countries that partake in the said activity. The score was more than 100 points

lower than Malaysia and 200 points lower than first-ranked Singapore. In addition, fourth-

grade Filipino students were said to be in 23rd position out of 25 countries joined in the same

activity. The Philippines is believed to be in the same position since 1999 and did not

participate in the year 2007 and 2011. Results of these findings exhibit the alarming need for

improving mathematical abilities of students.

Students are Greatly Affected by Math Anxiety

Math anxiety is an adverse emotional reaction to math or the prospect of doing math.

It has long been recognized to play a role in the math achievement of middle school and high

school students (Hembree, 1990) but recent studies have shown that math anxiety can begin

as early as elementary school (Beilock & Willingham, 2014) and can reach its peak during

middle school and high school (Scarpello, 2007). The early onset of math anxiety amongst

elementary students are most likely caused by social influences and cognitive

predispositions. In cognitive predispositions, a child will have negative views towards math

in the future as they progress in formal schooling if they are lacking in their skills.
Cognitively predisposed children are more vulnerable to negative social influence.

Elementary students are likely to be influenced by their primary source of information: their

teachers. Studies do imply that negative attitudes towards math may be passed down from

teacher to student (Maloney & Beilock, 2015).

The reasons for math anxiety can be classified by three main factors: environmental,

having negative experiences in math subjects or with bad teachers; personal, the lack of

confidence, low self-esteem, and the influence of previous negative experiences with

mathematics or; cognitive, the innate qualities such as failure to naturally adept at math,

which fuels a sense of inadequacy (Adelson, 2014). Since math demands correct answers, it

may bring about more anxiety over making mistakes compared to reading and understanding

(Menon, 2012). In the case of other students, factors such as the fear of not finishing a timed

test, being placed in math courses above level of competence, or feeling not in control of

one’s life situation, can also contribute to one’s math anxiety (Diaz, 2009).

Cultural Contribution to Math Anxiety

Unconsciously, society facilitates the development of math anxiety as it is considered

a cultural norm. Each culture has a different source for math anxiety as a nation but two

distinct cultures would be the Western countries and the Asian perspective.

For the Asian perspective, Shields (2006), a student from the University of Hong

Kong, conducted a study on 91 college students to gather their personal insights on math

anxiety, and to determine how and when math anxiety surfaced throughout their school lives.

Results showed that 61% of respondents related their math anxiety to teachers. 19% being
the largest percentage, started to experience math anxiety in the ninth grade, followed by

15% in the seventh grade, 12% in fourth grade, and 11% by the eighth or eleventh grade.

Joining grades seven, eight, and nine, which are the years that students are introduced to

Algebra, 45% of respondents first felt math anxiety during then. Likewise, 51% expressed

their beginning of math anxiety during Algebra class.

What is most interesting though is that greater than 60% of the respondents stated that

society made them believe that math would be vital to their future; however, those

interviewed were not aware of how important math was to their future careers. These

realizations about the importance of math may have added to their level of math anxiety,

seeing that they felt that they could not do what society (may include parents and/or

significant others) expected of them (Shields, 2006.; Diaz, 2009). On the topic of teaching

methods, it was examined that being taught in smaller groups and working in pairs seemed

to create less anxiety, whereas individual and team competitive math activities made the

majority of respondents more anxious (Schenkel, 2009).

On the other hand, the Western perspective was explained by Buckley (2011) who

stated that "negative community beliefs about math are often heavily endorsed in

adolescence throughout high school per culture norm". The majority of society share the

commonality of math anxiety that it has been socially accepted to be normal. Due to the

association of math with the idea of intelligence, the rest of society that don't show high

levels of math anxiety are labeled as a 'nerd' due to their enthusiasm and ability to perform

better than others.

 There are three math myths that fuel math anxiety. The first of which being the

presumption that for a person to excel in math, he must have a 'mathematical brain'. In reality,

it's simply an excuse to defend the idea that math is 'difficult'. But learning math, is similar

to learning in general as there are multiple factors that affect it such as the mentors, attitude

of the student, and the time and practice they dedicate towards the subject. Myth two is that

a person cannot be creative and good in math at the same time. It can be assumed that most

math taught in schools are not applicable in the real world. Therefore, it is more or less

useless with the exception of topics such as business math, and the basic operations. Lastly,

myth three would be gender stereotypes. It is believed that men excel more in math compared

to women as they are perceived to be 'illogical' which conflicts with math, a logical subject.

At a young age, girls may not have as much opportunity given to them to investigate the

world (mathematically) the same way with boys. This discourages girls enrolling for any

advance math subjects in upper secondary school (Bohrd, Blazek, & Verkhovtseva, 2011;

Buckley, 2011).

All in all, most students perceived their math anxiety as a result of lacking cognitive

skills, and even believing that it becomes worse as they attempt to improve those skills

(Shields, 2006).

Math Anxiety has a Long and Lasting Effect to an Individual

Doing math naturally triggers an effect on our brains, which includes the release of

stress hormones like cortisol, which is what triggers our flight or fight response. Studies have

proven that anticipating a math test activates the brain’s “pain matrix” or the region that gets

triggered when you injure yourself (Robson, 2015).

 The most common symptoms people with math anxiety encounter are panic, paranoia,

passive behavior, and lack of confidence (Bradley, 2010). In this, the student or adult

believes that he or she is the only one who experiences difficulty in mathematics. He or she

will not work on his on her behavior because this problem also triggers passive behavior, in

which the student or adult believes that the problem cannot be solved in any way. It would

eventually limit the opportunities and career choices these individuals can have due to the

reason that they'd prefer to avoid not only the subject math but also the courses and careers

that involve it (Buckley, 2011). This also results to excessive reliance on other people to

accomplish simple math tasks. The student or adult does not believe that he or she can

accomplish any task related to mathematics.

According to Newman (1985), the math processing center of the brain is overwhelmed

by math tasks and shuts down when experiencing math anxiety. Poor encoding, decoding,

memory, processing, and retrieval of math facts are also symptoms that people with math

anxiety encounter. Researchers conducted a study on what occurs inside a person’s brain

when they performed math. Through MRI scans, it was evident that the worry of upcoming

math events triggered a response in the brain much similar to physical pain. A person’s

anxiety about math will activate their posterior insula, a piece of tissue deep in the brain

located above the ear, and is connected to acknowledging threats to a person’s body such as

physical pain.

More specifically, as proven by Young, Wu, and Menon (2012), heightened activity

occurs in the right amygdala, the same area that responds with fear to trigger stimuli,
heightened activity in the hippocampus, which helps us form memories, reduced activity in

parts of the prefrontal cortex involved with working memory, attention, and number

reasoning, and greater connective strength between the amygdala and a part of the prefrontal

cortex that regulates negative emotions.

High levels of math anxiety are seen to negatively affect an individual’s ability to run

working memory - the information needed to make mental calculations. The Chief Scientist

of the Australian Council for Educational Research stated that "the understanding of the

pervasiveness in and importance of mathematics, engineering and science to Australia's

Future needs to be promoted and nurtured across the community" (Buckley, 2011). The

development of a negative response towards the subject would greatly affect the country's

progressive development as a chain reaction towards the national level.

Studies conducted in both the countries, Australia and USA, showed that a significant

amount of people have avoided careers with math degrees causing a decrease of college and

university enrollees (Buckely, 2011). This would limit the country's employee resource in

STEM fields. Careers holding such degrees play an important role in the development of

society such are engineers, architects, physicists, math teachers, accountants, economist and

etc. The U.S. Department of Education (as cited in Andrews & Brown, 2015) claims that

the lack of work force in the STEM field has been a pressing issue for decades; wherein they

are forced to find manpower abroad. The percentage of that dependence have increased by

8% between the years, 1990 and 2000 (Brown & Andrews, 2015).
Some Coping Mechanisms to Math Anxiety

An important step in overcoming math anxiety is changing one’s attitude toward it. It

is recommended that students not view mathematics as something to be dreaded, and instead

as something they can look forward to learning, or as a challenge they are willing to beat

like games (Perles, 2012; Crowder, 2011). Similarly, many games are based on math

concepts such as cards, and battleships (Curtain-Phillips, 1999). It is also recommended for

students to train themselves not to engage in negative self-talk (Crowder, 2011; Freedman,

2010; Mission College, 2009) and replace it with more positive messages. A simple principle

to follow because a person's mind has a great influence with success (Curtain-Phillips, 1999).

Students should also practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and visualization

to help release the tension and anxiety (Blazer, 2011). A study conducted by professor Sian

Beilock and PhD student Ian Lyons in 2011 showed through brain scans the connection

between activity in a network of regions in the frontal and parietal lobes and the anxiety that

students face when performing math-related tasks. It was seen that a highly math-anxious

student’s ability to focus their attention and control emotions has a large impact on how they

perform in math-related tasks. Students should practice taking control of their emotions and

concentrating on the task at hand before the anxiety fully sets in when anticipating math-

related tasks (Adelson, 2014).

A more practical solution that is most commonly suggested and supported for

reducing math anxiety is exposure to mathematics. It is recommended for students to

challenge themselves and practice math on a day-to-day basis. Researchers emphasize that

repetition is important in math and that with practice, students will develop the confidence
needed to solve mathematical problems, as well as improve on their current mathematical

ability (Freedman, 2010; Mission College, 2009). Studies have shown that disorganization

is linked to stress, and can amplify the symptoms of anxiety (Sherman, 2015). By learning

to organize their notes, schedules, school things and study habits, students will become less

affected by the anxiety that comes with math (Mission College, 2009). Another

recommended strategy is for students to adopt a new style or modify their current style of

studying. Students should play to their strengths and find a good studying technique

(Freedman, 2010; Rispoli, 2011), and should use these studying techniques to better

understand the processes in the lesson. Students should ask questions about concepts that

they do not understand or want to clarify (Freedman, 2010; Mission College, 2009).

If none of the mentioned solutions work, it is highly recommended for students to

seek assistance from teachers, peers, family, or hire a tutor that best suits their learning style.

Because of this, students should not rely solely on memorization (Freedman, 2010; Rispoli,

2011), and should use these studying techniques to better understand the processes in the

lesson. Students should ask questions about concepts that they do not understand or want to

clarify (Freedman, 2010; Mission College, 2009).

Teachers as catalyst of coping mechanism. In a classroom environment, there are

two roles that exist: the teacher and the student. This relationship plays an important aspect

to the learning attitude the students will have towards the subject of math. According to

Jackson & Leffingwell (as cited in Smith, 2004) the students reflect the attitude of the teacher

towards to the subject. If the teacher shows enthusiasm with math, so will the student. If they
don't, the student will mirror this. The connection that the teacher has with their students can

have the potential to help promote an effective learning environment.

Every teacher must remember that the purpose of teaching is to understand and not to

replicate and memorize (Haralson, 2002). Researchers have conducted a study that by

focusing on using different teaching styles, methods of assessment, and extra tutorial lessons

helped improve math anxiety. One effective method is the investigative method wherein

students are independently making their own decisions on how to solve the problem and

even create their own problems. In order to help ease the process, it is highly suggested by

Schwartz (as cited in Smith, 2004) that it should be in an ascending manner - starting from

simple problems to more complex ones.

It is advisable for teachers to show their concern and care for their students in order

to build a more comfortable environment for learning (Haralson, 2002). This helps

encourage students to ask more questions openly and recite during classes, since students

learn best when they are active rather than passive (Curtain-Phillips, 1999). In the situation

where in a student would incorrectly answer, teachers must deal with their response with

positive reinforcement as not to cause any 'trauma' to the students (Haralson, 2002).

In order to further maximize the learning experience in math, the students must be

able to recall or master the basic math skills needed (Smith, 2004). It is part of the teacher's

role to remind the students of these concepts due to the fact that mathematics has its own

language. Schwartz (as cited in Smith, 2004) mentions that the teacher must remember to

see his students are still people. He must learn not only to put himself in their shoes and
relate to their struggles but to also have patience to assist them to the best of his capabilities

in understanding the concepts that he teaches.

According to Prescott (as cited in Smith, 2004), the teacher must also allow his

students to make up their own questions and problems to encourage critical thinking. It is

more important that does not emphasize with right or wrong but the correct process. He

stresses the need of math students to realize that math is more than computations. Steele &

Alfred (as cited in Smith, 2004) supports this by explaining that flexibility in math helps

facilitate cooperation, reduce stress and anxiety, and create positive attitudes.

Math anxiety and age

Although math anxiety can affect all ages, it was found out that this is more likely to

start in an early age. Children in the ages between nine to eleven years old exhibit a

significant level of mathematics anxiety (Newstead, 1998). However, this phenomenological

concern has the capability to continue throughout the secondary or middle year of the

students (Wigfield & Meece, 1988) and can appear until college years (Bourquin, 1999).

Thus, mathematics anxiety should be a topic of concern most especially in educational fields

leading to a more methodical and a longitudinal finding as far as one of the most vital

variable, the age, is concern.

As mathematics anxiety continues to recognize in different field of research across

nations, its effect to various variables are also observing and examining in the vicinity of

numerous disciplines.
 While students’ success in all subject areas is an issue of concern, mathematics has

been a difficult subject for many students to effectively learn. Additionally, student’s success

in math is generally recognized as worldwide concern because of the drastic decline in

performance in math. Result from research found that a major factor affecting math

achievement is math anxiety (Meritt, 2011). This finding is in support with the outcome of

a significant negative relationship between anxiety levels and mathematics achievement

(Ballado, 2014). In addition, people who have high level of fear when it comes to

mathematics are at high risk of avoiding math classes as well as math-related activities

(Ruffins, 2007).

Effects of different social figures in the level of mathematics anxiety are also

investigating in numerous ways. Performing mathematics with the presence of teachers and

classmates was also known to be the subject of the research (Newstead 1998). Results in a

study showed that teachers seemed to be the most influential figure on student’s mathematics

anxiety (Usop, Sabri, Sam & Wah, 2012).

Language, as believed to be an essential factor in developing mathematics among

individuals was also observed. Findings revealed that the use of native language in teaching

mathematics subjects can higher the performance of students in terms of their math skills

and abilities (Espada, 2012).

Theoretical Framework

According to Pekrun (2006), a leading researcher in the area of emotions in the

classroom, the Control-Value theory of Achievement Emotions helps explain this. The

theory is centered in the trigger of achievement emotions, which includes activity-related

emotions such as enjoyment, and anxiety. There are two components in his theory: (1) how

much as student values what they are doing. and (2) how much control the student believes

that he or she has over a task. When a student highly values what they are doing and has a

high level of control over the task, he would find enjoyment. On the other hand, when a

student highly values a task but has no control, anxiety is experienced.

In line with his theory, neuroscientists found evidence through the use of functional

magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain found neurological evidence of the negative

impact math anxiety has to the individual's performance prior to completion of math task.

Researchers from the study concluded that the reason of the decrease in the performance of

math was not caused by the skill level of the individual but the ability to manage anxiety at

the anticipatory stage and focus to the task at hand (Buckley, 2011).

Mathematics anxiety is made of several components:

Mathematics Test Anxiety- this domain refers to anxiety or feeling of nervousness

created by any situation requiring the completion, expectations and feedbacks arise from

math-related test. Various situations that account for any actions with relation to math test

could bring out this anxiety. These situations can be taking math section of the college

entrance exam, taking a quiz or final examination in a math class, being given a set of

assignments related to mathematics, getting ready for a math test, and actions such as picking

a math textbook to begin studying (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

Numerical Test Anxiety- this domain implies to different conditions and

circumstances which necessitate the ability and skills in solving numerical problems and
arithmetic calculations. This domain of mathematics anxiety can incorporate to students who

are performing or solving different computation such as addition, subtraction, multiplication

and division (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

Mathematics Course Anxiety- this domain infers various states, which attach or

associate a person to any mathematics activities or programs. Situations like purchasing a

textbook, watching a teacher working on an algebraic problem or equation, signing up for a

math course, giving attention to someone explaining a math formula, and walking into a

math class could account to mathematics course anxiety (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

A student is capable of acquiring or obtaining one or more domains of mathematics

anxiety and the intensity of this could differ in every person depending on various factors

such as social figures which teachers, students, and peers and personal components like

attitudes and values toward mathematics (Baloglu, 2002).

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the research. This study includes

evaluations of three (3) components of math anxiety as to mathematics test anxiety,

numerical test anxiety and mathematics course anxiety. These are the assessed of the

respondents' profile as to levels of their math anxiety.

The researcher will provide a questionnaire that serves as an evaluation called

Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (R-MARS) by Baloglu & Zelhart in 2007. The

assessment will predict the outcome of the following: the program (Math Learning Remedial

Program) that could help the students alleviate problems with regards to their level of

mathematics anxiety which would serve as a remedy in this prevailing phenomenon.

 Figure 1: Research Paradigm

Statement of the Problem

This study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents with regard to:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Year Level

2. What is the level of math anxiety of the respondents as to:

2.1 Test Anxiety

2.2 Course Anxiety

2.3 Task Anxiety

3. Is there a significant difference in the levels of math anxiety when the demographic profile

(age, gender, year level) are considered?

Hypothesis

There is no significant difference in math anxiety of the respondents when their

profile is considered.

Significance of the study

This study aims to find out the level of math anxiety among selected Grade 6 students

at _______________________, Division of Pampanga. This study also seeks to raise

awareness which will be beneficial to the respondents to lessen the devastating effects of

having a high level of math anxiety not just on their academic success but also on their

psychological well-being as students.

To the students.This study can also help the students identify whether they have a

high or low level of math anxiety, such that awareness on the matter will be beneficial, most

particularly to those students with high level of math anxiety to help them improve on the

matter.

Parents / guardians. This research helps the guardians to be informed and to get

benefits from this study as it gives recommendations on how they could help their children

in addressing this difficulty.

Teachers. This research would allow educators to know and gain awareness about

the levels of anxiety experiencing by their students most especially on math subjects. This

could lead to the creation of more effective teaching styles which will aid the problem on

math anxiety.
 For the future researchers. This study will encourage them to do research that is

aligned with the current study following the recommended additional demographic profile

and other variables. Apart from that, they could also use the theories, data and results

gathered by researchers to support their studies.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study focused solely on the levels of math anxiety of high school students at

___________________________, Division of Pampanga for School Year 2018-2019. The

Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale-Revised (R-MARS) will be outlined in the study

covering the respondents’ age ranging from 12-17 years old including the scale that will be

used restrictedly on self-report survey of Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale-Revised (25-

items) including the three components of it: Mathematics Test Anxiety, Mathematics Course

Anxiety, and Numerical Task Anxiety.

Definition of Terms

These terms are defined conceptually to help the readers fully understand this study.

Math Anxiety. Defined as “the presence of a syndrome of emotional reactions to

arithmetic and mathematics” (Dreger & Aiken, 1957, p. 344).

Mathematics Test Anxiety. Refers to the students’ reactions to evaluative situations

in mathematics (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

 Numerical Task Anxiety. Implies basic math activities such as multiplication and

division (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

Mathematics Course Anxiety. Defines as the students’ reactions toward being in a

math class (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007).

 Chapter 2

Methods

This chapter presents the design of the study that includes a description of the
research design, respondents of the study, setting of the study, research instrument, data
gathering technique, sources of data and the statistical treatment of data.

Research Design

The researcher will use the descriptive survey method of research which employed a

questionnaire. This method is appropriate to this study since it aims to describe the present

condition of Mathematics Anxiety experiencing by the selected Grade 6 students. The direct-

data type of survey will also be done in this research. The researchers directly interact with

the participants therefore, it is a reliable source of getting responses from the participants.

Local and Respondents of the Study

The main subject of this study will the 100 selected Grade 6 students in

____________________, Division of Pampanga with age ranging from 11-13 years old for

the School Year 2018 – 2019.

Research Instrument

The principal data-gathering instrument of the study will be the Revised Mathematics

Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS-R) (Plake & Parker, 1982). This questionnaire contained the

profile sheet and the 24 – item 5-point Likert scale that was developed to measure the levels

of mathematics anxiety students “usually” experience under two categories: Learning

Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Evaluation Anxiety. It was derived from the widely

used Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (Baloglu & Zelhart, 2007). The profile sheet is
intended to survey the personal profile of selected Grade 6 students in terms of age, gender

and year level. It was self-administering test that did not require time limit. The questionnaire

served as the basis for the assessment of their math anxiety. The respondents were asked to

rate themselves according to the given statement.

The 25 – item point likert scale was guided by the following scale:

5 – High anxiety

4 – Quite a bit of anxiety

3 – Moderate anxiety

2 – Some anxiety

1 – Low anxiety

Data Gathering Technique

The researcher will secure proper approval and permission from the District

Supervisor and respective Principals to allow her to conduct the survey among selected

Grade 6 students. The researcher will also ask permission personally from their respective

advisers to administer the survey questionnaires.

Ethical Considerations

Since the considered subject of this study are minors and belongs to vulnerable

groups, a letter of permission from the District Supervisor, Principal and respective parents

of selected Grade 6 students will be secured in order to avoid ethical research violation. An

informed consent form will be sought from respective parents on this regard. The names of

the selected Grade 6 students will also be kept in confidential manner in order to hide their

identity and to observe anonymity of the subjects.

The Statistical Treatment of Data

The following statistical tools were used in treating the data in accordance with
the distinctive problems of the study.

1.) Percentage was used to determine the demographic profile of the respondents in
terms of age, gender and year level.
F
P (%) = x 100%
N
Where:
F - Frequency distribution
N - Total number of the respondents

2.) Weighted mean was computed to assess the level of mathematics anxiety.
The weighted mean formula used by Baleon, et al. (1992) is designed:
TWS
WM =
N
Where:
WM – Weighted Mean
TWS – Total Weighted Mean
N – Total Number of Respondents

By summing up the frequency and getting the weighted mean, the

researchers can get the interpretation.
Below are the ranges and descriptive rating that will be used on mean in
interpreting the score for the level of mathematics anxiety:

Descriptive Rating

1.0-2.50 Low

2.51- 3.50 Moderate

3.51-5.0 High
3.) T- test to determine the significant difference
between mathematics anxiety of the respondents when their gender is considered.
 x1- x2
t=
SD

Where:

x1– before
x2- after
SD – Standard Deviation

T – test Values was computed to determine the level of significance which

serves as the basis for rejecting or accepting the hypothesis.

4.) F- test to determine the significant difference between mathematics anxiety of the
respondents when their age and year level is considered.

MS between

F=
MS within
Where:
MS between – Mean Score between groups
MS within – Mean Score within groups

F- test values was computed to determine the level of significance which

serves as the basis for rejecting or accepting the hypothesis.
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 MARS-R
5 – High anxiety, 4 – Quite a bit of anxiety, 3 – Moderate anxiety,
2 – Some anxiety, 1 – Low anxiety

Learning Mathematics Anxiety

___ 1. Watching a teacher work on equation on the blackboard.
___ 2. Buying a math textbook.
___ 3. Reading and interpreting graphs or charts.
___ 4. Enrolling for a subject in mathematics
___ 5. Listening to another student explain a math formula.
___ 6. Walking into a math class.
___ 7. Looking through the pages of a math text.
___ 8. Starting a new chapter in a math book.
___ 9. Walking on a campus and thinking about a math lesson.
___ 10. Picking up a math textbook to begin working on a homework or assignment.
___ 11. Reading the word “mathematics”
___ 12. Working on an abstract mathematical problem.
___ 13. Reading a formula.
___ 14. Listening to a lecture in a math class.
___ 15. Having to use the tables in the back of a math book.
___ 16. Being told to explain a math concept.

Mathematics Evaluation Anxiety

___ 17. Being given a homework/ assignment of many difficult problems due next meeting.
___ 18. Thinking about an upcoming math test one day before.
___ 19. Solving square root problem.
___ 20. Taking an examination or quiz in math.
___ 21. Getting ready to study for a math test.
___ 22. Being given a ‘pop’ or ‘surprise’ quiz/exam in math.
___ 23. Waiting to get a math test returned in which you expected to do well.
___ 24. Taking a final examination in a math subject.